English Premier League
Arsenal retained top stop in the league after they quite comfortably and clinically beat Norwich City 4-1 at the Emirates.
Manager Arsene Wenger claimed that his side was ready to win the Premier League title and his comment was backed by their performance. The much anticipated midfield partnership of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla was on display for the first the time after the Spaniard’s return from injury. Cazorla had an early effort comfortably saved by John Ruddy but the Gunners took the lead on 18 minutes. Cazorla found Jack Wilshere who played the ball to Olivier Giroud whose return was flicked back to him by Wilshere who received the ball back from the Frenchman to tap in past a stranded Ruddy not to mention the sea of Norwich defender who simply were struck by awe. It was a move of such quality that a similar one touch passing move may not be witnessed again this season. Giroud had a chance to double the lead but Ruddy did well to save at his near post following Kieran Gibbs’s cross. Leroy Fer drew a save from Wojciech Szczesny with a long range effort. Norwich had a chance after the break but failed to capitalise and were duly punished. Cazorla found Giroud on the right after a good run and the Frenchman found Ozil with a lovely ball which was glanced into the far corner by the German. Jonathan Howson pulled one back for the Canaries on 70 minutes when he pounced on a poor clearance to control and shoot low past Szczesny. Ruddy was called to action to deny substitute Aaron Ramsey’s drive from distance but Ramsey beat Ruddy afterwards when he tricked a couple of defenders in the box before unleashing an unstoppable shot from close range. The game was sealed 2 minutes from time when Ozil tapped in Ramsey’s cutback.
Chelsea came from behind to beat Cardiff City 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. The visitors took a shock lead through Jordon Mutch as he capitalised on a defensive error. David Marshall’s goal kick was played back by Ramires to David Luiz who left it for Petr Cech without calculating the weight of the pass and the looming threat of Mutch who pounced to loft the ball over an onrushing Cech who incidentally marked his 300th appearance for the Blues. John Terry came close to equalising but headed two corners from Juan Mata wide. Cech acrobatically saved a flicked header by Peter Odemwingie to keep the score respectful. Chelsea drew level after 33 minutes quite controversially though when Samuel Eto’o stole the ball from Marshall who opted to bounce the ball while in possession. Eden Hazard took possession and found Eto’o who failed to score under a challenge but Hazard managed to gather and score with a cool finish. The goal should have been disallowed according to FIFA rules. Eto’o then gave Chelsea the lead on 66 minutes when he combined with Oscar and Hazard. Cech produced a brilliant save at the other end to deny Kim Bo-Kyung whose shot packed quite a punch. Oscar made it 3 on 78 minutes with a powerful swirling shot and Hazard completed his brace 4 minutes later when he shot low past Marshall after some trickery.
Manager Sam Allardyce had a birthday not worth celebrating as his West Ham United side was beaten 3-1 at home by Manchester City. City took the lead on 16 minutes when Fernandinho’s long pass down the ground was left by Alvaro Negredo fooling Winston Reid and James Tomkins which allowed Sergio Aguero a clean run and the striker tucked the ball past onrushing Jussi Jaaskelainen. Aguero missed a chance to double the lead soon after but volleyed straight at the Hammers’ custodian. Aguero came close again but was denied by Jaaskelainen and David Silva could not manage to tap in the rebound from 3 yards out. Jaaskelainen was again called to action to deny Yaya Toure’s effort just before halftime. City doubled their lead after the break through a free kick from the left and Aguero was left unmarked at the near post and the Argentine headed in Silva’s delivery. Ricardo Vaz Te culpable of leaving Aguero to head freely redeemed himself with an acrobatic overhead kick to pull one back for the hosts. City almost restored their 2 goal advantage but Negredo hit the crossbar after a strong run. West Ham went looking for the equaliser and were hit on the counter. Toure played in Aguero who found Silva with a back heel and the Spaniard curled the ball into the top corner to seal the win.
Newcastle United hung on after being reduced to 10 men to draw 2-2 at home against Liverpool. Liverpool had their first chance through a Steven Gerrard corner but Luis Suarez’s header was nodded off the line by Davide Santon. Yohan Cabaye gave the Magpies the lead on 23 minutes when he was allowed to advance from the halfway line unchallenged and his dipping effort from 30 yards beat Simon Mignolet in goal. Mamadou Sakho had the chance to restore parity almost immediately but headed over Suarez’s cross. Moussa Sissoko almost doubled the lead for the hosts but Mignolet did well to save his powerful drive. Newcastle managed to keep Liverpool at bay up until the 40th minute but disaster struck when Suarez was pulled back by Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa inside the box and the defender was shown red, adding to the misery of the penalty which was awarded. Gerrard stepped up and converted to score his 100th Premier League goal. Glen Johnson drew a save from Tim Krul after the restart following a cross field pass from Jordan Henderson. Newcastle were in front though against the run of play when substitute Paul Dummett snuck in at the far post to meet Cabaye’s free kick. Krul then made a save to deny Suarez but was ultimately beaten in open play on 72 minutes when Suarez found Daniel Sturridge with a good cross and the Englishman headed home. Suarez had the chance to win it on two occasions but hit the crossbar the first time and his free kick in injury time was well saved by Krul.
Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford by Southampton as questions were raised again about the hunger shown by the United players. The Saints dominated the early passages of play and they almost scored the opener when Wayne Rooney lost possession in his own half to Adam Lallana who found Pablo Osvaldo but the Italian’s shot was comfortably saved by David De Gea. Robin Van Persie showed creativity when he lobbed an aerial ball from Jonny Evans with his first touch but the effort went wide. He then drew a save from Artur Boruc after having been set up by Nani. Just as he had done a fortnight ago, Adnan Januzaj provided the inspiration to a United side that otherwise looked to be running out of ideas. The teenager found Rooney with a brilliant pass but Boruc swiftly came off his line to block the striker. Van Persie pounced on the rebound as he went past the keeper to tuck the ball in to give the hosts the lead. Nani then found Rooney who in turn hit the crossbar. Southampton seemed undeterred as Dejan Lovren saw his long range effort saved by De Gea after which Evans had to be alert to fend off Lallana’s sliding effort to make contact with Steven Davis’ low cross. Van Persie then hit the crossbar himself and the rebounding ball was played in by Evans to Nani but his effort was saved well by Boruc. Januzaj then had a strong shot from distance saved well by Boruc and Marouane Fellaini sent the rebound over. Januzaj then displayed a brilliant piece of skill to send Danny Welbeck through on goal but Morgan Schneiderlin slid in to stop Welbeck in his tracks before he could square the ball for Rooney for an easy tap in. De Gea had to be alert to deny Nathaniel Clyne but lost his clean sheet in the 89th minute as Lallana guided in Lovren’s effort following a scramble inside the box.
Having suffered a humiliating 3-0 home defeat at home to West Ham United before the international break, Tottenham Hotspur were out to make amends as they travelled to the Midlands to face Aston Villa. Andros Townsend gave the Spurs the lead on 31minutes and Roberto Soldado doubled the lead in the 69th minute as the game ended 2-0.
Kevin Mirallas and Steven Pienaar scored on either side of Yannick Sagbo’s equaliser as Everton beat Hull City 2-1 at Goodison Park. Stoke City drew goalless at home against West Bromwich Albion while Swansea City beat Sunderland 4-0 at home thanks to goals from Jonathan De Guzman, Wilfried Bony and 2 own goals by Phillip Bardsley and Steven Fletcher. Fulham came from behind to thrash Crystal Palace 4-1 away at Selhurst Park thanks to goals from Pajtim Kasami, Steve Sidwell, Dimitar Berbatov and Philippe Senderos after Adrian Mariappa had put the Eagles in front early in the game.
Spanish La Liga
Real Madrid reduced Barcelona’s lead at the top of the table over them to 3 points after they beat Malaga 2-0 at home thanks to goals from Angel Di Mari and Cristiano Ronaldo. Barcelona were held to a goalless draw away at Osasuna while Thibaut Courtois scored an own goal as Atletico Madrid were beaten 1-0 away at Espanyol. Atletico are in 2nd position, 2 points ahead of city rivals Madrid in 3rd followed by Villarreal and Getafe in 4th and 5th places respectively.
German Bundesliga
Thomas Muller scored a brace with Arjen Robben and Mario Mandzukic also scoring as Bayern Munich beat Mainz 4-1 at the Allianz Arena. Marco Reus scored an early penalty as Borussia Dortmund beat Hannover 1-0 at the Signal Iduna Park. Sidney Sam and Stefan Kiesling scored as Bayer Leverkusen beat Hoffenheim 2-1 away. The 2nd goal for Leverkusen was a freak goal as the ball hit the side net but ended inside the goal and the referee allowed the goal to stand. Hertha Berlin beat Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 at home while Schalke beat Eintracht Braunschweig 3-2 away and Hamburg drew 3-3 at home against Stuttgart.
Italian Serie A
AS Roma are the only unbeaten side in the Serie A after 8 games and they beat Napoli 2-0 at home thanks to a brace from Miralem Pjanic. Fiorentina came from 2 goals down to beat Juventus 4-2 at home thanks to a hat trick from Giuseppe Rossi and one from Joaquin with all 4 goals coming in the 2nd half after Carlos Tevez and Paul Pogba had put the reigning champions ahead in the 1st period. AC Milan beat Udinese 1-0 at the San Siro while inter Milan drew 3-3 away at Torino with Atalanta beating Lazio 2-1 at home.
French Ligue 1
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani scored a brace each as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Bastia 4-0 at home. Sochaux held AS Monaco to a 2-2 draw at home while Lyon drew 1-1 at home against Bordeaux and Marseille were beaten 1-0 away at Nice.
Dutch Eredivisie
Twente Enschede 1-1 Ajax Amsterdam
FC Groningen 1-0 PSV Eindhoven
AZ Alkmaar 3-1 Cambuur Leeuwarden
PEC Zwolle 6-1 ADO Den Haag
Go Ahead Eagles 2-2 Feyenoord Rotterdam
Heerenveen 2-3 Vitesse Arnhem
Scottish Premiership
Hibernian 1-1 Celtic
Aberdeen 1-0 Dundee United
Motherwell 2-1 Heart of Midlothian
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1-2 Partick Thistle
UEFA Champions League Fixtures
Group A
Bayer Leverkusen v Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester United v Real Sociedad
Group B
Galatasaray v FC Copenhagen
Real Madrid v Juventus
Group C
Anderlecht v Paris Saint-Germain
Benfica v Olympiacos
Group D
CSKA Moscow v Manchester City
Bayern Munich v Viktoria Plzen
Group E
Schalke 04 v Chelsea
Steaua Bucuresti v FC Basel
Group F
Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund
Marseille v Napoli
Group G
Austria Vienna v Atletico Madrid
FC Porto v Zenit St Petersburg
Group H
AC Milan v Barcelona
Celtic v Ajax Amsterdam
