English Premier League
Manchester United had their lead at the top of the table cut to 12 points after they were beaten 2-1 at Old Trafford by Manchester City. After a goalless first half, James Milner gave the visitors the lead after 51 minutes with a sweet shot from outside the box which took a slight deflection beating David De Gea in goal. Parity was restored when Phil Jones’ header went in off Vincent Kompany on the hour mark but substitute Sergio Aguero won it for the “Noisy Neighbours” on 78 minutes. United need 10 points from their remaining 7 games to regain the title they conceded to City last season.
Third place Chelsea came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 at Stamford Bridge thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s winner after own goals from Cesar Azpilicueta and Matthew Kilgallon.
Tottenham were held to a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane by Everton despite the Spurs taking an early lead through Emmanuel Adebayor who scored inside 1 minute. Phil Jagielka equalised for the Toffees and Kevin Mirallas gave them the lead. Gylfi Sigurdsson restored parity and salvaged a point for the home side on 87 minutes.
Tomas Rosicky scored a brace as Arsenal beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium. James Morrison pulled one back for the Baggies from the spot.
Liverpool were frustrated at Anfield by West Ham United as they were held to a goalless draw by the Hammers.
Reading were beaten 2-0 at home by Southampton while Norwich drew 2-2 at home against Swansea. Aston Villa continued their resurgence as they beat Stoke 3-1 at the Britannia.
Newcastle beat Fulham 1-0 while Queens Park Rangers blew away 2 points as they conceded a late goal against Wigan to draw 1-1.
Spanish Primera Liga
Barcelona thrashed Mallorca 5-0 at the Camp Nou thanks to a hat trick from Cesc Fabregas and a brace from Alexis Sanchez. Real Madrid beat Levante 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu with Gonzalo Higuain, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo scoring for the reigning champions before Mesut Ozil capped the performance with a late brace. Atletico Madrid were held to a goalless draw away at Getafe.
Barca lead with 78 points after 30 games followed by Real on 65 and Atletico on 62 with Real Sociedad and Valencia completing the top 5.
German Bundesliga
Bastian Schweinsteiger scored the solitary goal as Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 away and were crowned German champions for the 23rd time. Borussia Dortmund beat Augsburg 4-2 at home while Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Wolfsburg.
Bayern sealed the title with 6 games to spare and will look to add to the trophy tally come the end of the season.
Italian Serie A
Juventus are 9 points clear at the top after 31 games and look favourites to retain the title. They are followed by Napoli, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio with Inter Milan coming in at 6th.
Juve beat Pescara 2-1 at home while Napoli too beat Genoa 2-0 at home. Fiorentina entertained AC Milan and the game ended in a 2-2 draw while Lazio drew 1-1 away at Roma in the Rome derby. Inter Milan were beaten 4-3 at the San Siro by Atalanta.
French Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain lead the pack after 31 games with 64 points followed by Marseille on 57 and St Etienne on 53. Lyon and Lille make up the top 5 with 53 and 52 points respectively.
PSG won 2-0 away at Stade Rennes while Marseille beat Bordeaux 1-0 at home. St Etienne beat Evian Thonon Gaillard 1-0 at home while Lyon lost 1-0 away at Stade de Reims. Lille thrashed Lorient 5-0.
Dutch Eredivisie
Ajax thrashed Heracles Almelo 5-0 while PSV Eindhoven beat Willem II Tilburg 3-1 away from home. Ajax lead with 63 points after 29 games followed by PSV and Vitesse Arnhem on 60 each, Feyenoord and Twente on 59 and 51 points respectively.
Scottish Premier League
Celtic have all but sealed the title and need just 1 point from their 5 remaining games mathematically to win it. They have 69 points with Motherwell in 2nd on 54 and have a far superior goal difference of 48 compared to 13 of their followers.
Celtic beat Hibernian 3-0 at home while Motherwell were held to a 2-2 draw at home by St Mirren.
UEFA Champions League
2 teams each from Spain and Germany reached the semi finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid beat Galatasaray 5-3 on aggregate with the 2nd leg finishing 3-2 in favour of the latter in Turkey. Madrid however had a 3 goal cushion from the 1st leg in Spain. Cristiano Ronaldo scored early for the visitors but goals from Emmanuel Eboue, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba turned the tie on its head. Ronaldo scored again in injury time to ease any nerves and send his side into the last 4 of the tournament.
Borussia Dortmund pulled off a miracle as they snatched victory from Malaga in the dying minutes of the 2nd leg. After a goalless draw in Spain, the visitors took the lead through Joaquin but Robert Lewandowski equalised for the hosts. Eliseu put Malaga ahead again on 82 minutes and Dortmund needed 2 goals to progress. Marco Reus and Felipe Santana scored in injury time to seal a memorable win for the German side who won 3-2 on aggregate.
Barcelona progressed at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain as they drew 1-1 at home and won 3-3 on aggregate. After the 1st leg ending in a 2-2 draw, PSG took the lead through Javier Pastore but Pedro equalised for the Catalan giants to ensure victory.
Bayern Munich displayed yet another efficient performance as they beat Juventus 2-0 in Turin and won 4-0 on aggregate. Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring and Claudio Pizarro added a 2nd in injury time.
UEFA Europa League
Chelsea beat Rubin Kazan 5-4 on aggregate to go in to the last 4 despite losing the 2nd leg 3-2 away in Russia.
Tottenham crashed out after losing 4-1 on penalties. Both legs finished 2-2 in London and Basel. Tom Huddlestone and Emmanuel Adebayor missed the spot kicks for the Spurs.
Fenerbahce beat Lazio 3-1 on aggregate after drawing 1-1 in Rome.
Benfica progressed by beating Newcastle United 4-2 on aggregate after drawing 1-1 at St. James’ Park.
