Manchester United 3-1 Sunderland
United notched up another comfortable win when they saw off Sunderland with Sir Alex claiming in his post match interview that the score line could’ve and should’ve been more emphatic.
Patrice Evra shot over from close range when Wayne Rooney’s corner was half cleared to the Frenchman but Robin Van Persie opened the scoring when Ashley Young’s cross came to him off John O’Shea and the Dutchman made no mistake. RVP came close again but his header from Phil Jones’ cross was saved by Simon Mignolet. Tom Cleverley made it 2-0 when he finished well into the far corner after exchanging passes with Michael Carrick on the left. Rooney had a great chance but shot wide when Young’s cross was headed down to him by RVP and then headed wide from Evra’s cross at the near post. Rio Ferdinand had a moment to forget when he botched a long ball and lost possession but James McClean hit David De Gea from an impossible angle when Steven Fletcher was in acres of space.
United looked to extend their lead after the restart and Rooney’s shot from Antonio Valencia’s pull back deflected off Titus Bramble onto the crossbar and Young shot the rebound over. De Gea then denied Craig Gardner and Stephane Sessegnon. RVP lobbed wide after Young had sent him clear but made amends when he found Rooney with a neat pass for the Englishman to tap in. De Gea again saved an effort from Sessegnon but was powerless when Fraizer Campbell headed in Sessegnon’s cross which proved to be a mere consolation.
Newcastle United 1-3 Manchester City
Yaya Toure inspired Manchester City to a comprehensive win away at Newcastle United with the Ivorian creating the first and scoring the third goal.
Newcastle had the first chance but Joe Hart did well to save Papiss Demba Cisse’s half-volley from Cheick Tiote’s cross. The English champions were ahead after 10 minutes when Toure found Samir Nasri with a “defense splitting” pass and the Frenchman found Sergio Aguero to tap in one of the easiest goals he’ll ever score. Carlos Tevez had a shot saved by Tim Krul after which Nasri hit the post and Aguero’s rebound was blocked. Hart then had to do well to save an effort from Michael Williamson and Aguero shot wide after Nasri had found him with a good low cross from the right. David Silva found Tevez whose shot went out for a corner and Javi Garcia headed in the resulting corner thanks to Davide Santon missing his clearance off the line.
Santon had a chance to redeem himself in the 2nd half after he beat Pablo Zabaleta to cut in from the left but hit the side netting but Demba Ba pulled one back when he headed in Fabricio Coloccini’s ball in past an onrushing Hart. Vurnon Anita did well to find Cisse but he shot over a great chance to equalize and Ba hit the side net from a corner. Hart was alert again to palm away a dangerous cross from Jonas Gutierrez and Toure wrapped the win for City when he tapped in through the legs of Krul after Zabaleta had found him with a cheeky pass.
Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa
The Reds were stunned by Villa at Anfield as Paul Lambert’s Villains became Heroes in a famous win.
Christian Benteke was the first to threaten the Reds goal but his header from Barry Bannan’s cross was at Pepe Reina. He then got on the score sheet when his shot from distance beat Reina at his near post. Luis Suarez had a chance to equalize but hit the side netting and Andreas Weimann smashed over at the other end. He too got in the act though when he slot in past Reina after Benteke found him with a lovely back heel.
Liverpool had a penalty claim denied when Ciaran Clark appeared to have pulled back Daniel Agger in the box. Joe Cole was robbed in the middle of the park by Brett Holman who released Benteke and the Belgian kept his cool to finish past Reina. Joe Cole then shot a half-volley wide and Agger’s shot from distance was saved by Brad Guzan. Bannan then saw his shot deflect agonizingly wide off Weimann after which Steven Gerrard grabbed a consolation when he headed in Glen Johnson’s cross on 87 minutes.
Reading 2-5 Arsenal
Arsenal got back to winning ways as they thumped Reading at the Madejski Stadium with Santi Carzola bagging a hat trick.
Lukas Podolski opened the scoring after 14 minutes when he controlled Kieran Gibbs’ cross before smashing in. The German then turned provider when he crossed to Carzola for the Spaniard to sneak up between 2 defenders to guide a diving header in. He got his second 2 minutes later when he controlled and scored from Gibbs’ header down from Theo Walcott’s cross.
He completed his hat trick on the hour mark when he coolly tapped in Podolski’s pass across the box after Jack Wilshere had released Podolski. Adam Le Fondre pulled one back for the Royals when he rounded off Wojciech Szczesny to score after having been sent through by Jay Tabb. Jimmy Kebe scored another after 5 minutes when he slot past the Gunner’s keeper after Hal Robson-Kanu had released him. Any hopes of a comeback though were dashed on 80 minutes when Carzola found Walcott on the right and the winger did well to cut in and finish well with a left footed curling effort.
In other results, Norwich City beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 at Carrow Road with Wes Hoolahan winning it for the Canaries after Shaun Maloney’s goal for the Latics had cancelled out Anthony Pilkington’s opener. Adel Taarabt scored a brace for Queens Park Rangers as they beat Fulham 2-1 at Loftus Road. Mladen Petric scored a late consolation for the Cottagers.
Stoke City drew 1-1 at home against Everton with Kenwyne Jones scoring for the Potters after Ryan Shawcross had scored an own goal. Tottenham Hotspur beat Swansea City 1-0 at White Hart Lane thanks to Jan Vertonghen’s solitary goal.
The game between West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United at the Hawthorns ended in a goalless draw. Southampton’s games against Chelsea was postponed in view of the latter’s FIFA Club World Cup final against Corinthians.
Spanish La Liga
Barcelona extended their lead at the top to 9 points after they thrashed 2nd place Atletico Madrid 4-1 at Camp Nou. Radamel Falcao opened the scoring but goals from Adriano, Sergio Busquets and a brace from Lionel Messi wrapped up the win for the Catalans.
Real Madrid blew the chance to go within 2 points of their city rivals after they drew 2-2 at home against Espanyol. Sergio Garcia put the visitors in front but Cristiano Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrao put Madrid in front only for Juan Albin to win a point for his side in the dying minutes.
After 16 games, Barca have 46 points, 13 more than Real Madrid in 3rd and look to have paved a clear path towards regaining the title.
German Bundesliga
League leaders Bayern Munich were held to a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena by Borussia Monchengladbach while Bayer Leverkusen thrashed Hamburg 3-0 at home. Borussia Dortmund won 3-1 away at Hoffenheim with Eintracht Frankfurt winning 2-0 away at Wolfsburg.
Bayern have 42 points after 17 games, 9 clear of Leverkusen in 2nd place and 12 clear of Dortmund in 3rd.
Italian Serie A
Juventus won 3-0 at home against Atalanta while Inter Milan lost 1-0 away at Lazio. Napoli were beaten 3-2 at home by Bologna with Fiorentina thrashing Siena 4-1 at home. AS Roma lost 1-0 away at Chievo Verona while AC Milan notched up another win beating Pescara 4-1 at the San Siro.
Juve lead after 17 games with 41 points followed by Inter, Napoli, Lazio and Fiorentina. They also have a 7 point cushion.
French Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain regained top spot after they beat Lyon 1-0 in Paris while Marseille won 1-0 away at Toulouse. PSG, Lyon and Marseille are on 35 points each after 18 games with reigning champions Montpellier in 9th position, 9 points adrift of the top 3.
Dutch Eredivisie
It’s tight at the top with PSV Eindhoven and Twente Enschede on 37 points after 17 games followed by Ajax on 36, Vitesse Arnhem on 35 and Feyenoord on 34.
PSV drew 1-1 away at NEC Nijmegen while Twente beat Heracles Almelo 3-2 at home. Ajax won 4-2 away at Willem II Tilburg with Vitesse drawing 2-2 at home against Waalwijk and Feyenoord beating ADO Den Haag 3-2 at home.
FIFA Club World Cup
Corinthians 1-0 Chelsea
Chelsea added more misery to their season as they became the first European champions to fail to win the title after 6 years.
Fernando Torres yet again failed to score and this time missed a sitter and thereby failed to take the game to extra time after Paolo Guerrero had scored for Corinthians.
