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The weekend of club football in Europe saw Liverpool leapfrog Arsenal on top of the Premier League standings with 37 points, one ahead of them. They defeated Crystal Palace by 2-1 in a spirited late comeback at Selhurst Park, followed by Arsenal losing to Aston Villa by 1-0 at Villa Park.
In La Liga, Girona defeated Barcelona at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys by 4-2 to reach the summit of La Liga with 41 points, two more than Real Madrid. Here is a summary of the results of all significant games in Europe over the weekend:
Premier League
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool: In a spirited late comeback at Selhurst Park, Liverpool defeated Crystal Palace by 2-1 to top the Premier League charts after 16 matches. Jean-Phillippe Mateta scored the opening goal of the day for Crystal Palace early in the second half, but, after a red card to Jordan Ayew, it was the goals from Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott which gave Liverpool the win.
Manchester United 0-3 Bournemouth: At Old Trafford, Manchester United succumbed to yet another home defeat in the Premier League, this time to Bournemouth, who won by 3-0. After Dominic Solanke put them in the lead in the first 10 minutes, Bournemouth kept Manchester United at bay for most of the contest before scoring two goals through Philip Billing and Marcos Senesi in the second half.
Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal: As the table toppers for most of the ongoing Premier League season, Arsenal travelled to Villa Park, but they were handed a 0-1 loss by Aston Villa. The captain John McGinn scored the only goal of the contest in the 7th minute, applying an exemplary finish to beat David Raya the goalkeeper, which led to his team falling to second place in the Premier League standings.
Luton Town 1-2 Manchester City: Despite being one of the teams in the Premier League relegation zone, Luton Town showed tremendous fortitude against the champions Manchester City at the Kenilworth Road before losing at the end by 2-1. Elijah Adebayo had put Luton Town in the lead in the first half of added time, but Manchester City made a second-half comeback through goals from Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish.
Everton 2-0 Chelsea: After getting docked 10 points for breaching the Premier League Financial Fair Play rules, Everton have made a surging comeback through consistent performances in the competition. They registered a comfortable 2-0 win against Chelsea at Goodison Park on the weekend through second-half goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin.
La Liga
Real Betis 1-1 Real Madrid: At the Estadio Benito Villamarin, Real Betis managed to hold Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw to stay in 7th place in the La Liga standings. After Jude Bellingham put Real Madrid in front in the 53rd minute, it was Aitor Ruibal, who equalised for Real Betis in the 66th minute.
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Almeria: After Alvaro Morata and Angel Correa put Atletico Madrid into an early two-goal lead, they had to keep a resilient Almeria from making a comeback into the contest. The Metropolitano Stadium was on edge after Leo Baptistao scored the first goal of the night for Almeria in the second half, but, the Atletico Madrid defence held firm at the end to secure the 2-1 win.
Barcelona 2-4 Girona: In one of the biggest surprises in La Liga, Girona defeated Barcelona comfortably by 4-2 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys to reach the top of the competition’s standing. The first half saw Artem Dovbyk open the scoring for Girona before Miguel Gutierrez notched up the second goal for them in between a Robert Lewandoski finish for Barcelona, and the second half painted a similar picture with Valery Fernandez and Cristhian Stuani getting on the scoresheet for Girona either side of Ilkay Gundogan’s goal.
Bundesliga
Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 Bayern Munich: The reigning Bundesliga champions suffered a shock 5-1 defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt at the Deutsche Bank Park. Four players for Eintracht Frankfurt got on the scoresheet with Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe scoring two, while Omar Marmoush, Hugo Larrson, and Ansgar Knauff notching up one goal each, and for Bayern Munich, Joshua Kimmich got the consolation at the end of the first half.
Borussia Dortmund 2-3 RB Leipzig: At the Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund lost 2-3 to RB Leipzig in a top-half battle in the Bundesliga. After Mats Hummels got a red card in the 15th minute for Borussia Dortmund, Ramy Bensabiani’s own goal put RB Leipzig in the lead, and despite the two goals from Niklas Sule and Niclas Fullkrug for the hosts, it was two second-half finishes from Christoph Baumgartner and Yusuff Poulsen proving to be the difference from the visitors’ point of view.
VfB Stuttgart 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen: On their trip to the MHPArena, Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 1-1 draw by VfB Stuttgart, but still, they kept their lead on top of the Bundesliga standings. Chris Fuhrich put the hosts in front in the 40th minute before Florian Wirtz equalised for the visitors at the start of the second half.
Serie A
Juventus 1-0 Napoli: At the top of Serie A, Juventus kept pace with the leaders after defeating Napoli with a narrow margin of 1-0 at the Allianz Stadium. Federico Gatti’s finish in the 51st minute was the difference maker for Juventus in a back-and-forth contest wherein there were not many clear-cut chances to score goals.
Atalanta 3-2 AC Milan: Atalanta left it deep into the second half added time to score the winner against AC Milan through Luis Muriel to register a 3-2 victory at the Gewiss Stadium. Ademola Lookman scored a brace for Atalanta earlier, while Oliver Giroud and Luka Jovic were on the scoresheet for AC Milan.
Inter Milan 4-0 Udinese: A four-star performance from Inter Milan against Udinese at the San Siro saw them keep their hold on top of the Serie A standings. Hakan Calhanoglu opened the scoring for Inter Milan before Federico Dimarco and Marcus Thuram put them in the three-goal lead at the time, Lautaro Martinez got the fourth goal late in the second half to complete a comprehensive 4-0 home win for the team.
Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 Nantes: Paris Saint-Germain consolidated their position on top of the Ligue 1 standings after beating Nantes by 2-1 at the Parc des Paris. Randal Kolo Muani scored the winner for the hosts in the 83rd minute of the second half after Bradley Barcola’s opener in the first half, and in between, Mostafa Mohamed notched up a goal for the visitors in the 55th minute.
