Manchester City continued their impregnable home form as they beat Arsenal 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium. The Gunners had the first clear chance of the game from a Theo Walcott cross but Jack Wilshere sent his effort wide.
The hosts took the lead on 14 minutes when Martin Demichelis flicked on Samir Nasri’s corner for Sergio Aguero to volley home at the far post. City could have been two goals up soon after when Vincent Kompany sent Alvaro Negredo through but the Spaniard’s effort was off target. The visitors equalised when Aaron Ramsey dispossessed Yaya Toure and fed Mesut Ozil whose pass was side footed in by Walcott. Negredo missed another chance afterwards when he curled a shot wide from close distance after having been found by David Silva. Negredo simply could not miss the next chance on 39 minutes when Pablo Zabaleta collected Toure’s lobbed pass to send a low cross which the striker tapped home from six yards out. Laurent Koscielny had to be taken off for a cut to the knee as Arsenal started to fear the worst. Demichelis headed wide from a Nasri corner as halftime loomed. Aguero picked up a calf injury after the restart and he too was taken off. City did not seem to have lost any steam when they scored in the 50th minute when Ozil’s loose ball was collected by Fernandinho who curled an effort into the far bottom corner. Olivier Giroud had two good chances but missed both. First he sent his effort wide after a brilliant ball by Wilshere and then headed Bacary Sagna’s superb cross wide. Walcott pulled one back after 63 minutes when he collected Ramsey’s lob to curl and effort over Costel Pantilimon who was slightly off his line. City restored their two goal cushion 3 minutes later when Jesus Navas’ low cross from the right was tapped in by Silva. Pantilimon did brilliantly a minute later to palm away Wilshere’s fizzing shot from distance. Navas then hit the side netting after rounding up Wojciech Szczesny and Fernandinho stung the palms of the Arsenal custodian with a powerful shot from distance. Fernandinho made it five after linking up with Nasri to dink the ball over Szczesny. Pantilimon denied Walcott his hat trick but was beaten in injury time by Per Mertesacker who headed in Sagna’s cross making it 5-3. City had the last laugh when Toure slotted home a penalty after James Milner had been brought down in the box by Szczesny.
Neighbours Manchester United got back to winning ways when they beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Villa Park. Marc Albrighton drew a save from David De Gea but it was United who struck on 15 minutes when Danny Welbeck turned in the rebound after Adnan Januzaj had headed Rafael’s cross onto the post. Welbeck doubled his tally and also United’s lead 3 minutes later when he slid in to tap home Antonio Valencia’s low cross. United continued to create chances with Wayne Rooney and Welbeck coming close to extending their lead as Villa failed to threaten De Gea’s goal. It was three on 52 minutes when Tom Cleverley scored after having been sent through by Rooney. Darren Fletcher played 20 minutes for the Red Devils as he attempts to make a comeback after a chronic bowel condition that has hampered his career for 3 years. United kept a clean sheet and will look to continue winning when they next host West Ham United at Old Trafford.
Andre Villas-Boas was shown the door after Tottenham Hotspur suffered yet another humiliating defeat, this time at home to Liverpool in a 5-0 thrashing. Luis Suarez put the Reds in front on 18 minutes when he beat Hugo Lloris after Jordan Henderson had done well to pounce onto a failed clearance to set up the Uruguayan. Lloris then did well to come off his line to deny Suarez after he had broken clean through. Philippe Coutinho then hit the bar as Liverpool piled on the pressure. Lloris then came out of the box to clear a long ball with Suarez attacking it and his poor header fell to the striker but his reluctance to shoot first time enabled the keeper to make a save. Liverpool made it two on 40 minutes when Henderson scored after Lloris had done well to save his original effort and Suarez’s rebound. Roberto Soldado had a goal disallowed when he dispossessed Simon Mignolet by means of a shoulder charge. The keeper was lucky as he failed to control a back pass. The Reds continued to threaten as Mamadou Sakho headed Raheem Sterling’s cross onto the upright from close range and Martin Skrtel sent the rebound high and wide. Paulinho was shown a straight red in the 63rd minute for a high boot that caught Suarez in the chest. John Flanagan made it three when his half volley crashed in off the underside of the crossbar. Luis Alberto sent Suarez through on 84 minutes and the striker made no mistake as he guided the ball over an onrushing Lloris. Sterling made it five when he collected Suarez’s pass to score 5 minutes later.
Chelsea bounced back from their away defeat at Stoke to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. Fernando Torres opened the scoring after he tapped in the rebound after Willian’s effort from distance was turned onto the post by Julian Speroni. Palace drew level when Marouane Chamakh turned home Joel Ward’s low cross from the left. Ramires restored the lead on 35 minutes when he collected Eden Hazard’s pass before unleashing an unstoppable shot. The visitors did not make it easy for the Blues in the second half as they created chances and Speroni held firm at the other end to deny Chelsea any more goals.
Peter Whittingham scored the only goal as Cardiff City beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at home. Everton beat Fulham 4-1 at Goodison Park with Leon Osman, Seamus Coleman, Gareth Barry and Kevin Mirallas getting on the score sheet. Dimitar Berbatov equalised for the Cottagers from the spot following Osman’s opener. Yoan Gouffran’s opener was cancelled out by Jay Rodriguez as Newcastle United drew 1-1 at home against Southampton. West Ham United and Sunderland played out a goalless draw at Upton Park while Hull City and Stoke City too did not trouble the scorers at the KC Stadium. Gary Hooper cancelled out Nathan Dyer’s opener as Norwich City drew 1-1 at home against Swansea City.
Spanish La Liga
Neymar scored a brace as Barcelona beat Villarreal 2-1 at the Nou Camp while goals from Isco and Pepe did not suffice as Real Madrid were held to a 2-2 draw away at Osasuna and Atletico Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 at home thanks to a brace from Diego Costa and another from Raul Garcia.
German Bundesliga
Mario Mandzukic, Mario Gotze and Xherdan Shaqiri scored for Bayern Munich as they beat Hamburg 3-1 at the Allianz Arena. Bayer Leverkusen were beaten 1-0 at home by Eintracht Frankfurt while Borussia Dortmund had to come from two goals down to draw 2-2 away at Hoffenheim. Borussia Monchengladbach drew 0-0 away at Mainz while Schalke beat Freiburg 2-0 at home and Wolfsburg beat Stuttgart 3-1 at home.
Italian Serie A
Carlos Tevez scored a hat trick as Juventus hammered Sassuolo 4-0 at home. Napoli beat Inter Milan 4-2 at home while Fiorentina beat Bologna 3-0 at home and AS Roma drew 2-2 away at AC Milan.
French Ligue 1
Stade Rennes 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain
Guingamp 0-2 AS Monaco
Lyon 2-2 Marseille
Dutch Eredivisie
Twente Enschede 3-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Cambuur Leeuwarden 1-2 Ajax Amsterdam
Feyenoord Rotterdam 1-0 FC Groningen
Vitesse Arnhem 3-2 NAC Breda
FC Utrecht 1-5 PSV Eindhoven
Portuguese Liga
Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Belenenses
Olhanense 2-3 Benfica
Rio Ave 1-3 FC Porto
Scottish Premiership
Celtic 1-0 Hibernian
Kilmarnock 1-4 Dundee United
Heart of Midlothian 0-2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
