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Rediff.com  » Sports » European soccer: Arsenal extend lead; Roma's record run ends
This article was first published 11 years ago

European soccer: Arsenal extend lead; Roma's record run ends

November 04, 2013 17:32 IST

Image: Arsenal's Santi Cazorla (R) with team-mate Bacary Sagna celebrates after scoring a goal
Photographs: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

AS Roma's record-breaking 100 percent run in Serie A came to an end after 10 successive victories with a 1-1 draw at mid-table Torino on Sunday.

Bayern Munich won in Germany to stretch their unbeaten streak to 36 games and equal Hamburg SV's 30-year record.

Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the English Premier League to five points by beating Liverpool 2-0 and in Spain Barcelona won a tight local derby against Espanyol 1-0 to stay top.

ENGLAND

Arsenal reinforced their title credentials by opening up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 home win over Liverpool.

Superb strikes from Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey capped an impressive all-round display from the north London club ahead of a difficult trip to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Second-placed Chelsea lost ground with a shock 2-0 defeat at Newcastle United but ManchesterCity thrashed NorwichCity 7-0 and champions Manchester United clicked into gear with a 3-1 win at Fulham.

Tottenham Hotspur and Everton missed the opportunity to go second and close the gap to Arsenal when they drew 0-0 at GoodisonPark on Sunday.

Barca go past Espanyol in Catalan derby; Ronaldo, Bale star for Real

Image: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid celebrates scoring his team's third goal with teammate Gareth Bale
Photographs: Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

SPAIN

Unbeaten leaders Barcelona, second-placed Atletico Madrid and their city rivals Real in third recorded contrasting victories ahead of Champions League games against AC Milan, Austria Vienna and Juventus respectively.

Champions Barca edged a tight Catalan derby at home to Espanyol 1-0 on Friday when Neymar's brilliant pass set up Alexis Sanchez to score in the 68th minute at the Nou Camp.

The biggest surprise of the night was that World Player of the Year Lionel Messi failed to score for a fourth successive league match in which he played the full 90 minutes, the Argentina forward's worst run in almost six years.

Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice and record signing Gareth Bale made two assists in Real's nervy 3-2 win at bottom side Rayo Vallecano on Saturday and David Villa and Diego Costa scored in Atletico's comfortable 2-0 success at home to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Barca have 34 points after 12 matches, with Atletico on 33, a club record for this stage of the season, and Real on 28.

Roma keep clean sheet

Image: Emiliano Moretti of Torino FC competes with Marco Borriello (right) of AS Roma during their Serie A match at Stadio Olimpico di Torino in Turin on Sunday
Photographs: Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

ITALY

Leaders AS Roma lost their 100 percent record when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Torino in their 11th game of the season.

Kevin Strootman gave Roma a halftime lead before Alessio Cerci scored against his former club just after the hour, only the second goal they have conceded all season. Roma, who have 31 points, stayed three clear of Napoli and Juventus.

Jose Callejon and Marek Hamsik gave Napoli a 2-1 win over lowly Catania and Paul Pogba's late goal earned Juventus a 1-0 win at Parma.

Inter Milan, 3-0 winners at Udinese, and promoted Hellas Verona, 2-1 winners over Cagliari, are a further six points behind.

Bayern go top; Lewandowski 'tricks helps Dortmund crush Stuttgart

Image: Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring
Photographs: Ina Fassbender/Reuters

GERMANY

Bayern Munich came from behind to edge past Hoffenheim 2-1 with goals from Thomas Mueller and Mario Mandzukic.

It was their 36th Bundesliga game in a row without defeat and kept them a point clear at the top of the table.

Bayern, who play Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Tuesday, were far from dominant, but still had enough to equal Hamburg SV's record from 1982-83. Their last defeat was in October 2012 by Bayer Leverkusen.

Borussia Dortmund, who host Arsenal in Europe on Wednesday, crushed VfB Stuttgart 6-1 with a hat-trick from Poland international Robert Lewandowski to stay second.

Leverkusen dropped three points behind Dortmund in third place after their surprise 1-0 defeat at promoted Eintracht Braunschweig.

Cavani stars as PSG thrash Lorient

Image: Paris St Germain's Edinson Cavani celebrates after he scored against FC Lorient in their French Ligue 1 soccer match at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on Friday
Photographs: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

FRANCE

Champions Paris St Germain showed they could cope without striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic by thrashing Lorient 4-0 at home to open up a two-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.

Edinson Cavani found the net twice and is now the league's leading scorer with nine goals as PSG prepared for their midweek Champions League game at home to Anderlecht in style despite resting several usual starters.

Ibrahimovic was left out the squad with a minor injury but is expected to be fit for European action.

Unbeaten PSG have 28 points from 12 games, two ahead of Lille who moved in front of Monaco after beating them 2-0 at home with two goals from Nolan Roux. Monaco are third on 25.

Source: REUTERS
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