European roundup - Real beat Atletico, other leaders lose

Mon, Nov 08 10 10:18 AM

Real Madrid went through the familiar routine of beating local rivals Atletico to stay top in Spain on Sunday.

Lazio, Chelsea and Brest stayed top in Italy, England and France respectively despite all losing.

SPAIN

Real Madrid, unbeaten by rivals Atletico in more than a decade, continued their dominance with a 2-0 win on Sunday which kept them top of La Liga.

Ricardo Carvalho and Mesut Ozil scored for Jose Mourinho's unbeaten side who have 26 points from 10 games, one ahead of champions Barcelona.

The Catalans won 3-1 at Getafe with goals from Lionel Messi, David Villa and Pedro.

Villarreal, who fought back from a goal down at home to beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1y, are third on 23. Espanyol are fourth on 18 after their 1-0 win over visiting Malaga.

ITALY

Surprise leaders Lazio lost their derby 2-0 to AS Roma after second-half penalties from Marco Borriello and Mirko Vucinic finally burst their bubble.

AC Milan were the main beneficiaries as they moved second, two points behind, after a 3-2 win at Bari.

Injury-hit champions Inter Milan dropped to third following a 1-1 home draw against Brescia in which Argentine centre back Walter Samuel injured knee ligaments and could be out for the season.

Fourth-placed Juventus have been similarly decimated by injuries but came from behind to beat Cesena 3-1.

ENGLAND

Champions and leaders Chelsea suffered their second defeat of the season as Fernando Torres scored twice to guide Liverpool to a 2-0 victory at Anfield.

That meant their lead over Manchester United was cut to two points after Park Ji-sung's stoppage-time goal, his second of the match, snatched a 2-1 Old Trafford victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Manchester City's Italian striker Mario Balotelli was another to score both goals as his side won 2-0 at West Bromwich Albion, though he spoiled the day somewhat by getting himself needlessly sent off.

Chelsea have 25 points, two ahead of Manchester United, with Arsenal and Manchester City on 20.

FRANCE

Paris St Germain revived their title hopes with a 2-1 home win over arch-rivals Olympique Marseille on Sunday.

PSG prevailed thanks to early goals by strikers Mevlut Erding and Guilaume Hoarau to move up to third with 19 points from 12 games, two points adrift of leaders Brest who conceded their first goals in nine league games in a 3-1 defeat at Lille.

Marseille, who reduced the arrears through Lucho Gonzalez, lie fourth on 18 points but have a game in hand.

Stade Rennes, one point behind Brest in second place, missed out on top spot when they were held 1-1 by Olympique Lyon.

GERMANY

Borussia Dortmund opened a four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a crushing 4-0 win at Hanover 96 on Sunday, their sixth consecutive away victory.

Dortmund's Shinji Kagawa gave the visitors an early lead. Lucas Barrios added another goal in the 72nd minute before substitutes Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski completed the rout.

Borussia have 28 points from 11 games, four ahead of second-placed Mainz 05 who slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Freiburg on Saturday.

Bayer Leverkusen moved up to third on 21 points after coming from a goal down to beat Kaiserslautern 3-1 while VfB Stuttgart climbed out of the drop zone with a scintillating 6-0 romp against Werder Bremen.

PORTUGAL

Porto extended their lead at the top to 10 points by thrashing second-placed Benfica 5-0 at home in Sunday's "classico".

Winger Silvestre Varela opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a first-time shot from near the penalty spot after a fine run by Brazilian forward Hulk on the right wing.

Colombia striker Radamel Falcao added two more before halftime, both from assists by Argentine midfielder Fernando Belluschi, again exploiting Benfica's weak defending on the left wing.

Benfica captain Luisao was sent off in the 65th minute for elbowing Fredy Guarin before Hulk completed the rout with two more goals.

Madeira club Nacional climbed to third-place with a 1-0 win at Pacos Ferreira.

NETHERLANDS

Twente Enschede came from behind to beat Excelsior Rotterdam 2-1 with Nacer Chadli and Marc Janko on target to stay top of the Dutch league with 31 points from 13 matches.

PSV Eindhoven follow one point after beating Utrecht 2-1 with two goals from Balazs Dzsudzsak while ADO Den Haag stunned third-placed Ajax Amsterdam with a 1-0 away win.

Source: Published>