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Euro Top 25: Arsenal topples Chelsea, Barca rolls and Man Utd downs City

RobinVanPersie (Reuters) 

Chelsea looked to be in complete control on Sunday in its London Derby showdown vs. Arsenal. Up a goal and cruising, the Blues look poised to win and hold on to first place in the EPL. At least until Robin Van Persie delivered a pair of great goals three minutes apart to give Arsenal the 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

The win helped restore some faith in an Arsenal squad that had struggled badly in recent weeks with inconsinstent form and major injuries. The Gunners' victory, coupled with Aston Villa's draw with Fulham on Saturday, pulled Arsene Wenger's squad past Villa for fourth place in the EPL.

Manchester United closed to within five points of Chelsea with its Derby Day victory against Manchester City as Wayne Rooney's 100th goal for Man Utd proved the difference in the 1-0 win.

In Spain, Barcelona extended its lead to four points (and six points ahead of defending champion Real Madrid) with a convincing 3-0 win against Sevilla. Real Madrid's struggles continued with a loss to Getafe.

In Germany, both Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim registered victories, setting up a juicy showdown between first and second place in the Bundesliga on Friday.

Here is how the SBI European Club Top 25 performed this weekend:

ENGLAND

(No. 2) Liverpool faces West Ham on Monday.

(3) Chelsea lost, 2-1, to (18) Arsenal on Sunday.

(6) Manchester United beat Manchester City, 1-0, on Sunday.

(15) Aston Villa tied Fulham, 0-0, on Saturday.

SPAIN

(1) Barcelona beat (14) Sevilla, 3-0, on Saturday.

(5) Real Madrid lost to Getafe, 3-1, on Saturday.

(7) Villarreal beat Recreativo Huelva, 2-1, on Sunday.

(16) Atletico Madrid beat Racing de Santander, 4-1, on Sunday.

(17) Valencia beat Real Betis, 3-2, on Sunday.

ITALY

(4) Inter Milan beat (12) Napoli, 2-1, on Sunday.

(9) AC Milan lost to Palermo, 3-1, on Sunday.

(10) Juventus beat Reggina, 4-0, on Saturday.

(21) Lazio lost to Atalanta, 2-0, on Saturday.

GERMANY

(8) Bayern Munich beat Bayer Leverkusen, 2-0, on Saturday.

(13) TSG Hoffenheim beat Arminia Bielefeld, 3-0, on Saturday.

FRANCE

(11) Lyon tied Valenciennes, 0-0, on Saturday.

(20) Bordeaux tied Sochaux, 0-0, on Saturday.

GREECE

(19) Olympiakos beat Panonios, 4-0, on Sunday.

NETHERLANDS

(22) Ajax Amsterdam tied FC Utrecht, 1-1, on Sunday.

UKRAINE

(23) Dinamo Kiev beat Dnipro, 2-1, on Sunday.

BELGIUM

(24) Standard Liege tied KV Mechelen, 0-0, on Sunday.

CYPRUS

(25) Anorthosis Famagusta beat Atromitos, 3-0, on Sunday.

Needless to say, we will see a shaking up of the Top 25, both at the top and at the bottom.

What was the most impressive performance of the weekend? How about the most disappointing?

Share your thoughts on this weekend's results in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Barcelona fans, including myself, risk becoming like Notre Dame fans in the ’80s: merely winning will not be enough. Seriously, if Barcelona and Real Madrid keep their current forms, then their metting in two weeks should be poor joy for us Barcelona fans. Fingers crossed.

    Reply
  2. Madrid and AC Milan had the most disappointing performances, both were thoroughly taken apart by inferior sides.

    Barca also had another let down. They’ve now only scored 5 goals once in their last 3 games, what’s up with that? Seriously though, they made it look easy against a very good Sevilla team. Big win for Inter Milan as well, and Juve looked dominant.

    Reply
  3. And Tim, Van Persie looks to be clearly offside but I heard one broadcast suggest that the ref waived it off because the incoming pass hit Ashley Cole’s foot. Now as any American soccer fan (or Canadian soccer fan for that matter) who remembers the 2007 Gold Cup semifinal can tell you, the fact that the pass hit a defender shouldn’t negate Van Persie’s status as off-side.

    Ah well, bad calls happen and Arsenal pounced. Van Persie’s second goal was certainly clean as a whistle.

    Reply
  4. Beckster, I watched the Rennes game and they looked very good and Bocanegra was solid. The fact that they’re already eliminated from European competition hurts their chances to be ranked but they’re definitely on the radar.

    Reply
  5. The only news that matters-

    Hearts > Rangers

    Celtic are 7 points clear!

    St pauli won, too.

    In seriousness, Bayern’s win over Leverkusen is impressive, second only to Arsenal’s win over Chelsea.

    Reply
  6. Ives, I’m thinking you are gonna have to put Rennes into the top 25.

    Chelsea was certainly a shocker but lots of questions still surrounding Arsenal’s ups and downs.

    Agree with Tim – this is a fun post.

    Reply

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