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European Weekend Rewind: Spurs run past City, Barca and Real Struggle and more

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Europe’s top clubs had a weekend to forget over the past three days.

Both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona failed to win, as Madrid drew 1-1 and Barcelona fell 4-3 away from home. Atletico Madrid topped the standings after a 2-0 victory against Valencia.

Borussia Dortmund failed to close the gap with Bayern Munich, as both sides failed to get three points against Cologne and Leverkusen, respectively.

In the Premier League, Pep Guardiola suffered his first loss as Manchester City manager with a 2-0 loss in North London.

Here are the highlights of this weekend’s European action:

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side continued their march up the table with a 2-0 victory at Swansea City on Saturday morning. Despite being down in the second half at The Liberty, the Reds came back with a goal from Roberto Firmino and a late James Milner penalty to steal the victory in South Wales. The match ended up being the last in charge for Swansea manager Francesco Guidolin, as the Italian was sacked Monday morning and replaced by former U.S. Men’s National Team manager Bob Bradley.

Arsenal won in dramatic fashion at Burnley in the late game on Sunday. Lauren Koscielny’s goal in the third minute of second-half stoppege time gave the Gunners all three points, but the goal was marked by controversy. On the replay of the goal, which came from a corner kick, the ball appeared to come off the defender’s arm. IFAB’s rules on handball would rule the goal legal due to many factors, the main on being it not a deliberate motion to score. There were also controversy of Koscielny’s position being offside. While he was onside for the flick on, he was offside when Oxlade-Chamberlain made a play for the ball.

The weekend’s biggest match once again came from the Premiership, as league leaders Manchester City and second place Tottenham Hotspur faced off at White Hart Lane. Spurs became the first club to take points from Pep Guardiola’s side in the league so far, as the hosts came away with a 2-0 victory on an own goal from Aleksandar Kolarov and a second half strike from Dele Alli. The loss in London was City’s second straight match without a win, as the Citizens drew 3-3 at Celtic in the Champions League midweek.

FRIDAY

  • Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace

SATURDAY

  • Swansea City 1-2 Liverpool
  • West Ham 1-1 Middlesbrough
  • Hull City 0-2 Chelsea
  • Sunderland 1-1 West Brom
  • Watford 2-2 Bournemouth

SUNDAY

  • Manchester United 1-1 Stoke City
  • Leicester City 0-0 Southampton
  • Tottenham 2-1 Manchester City
  • Burnley 0-1 Arsenal

SPANISH PRIMERA DIVISION

The big clubs in La Liga struggled this weekend as both Real Madrid and Barcelona failed to register a victory.

Real Madrid drew their fourth straight match in all competitions after drawing at home against a lowly Eibar side. Zinedine Zidane’s squad continued to struggle offensively, as the BBC trio failed to produce enough in the Eibar penalty area. The last Real Madrid victory was on Sept. 18 against Espanyol. Real Madrid are tied for first in La Liga, as city-rivals Atletico Madrid are ahead in goal deferential.

Barcelona blew a chance to move atop the La Liga table as the Catalonian club lost 4-3 to Celta Vigo. Celta, who have had recent success against Barcelona at home, came out at a blistering pace in the first half. Barcelona found themselves down 3-0 at halftime. The Leo Messi-less Barcelona fought back in the second half, cutting the lead down to 3-2 for Celta and later on cutting another Celta lead to 4-3, but their second half onslaught was not enough to take any points from the match. Barcelona find themselves fourth in La Liga going into the International Break, behind the two Madrid clubs and Sevilla.

FRIDAY

  • Real Sociedad 1-0 Real Betis

SATURDAY

  • Granada 0-1 Leganes
  • Sevilla 2-1 Alaves
  • Osasuna 2-2 Las Palmas
  • Deportivo 2-1 Sporting

SUNDAY

  • Valencia 0-2 Atletico Madrid
  • Real Madrid 1-1 Eibar
  • Espanyol 0-0 Villarreal
  • Malaga 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
  • Celta Vigo 4-3 Barcelona

GERMAN BUNDESLIGA

Bayern Munich failed to take all three points at home against a surging FC Köln. Joshua Kimmich’s header in the 40th minute brought the Allianz Arena to life, and have the hosts a lead going into halftime. Anthony Modeste volleyed in a cross in the 63rd minute to tie the match for the visitors, and they almost took all three points on a Yuya Osako goal, but it was ruled offside. Cologne’s impressive performance puts them only four points behind leader’s Bayern in the Bundesliga, sitting in fourth place.

Borussia Dortmund failed to close the gap with Bayern to one point on Saturday, as the Yellow and Black dropped three points at Bayer Arena to Bayer Leverkusen. After an early Admir Mehmed header put the home side up 1-0, it wasn’t until the 73rd minute when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stopped by Bernd Leno that Dortmund had a real chance towards goal. Javier “Chicharito” Hernández sealed the three points for Bayer when he scored in the 79th minute off a Hakan Calhanoglou pass.

Hertha Berlin went second in the Bundesliga after a 2-0 victory against Hamburg at the Olympiastadion. Veda Ibisevic scored in the 29th and 70th minutes to ensure Hertha would jump over Borussia Dortmund and behind Bayern Munich in the standings. The sacking of manager Bruno Labbadia has not spring-boarded Hamburg to new heights, as the club have now gone seven matches without a victory.

FRIDAY

  • RB Leipzig 2-1 FC Augsburg

SATURDAY

  • SC Freiburg 1-0 Eintracht
  • Hertha BSC 2-0 Hamburger SV
  • Ingolstadt 1-2 Hoffenheim
  • Darmstadt 2-2 Werder Bremen
  • Bayern Munich 1-1 FC Köln
  • Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Borussia Dortmund

SUNDAY

  • Wolfsburg 0-0 Mainz
  • Schalke 4-0 Borussia Monchengladbach

ITALIAN SERIE A

The Stadio Olimpico in Rome was rocking Sunday night as Roma defeated Inter Milan 2-1. Edin Dzeko took only five minutes to give the hosts the lead, as he slotted home Bruno Peres’ cross. Ever Banega knotted the match at 1-1 in the 72nd minute, but the match would stay tied for only four minutes. Kostas Manolas’ header took a deflection off Mauro Icardi and went into the back of the net. Icardi’s own goal proved to be the difference, as Roma are now third in the league and Inter Milan fall to 9th.

A resurgent Torino side were able to fend off Fiorentina for a 2-1 victory in Turin. Iago Calque’s 15th minute left foot strike put the hosts up 1-0. Marco Benussi scored Torino’s second in the 60th minute, off a Calque assist. Khouma Babacar ruined Joe Hart’s clean sheet six minutes before full time, as he headed home Fiorentina’s consolation goal.

League leaders Juventus brushed aside Empoli 3-0 away from home. It was the Argentinian strikers, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala, who scored the goals for the Old Lady on Saturday morning. Dybala scored in the 65th minute, while Higuain took only three minutes to record his brace in the 67th and 70th minutes. Juventus’ five minute burst rewarded them for their dominant display at the Stadio Carlo Castellani. Juventus are now four points ahead second place Napoli.

SATURDAY

  • Pescara 0-2 Chievo
  • Udinese 0-3 Lazio

SUNDAY

  • Empoli 0-3 Juventus
  • Sampdoria 1-1 Palermo
  • Atalanta 1-0 Napoli
  • Cagliari 2-1 Crotone
  • Bologna 0-1 Genoa
  • Torino 2-1 Fiorentina
  • AC Milan 4-3 Sassuolo
  • Roma 2-1 Inter

FRENCH LIGUE 1

PSG went back to winning ways at Parc des Princes with a 2-0 victory over Bordeaux. Edison Cavani scored in the 3rd and 30th minutes to record his first half brace, enough for the Parsians to keep pressure on league leaders OGC Nice. The brace was Cavani’s second of the week, as the Uruguayan scored two at Ludogorets in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Mario Balotelli scored the winning goal and was sent off as league leading OGC Nice beat Lorient 2-1. Ricardo Pereira gave Nice the early first half lead, only to be cancelled out in the 61st minute on a Benjamin Moukandjo goal. Balotelli came to the rescue in the 86th minute, as the Italian restored Nice’s lead and their place at the top of the table. Balotelli accumulated his two yellow cards in quick succession. Mario has received his first as he took off his shirt when celebrating his goal, and was sent off on a second yellow card in the 92nd minute after clashing with Steven Moreira. The suspension has since been successfully appealed by Nice and Balotelli will miss no game time.

AS Monaco kept pace with Nice with a 7-0 thumping of a 10-man Metz. Thomas Lemar , Valere Germain and Bernardo Silva gave the visitors a 3-0 lead at halftime, but the flood gates opened in the second half for Monaco. Check Doukoure was sent off for Metz with thirty minute left in the ninety, and Fabinho scored from the spot eight minuets later. Guido Carrillo scored an eleven minute brace before Boschilia added a seventh.

FRIDAY

  • Rennes 1-0 Guingamp

SATURDAY

  • PSG 2-0 Bordeaux
  • Caen 1-0 Toulouse
  • Nantes 1-0 Bastia
  • Dijon FCO 3-3 Montpellier
  • Metz 0-7 Monaco
  • Lille 1-0 Nancy

SUNDAY

  • Angers 1-1 Marseille
  • Nice 2-1 Lorient
  • Lyon 1-0 ASSE

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