By ADAM TROXTELL
Manchester United limped into Saturday’s showdown with Arsenal beset by injuries, but survived an early onslaught before handing the Gunners a shock home loss.
Wayne Rooney struck in the 85th minute on a fast break, lobbing substitute goalkeeper Damian Martinez to put the game at The Emirates beyond doubt. Goalkeeper David DeGea helped keep Manchester United from falling behind after a strong start by Arsenal, and the visitors took the lead in the 56th minute on a Kieran Gibbs own goal.
Rooney’s goal stood as the winner after Olivier Giroud’s stoppage-time goal, giving Manchester United a victory that pushed the Red Devils into fourth place in the English Premier League.
In Spain, Lionel Messi broke a 59-year old La Liga scoring record, netting a hat trick in Barcelona’s 5-1 rout of Sevilla. Messi snapped the league goals record long held by former Barcelona striker Telmo Zarra, pushing his career goal-scoring total in La Liga play to 253 goals.
Roma and Juventus remain locked in their battle for the top of Serie A with road wins against Atalanta and Lazio, respectively. In France, Lyon lost some ground in the title race while Bayern Munich still stands alone atop the German Bundesliga.
Here is a rundown of Saturday’s club action in Europe:
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
In a packed table around the European spots, Arsenal can take solace in the fact they are only two points back after a 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United. But at home against a visiting side who reverted to a three-center back system to accommodate for injuries, they’ll have wanted more from their 10 shots on target and lion’s share of possession.
Rooney drew the plaudits, but it was Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea’s brave and at times inspiring play that provided Manchester United the opportunity to seal the win late. It followed an own goal from Arenal’s Kieran Gibbs on the same play in which he collided with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who had to be stretchered off.
Arsenal next face West Brom, at whose expense Chelsea maintained their stranglehold at the top of the Premier Leauge with a 2-0 win. Diego Costa got things started just 11 minutes in before Eden Hazard doubled it midway through the first half.
Claudio Yacob’s red card in the 29th minute for a two-footed tackle on Costa looked to further fuel the Chelsea fire, but West Brom bravely defended in the second half to avoid the embarrassment of a goal-fest.
Elsewhere, a Leon Osman strike on his 400th appearance for Everton saw them past West Ham 2-1. Manchester City came back from a ninth minute Wilfried Bony goal to win 2-1 at home to Swansea. Burnley secured its second league win in a row with a 2-1 victory away to Stoke. Newcastle continued its red-hot streak, beating Queens Park Rangers, 1-0, for their fifth straight league victory.
Here are all the results from today’s Premier League action:
Chelsea 2, West Brom 0
Everton 2, West Ham 1
Leiceser 0, Sunderland 0
Manchester City 2, Swansea 1
Newcastle 1, QPR 0
Stoke 1, Burnley 2
Arsenal 1, Manchester United 2
————
Spain
Messi’s historic moment came in the 72nd minute. A quick exchange between him and Neymar left the Argentine in enough space to slot home Barca’s fourth of the game and goal 253 of his La Liga career, passing Telmo Zarra’s record set in 1955. He completed a hat trick on the day six minutes later to keep Barcelona within two points of league leaders Real Madrid and leave Sevilla seven points off the top.
A Cristiano Ronaldo brace led Real Madrid past Eibar. Ronaldo slotted home goals 19 and 20 with a strike to double Real’s lead just before halftime and an 83rd minute penalty. James Rodriguez opened the scoring, while Karim Benzema slotted home their third with 20 minutes remaining.
Back in Madrid, Atletico sent fans home happy with a 3-1 win against Malaga. A red card to Gabi Fernandez for a second bookable offence in the 88th minute slightly spoiled the occasion. Meanwhile, Deportivo La Coruna and Real Sociedad finished goalless in David Moyes’ first game in charge for Real Sociedad.
Here are all the scores from La Liga today:
Atletico Madrid 3, Malaga 1
Eibar 0, Real Madrid 4
Barcelona 5, Sevilla 1
Deportivo 0, Real Sociedad 0
————
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga lead is now at seven points after a 4-0 drubbing of Hoffenheim. Mario Goetze stayed tied at seven goals with Alexander Meier of Eintracht Frankfurt in season scoring when he started things off in the 23rd minute.
Meier struck in the 57th minute of a 3-1 away win at Borussia Monchengladbach. Dortmund’s league struggles continued in a 2-2 draw at surprise package Paderborn.
The team looking to take their place as challengers, Wolfsburg, fell back in a 2-3 loss away to Schalke. Goals from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Christian Fuchs put Schalke 3-0 up just 25 minutes into the game. Ivica Olic struck before halftime while Nicklas Bendtner gave the away side hope with 15 minutes left.
FC Koln and Hannover also lost at home to Hertha Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively. Mainz and Freiburg ended their match 2-2.
Here’s a full list of results from Saturday’s Bundesliga:
Bayern Munich 4, Hoffenheim 0
Monchengladback 1, Frankfurt 3
Hannover 1, Leverkusen 3
Mainz 2, Freiburg 2
Paderborn 2, Dortmund 2
Schalke 3, Wolfsburg 2
Koln 1, Hertha Berlin 2
——————-
ITALIAN SERIE A
Paul Pogba helped keep Juventus in charge of Seria during a 3-0 win away to Lazio. The French midfielder opened the scoring off an assist from Carlos Tevez and finished the home side off with a 64th minute strike. Tevez scored 10 minutes after the restart in between.
It was valuable in terms of keeping Roma from encroaching on the Old Lady’s perch at the top in Italy. Roma won 2-1 away to Atalanta, responding to a second minute Maxi Moralez strike with goals from Adem Ljajic and Radja Nainggolan to take the lead before halftime.
Here’s all the results from Italy:
Atalanta 1, Roma 2
Lazio 0, Juventus 3
FRENCH LIGUE 1
Lyon sit three points off leaders PSG after a frustrating 0-0 draw away to Bastia on Saturday. Despite seven total shots and 59 percent possession, they could not find a way past Alphonse Areola.
Elsewhere in France, Guingamp remain in the relegation zone after a 0-1 home loss to Rennes; Monaco lost more ground in the race for Europe in an exciting 2-2 draw at home to Caen; Lorient climbed off the bottom of the table with a 1-0 win after an early red card to Lens’ Lolik Landre; Nice and Reims played to a goalless draw.
Here’s a list of the Ligue 1 results:
Bastia 0, Lyon 0
Guingamp 0, Rennes 1
Lorient 1, Lens 0
Monaco 2, Caen 2
Nice 0, Reims 0
————-
And I see Jozy did not get off the bench yesterday. It’s great how he’s playing at this high level isn’t it. Come home Jozy, yur wasting your time in the UK