By ADAM TROXTELL

Manchester United may have scored the goals, but David De Gea won them the match.

The Spanish goalkeeper put in a world-class display to secure the clean sheet in Man United’s 3-0 win over rivals Liverpool. Seemingly impossible saves looked easy for De Gea, as Man United left Liverpool languishing in 10th place in the Premier League.

Manchester United scored purely through efficiency. They were up 2-0 by halftime, scoring on their only two shots on target from Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata.

De Gea first saved Jonny Evans’ blushes by stepping in front of a hesitant Raheem Sterling who was clean through after a poorly timed back-pass. De Gea then turned a  Mario Balotelli strike onto the bar before denying him from close range again six minutes from the end. By then, Robin Van Persie’s third goal had sealed all three points.

In Italy, just one point separates the top two while three points separates third from eighth after a day of top-of-the-table clashes. A 1-0 win for Roma over Genoa took advantage of Junventus’ 1-1 draw with Sampdoria. AC Milan jumped firmly back in the Champions League race with a 2-0 win over Napoli

Villareal got their fifth straight win in all competitions with a 1-0 result away to Atletico Madrid in Spain. Marseille failed to take advantage of a PSG surprise loss in Ligue 1.

Here’s a full look at Sunday’s action in Europe:

ENGLAND

Seeking to turn their recent form into a morale-boosting win over fierce rivals, Liverpool boss Brendan Rogers rang in the changes for his squad on Sunday.

Unfortunately for him, they only seemed to exacerbate the Reds’ problems in a 3-0 loss to Manchester United. A front pair of Sterling and Adam Lallana made for a toothless attack in the first half as the Red Devils succeeded with each chance they had at the other end.

Brad Jones started in goal for the benched Simon Mingolet, but he may have felt like a spectator on Man United’s first two goals. Antonio Valencia split Joe Allen and Alberto Moreno with his first journey forward down the right and found a streaking Wayne Rooney at the top of the box. Rooney powered his strike into the net, sending Old Trafford’s home fans into a frenzy.

The second was perhaps unfortunate for Liverpool. Ashley Young’s cross initially appeared to miss everyone before Mata headed in at the back post, but a replay shows it may have taken a slight deflection off of Van Persie’s head. That would have meant Mata was offside when he struck, but the flag stayed down and there was little to no Liverpool protest.

Fresh back from injury, Balotelli entered the fray after halftime. He clearly gave the Reds’ attack some edge, but it could not penetrate the wall that was De Gea. Chance after chance, eight of them to be exact, was turned away.

A poor clearance from Dejan Lovren sealed Liverpool’s fate. The ball made its way out to a wide open Van Persie who only needed to roll it past Jones in the 71st minute. The win solidifies Man United’s spot in third for now, and their sixth consecutive win might have them looking up at the top two.

Another late Christian Eriksen goal provided Tottenham Hostpur with a valuable 2-1 win in a rainy Swansea. Former Swan Ben Davies latched onto a poorly cleared ball and found Eriksen in enough space at the top of the box to turn on his right foot and fire past Gerhard Tremmel in the 89th minute.

Just four minutes in Harry Kane headed in Eriksen’s cross for a 1-0 Spurs lead. Three minutes after halftime, Wilfried Bony scored his 20th goal in 2014 to equalize for Swansea. The late strike changed what was otherwise an even contest.

ITALY

There was bound to be shuffling in the Serie A table on Sunday, and the possibility only strengthened with the early result.

Patrice Evra’s first goal with a flying 12th minute header for Juventus was not enough in a 1-1 draw at home to Sampdoria. The defending champions dominated fourth-placed Sampdoria with nine shots on target.

But substitute and former Juventus man Manolo Gabbiadini prevented them from taking all three points with a 51st minute strike into the bottom right corner. The point was enough to keep Juventus at the top, but it opened things up for Roma to inch closer.

They did just that with a 1-0 win away to Genoa. The chance to take the lead came on the half-hour mark when Genoa goalkeeper fouled Miralem Pjanic in the box and was sent off. Substitute goalkeeper Eugenio Lamanna saved Adem Ljajic’s penalty, however, to keep things scoreless.

With 10 men, Genoa were vulnerable and 10 minutes later it showed. Radja Nainggolan volleyed in Maicon’s cross in the 40th minute for the winner.

Three minutes into stoppage time Genoa looked to have scored the equalizer off a corner, but Tomas Rincon was controversially ruled offside on a flick to the back post. Roma now sit one point behind leaders Juventus.

AC Milan subsequently jumped back into the race for Europe. Jeremy Menez and Giacomo Bonaventura scored a goal in each half to send Milan into sixth, just two points behind Genoa in fifth and Sampdoria in fourth.

Here’s a full list of results from Italy:

Juventus 1, Sampdoria 1

Genoa 0, Roma 1

Parma 0, Cagliari 0

Udinese 1, Hellas Verona 2

Cesena 1, Fiorentina 4

AC Milan 2, Napoli 0

SPAIN

Argentine youngster Luciano Vietto is becoming a Villareal favorite.

His 84th minute strike gave the Yellow Submarine a valuable 1-0 win away to Atletico Madrid. Vietto took a pass in stride before swiveling onto his right and wrong-footing Diego Godin. That left him to curl one around Miguel Angel Moya for the winner.

It came somewhat against the run of play on a frustrating night for Atletico. What looked like a sure goal from Mario Mandzukic was controversially waved off for a foul on Mario Gaspar.

A late Cristian Stuani strike gave Espanyol a 2-1 win over Granada that sees them climb into the mid-table and away from relegation trouble.

Here’s all the results from Spain:

Espanyol 2, Granada 1

Sevilla 0, Eibar 0

Atletico Madrid 0, Villareal 1

Real Sociedad 1, Athletic Bilbao 1

FRANCE

A chance for Marseille to pull four points away from PSG at the top in France has come and gone.

They fell 1-0 away to Monaco, who have now notched together four consecutive wins in all competitions. Bernardo Silva took a low Anthony Martial cross and finished into the low right corner in the 67th minute for the win.

It left PSG wiping their brow after a shock 1-0 loss to Guingamp. Jeremy Pied struck in the 11th minute against the Parisians’ dominant display. They controlled 72 percent of possession and produced 11 shots, but only three of them were on target.

Here’s all the Ligue 1 results from Sunday:

Nice 0, St. Etienne 0

Guingamp 1, PSG 0

Lille 3, Toulouse 0

Monaco 1, Marseille 0

GERMANY

There was little to separate Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach ahead of Sunday’s encounter, and that didn’t change.

Third-placed Leverkusen drew their fourth-placed opponents 1-1, leaving both still on 24 points. Hakan Calhanoglu struck first for Leverkusen in the 18th minute before Roel Brouwers equalized five minutes before halftime.

Leverkusen will perhaps feel more upset at the result, given they edged possession and put six shots on target. In the end, neither could pull away from the pack chasing the top four.

Wolfsburg have now become a slightly smaller blip behind first-placed Bayern Munich after a 1-1 draw with Paderborn. A Rafa Lopez own goal gave Wolfsburg the lead on 17 minutes.

But they could have been up by two less than 15 minutes later. Ivan Perisic missed his penalty attempt, and that left the door open for Alban Meha to strike from the penalty spot in the 51st minute for Paderborn.