Manchester United has a new scoring king. The storied club in England experienced a shift in the record books on Saturday, as Wayne Rooney broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s goal mark with a strike against Stoke City.
Rooney’s record breaker wasn’t the only big headline from across Europe this weekend, as Real Madrid rebounded from a rare hiccup in form with a win in Spain in its second league game back from the winter break.
Over in Germany, nothing changed after the extended winter break as all of the contenders for the title and UEFA Champions League places held serve in impressive fashion.
Below is a further look at some of the top headlines from across Europe this weekend.
Rooney breaks Manchester United scoring record against Stoke City
Rooney, who tied Charlton at 249 goals on January 7, netted his record-breaking strike in the 93rd minute at the Britannia Stadium to cancel out Juan Mata’s first-half own goal.
Not only was the tally from the Englishman an historic one, it also handed United a key point in the race for the top four. The Red Devils are in sixth place with 41 points, four points off Liverpool in fourth and two behind Manchester City in fifth.
The goal was just the fifth of the season in all competitions, and second in the Premier League, for Rooney, who has been relegated to a smaller role under first-year boss Jose Mourinho.
Elsewhere, two title contenders collided as Manchester City took on Tottenham, but neither side could create separation in a 2-2 draw.
Here’s a closer look at all of the results around the Premier League:
Liverpool 2 – 3 Swansea City
West Brom 2 – 0 Sunderland
Crystal Palace 0 – 1 Everton
Middlesbrough 1 – 3 West Ham
Stoke City 1 – 1 Manchester United
Bournemouth 2 – 2 Watford
Manchester City 2 – 2 Tottenham
Southampton 3 – 0 Leicester
Arsenal 2 – 1 Burnley
Chelsea 2 – 0 Hull City
Real Madrid get back to winning ways
Real Madrid halted its poor run of form out of the winter break with a 2-1 win over Malaga at the Bernabeu on Saturday. Sergio Ramos scored a brace in the victory that ended a rare two-game losing streak for Zinedine Zidane’s men.
Real Madrid stumbled out of the break as it suffered losses to Sevilla and Celta Vigo in La Liga and the Copa del Rey respectively. Both defeats were of the 2-1 variety and the cup defeat set Madrid back heading into the second leg of its cup tie with Celta Vigo.
The win kept a little bit of distance between Real Madrid and its title rivals. Los Blancos sit on 43 points at the top of the table with Sevilla and Barcelona one and two points back in second and third, respectively.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s La Liga results:
Las Palmas 1 – 1 Deportivo La Coruna
Espanyol 3 – 1 Granada
Real Madrid 2 – 1 Malaga
Alaves 2 – 2 Leganes
Villarreal 0 – 2 Valencia
Osasuna 3 – 4 Atletico Madrid
Real Sociedad 1 – 0 Celta Vigo
Real Betis 0 – 0 Sporting Gijon
Eibar 0 – 4 Barcelona
Bundesliga title contenders hold serve in return from break
There were no surprises out of the winter break in Germany like there was in Spain a week ago, as all of the main title contenders picked up victories on the first matchday of the new calendar year.
First-place Bayern Munich opened the weekend with a 2-1 road win over Freiburg in which Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace. The 28-year-old Polish forward has 14 goals in 16 league matches and 22 across all competitions this season for the Bundesliga leaders.
RB Leipzig kept pace with Bayern as it cruised to a 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, while Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund both won on their travels on Saturday. Dortmund downed Werder Bremen, 2-1, and Hoffenheim defeated Augsburg, 2-0.
Here’s a look at all of this weekend’s Bundesliga results:
Freiburg 1 – 2 Bayern Munich
Wolfsburg 1 – 0 Hamburg
Schalke 1 – 0 Ingolstadt
Werder Bremen 1 – 2 Dortmund
Darmstadt 0 – 0 Borussia Monchengladbach
Augsburg 0 – 2 Hoffenheim
RB Leipzig 3 – 0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Bayer Leverkusen 3 – 1 Hertha Berlin
Mainz 0 – 0 Koln