John Diidi
Madrid gets big win, Arsenal and Chelsea in Big wins as Napoli maintains top spot in Serie A.
After a weekend filled with amazing football action in Europe, we bring you a roundup of games from the big leagues.
For Real Madrid, this season can best be described as a disaster especially in the league, as they have slipped down to fourth place, 19 points behind table-topping rivals Barcelona.
It seemed to get even worse this weekend, as they fell behind at home to Deportivo after 23 minutes, but the goal proved to be the wake-up call they needed, as braces from Nacho, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, alongside a solitary Luka Modric strike, ensured a 7-1 win for the Los Blancos.
Elsewhere in Spain, Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona hit a complete handful of goals at Betis to keep the La Liga chasing pack at arm’s length.
Atletico Madrid were held at home by Girona in Spain, Valencia were stunned by Las Palmas, who have climbed off the foot of the LA Liga table.
In England, Chelsea and Arsenal also secured big wins this weekend, as a man of match performance from Eden Hazard helped the Premier League champions to a comprehensive 4-0 win over Brighton – their first league victory of 2018.
Hazard capped off his magnificent display, where he scored twice, by handing his shirt over to a little boy who requested it after the final whistle.
At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal put behind them the impending departure of Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United, as the Gunners took only 22 minutes to net four times, Nacho Monreal, Alex Iwobi, Laurent Koscielny and Alexandre Lacazette hitting the net as Arsene Wenger watched his team run out 4-1 winners against a sorry Crystal Palace.
Sergio Aguero scored a hatrick, his 10th, 11th and 12th league goals against Newcastle as Manchester City saw off the Magpies 3-1.
In Italy, Dries Mertens’ 67th minute goal was enough for Napoli to see off Atalanta and maintain top spot in Serie A, where Lazio hit five past Chievo Verona. Franck Kessie’s brace was enough for AC Milan to win at Cagliari, a late Matias Vecino goal salvaged a point for Inter at home to Roma.
In the Bundesliga, Thomas Muller scored his 100th league goal in Bayern Munich’s 4-2 win over Werder Bremen. Koln bagged a third league win on the bounce, to come within four points of the relegation play-off place.
In Ligue 1, Bordeaux began life after Jocelyn Gourvennec, with a win at Nantes.
Lyon left it late against Paris Saint-Germain, Memphis Depay popping up with the winner for Les Gones at home to the leaders.
Results
LaLiga: Real Madrid 7-1 Deportivo; Espanyol 0-3 Sevilla; Getafe 2-2 Athletic Bilbao; Real Sociedad 1-2 Celta Vigo; Villarreal 2-1 Levante; Atletico Madrid 1-1 Girona; Alaves 2-2 Leganes; Real Betis 0-5 Barcelona; Las Palmas 2-1 Valencia
Serie A: Atalanta 0-1 Napoli; Inter 1-1 Roma; Lazio 5-1 Chievo; Cagliari 1-2 Milan; Bologna 3-0 Benevento; Hellas Verona 0-3 Crotone; Sampdoria 3-1 Fiorentina; Udinese 1-1 SPAL; Sassuolo 1-1 Torino
Premier League: Brighton 0-4 Chelsea; Everton 1-1 West Brom; West Ham 1-1 Bournemouth; Burnley 0-1 Manchester United; Stoke 2-0 Huddersfield; Southampton 1-1 Tottenham; Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle; Leicester 2-0 Watford; Arsenal 4-1 Crystal Palace
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 4-2 Werder Bremen; Hertha BSC 1-1 Dortmund; Mainz 3-2 Stuttgart; Wolfsburg 1-3 Frankfurt; Freiburg 2-1 RB Leipzig; Hoffenheim 1-4 Leverkusen; Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 Augsburg; Hamburg 0-2 Koln; Schalke 1-1 Hannover
Ligue 1: Caen 0-2 Marseille; Nantes 0-1 Bordeaux; Amiens 3-1 Guingamp; Montpellier 2-1 Toulouse; Troyes 1-0 Lille; Rennes 1-0 Angers; Strasbourg 3-2 Dijon; Nice 1-0 St. Etienne; Monaco 3-1 Metz; Lyon 2-1 PSG
