PREMIER LEAGUE
Manchester City breathed fresh life into their Premier League title challenge as they came from behind to secure a crucial 2-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s side recovered from Theo Walcott’s early opener as second half goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling delivered the knockout blows in a heavyweight clash at Eastlands.
Southampton forward Jay Rodriguez bagged a brace to inspire his side’s 3-1 win against local rivals Bournemouth on Sunday.
Rodriguez hadn’t scored in the Premier League since August but he ended that barren stretch with a second half double in the south coast derby at Dean Court.
Danny Rose broke Burnley hearts with a second-half winner as Tottenham snatched a 2-1 victory and moved to within a point of the Premier League’s top four.
Burnley took a surprise lead at White Hart Lane through Ashley Barnes but Dele Alli pulled the hosts level before Rose’s stinging strike clinched a valuable three points for Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
LA LIGA
A Luis Suarez brace along with goals from Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba saw Barcelona win 4-1 at home to Espanyol.
LIGUE 1
Mario Balotelli scored twice on his return to the starting line-up as Ligue 1 leaders Nice stretched their advantage at the top to four points on Sunday with a 2-1 victory at home to Dijon.
The Italy striker made his first league start in six weeks after recovering from a calf injury and converted a first-half penalty to fire Nice ahead at the Allianz Riviera.
BUNDESLIGA
Douglas Costa’s long-range strike rescued Bayern Munich in their 1-0 victory at bottom side Darmstadt on Sunday to reinstate his side as Bundesliga leaders before their showdown with RB Leipzig.
Ingolstadt moved out of the bottom two on Sunday with a surprise 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen.
The visitors took the lead in the 26th minute with a powerful Alfredo Morales header from Markus Suttner’s cross, prompting the first chorus of whistles from the BayArena faithful.
SERIE A
Dries Mertens put four goals past England’s Joe Hart as rampant Napoli completed a memorable 5-3 win over Torino to move up to third place in Serie A.
Mertens hit three goals in a 5-0 rout of Cagliari last week to add to a goal he scored against Benfica in a 2-1 Champions League win a fortnight ago.
Antonio Candreva struck a second-half winner as Inter Milan edged Sassuolo 1-0 on Sunday to hand coach Stefano Pioli his first away victory since he replaced Dutchman Frank De Boer.
Inter’s second win in succession following a chastening 3-0 defeat to Napoli a fortnight ago moves the Nerazzurri up to provisional seventh place 15 points off top spot.