Arsenal dig deep, Barcelona and Monaco cruise
Sunday, January 22, 2017
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Alexis Sánchez hit a dramatic penalty winner for Arsenal on a day when Barcelona, Benfica and Monaco all scored four, Juventus prevailed again at home and Sevilla edged a seven-goal thriller.
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SUNDAY
Eibar 0-4 Barcelona (Denis Suárez 31, Messi 50, Luis Suárez 68, Neymar 90+1)
An apparent ankle injury for Sergio Busquets was the only negative for Barcelona as they posted a fourth successive victory in all competitions to return within two points of Liga top dogs Real Madrid, who hold a game in hand. Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi both struck their 15th league goals this term, Messi grabbing his 12th in 12 matches in all competitions.
Juventus 2-0 Lazio (Dybala 5, Higuaín 16)
Gonzalo Higuaín became the first Juventus player to net in five consecutive Serie A outings since David Trezeguet in 2005 as the Italian title holders returned to winning ways. The Bianconeri have now recorded 27 straight league wins at home.
Osasuna 3-4 Sevilla (Sergio León 15, Iborra og 63, Kenan Kodro 90+3; Iborra 43 65, Vázquez 80, Sarabia 90+2)
Second-placed Sevilla came from behind twice to win a seven-goal thriller in Pamplona and maintain the pressure on Liga leaders Real Madrid. Jorge Sampaoli's team have collected a club-record 42 points in the top flight at the halfway stage.
Monaco 4-0 Lorient (Boschilia 24 28, Germain 37 59)
Free-scoring Monaco struck four in Ligue 1 for the second week running, increasing their tally to 64 goals in 21 games to move two points clear of Nice at the summit. Leonardo Jardim's men have now won nine of their 11 home fixtures in the league this term.
Arsenal 2-1 Burnley (Mustafi 59, Alexis 90+8pen; Gray 90+3pen)
There was late drama aplenty in north London as Alexis Sánchez sealed an unlikely win for Arsenal with a penalty deep into added time – after Burnley had drawn themselves level with a spot kick of their own on 93 minutes. The Gunners had earlier lost Granit Xhaka to a red card, following Shkodran Mustafi's first goal for the club.
Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Hertha Berlin (Ömer Toprak 12, Hakan Çalhanoğlu 36pen 88; Stocker 44)
Leverkusen's first game of 2017 ended in success after Ömer Toprak got the ball rolling with his first goal in almost exactly a year. Hakan Çalhanoğlu weighed in with a double as the Werkself moved into the top half of the Bundesliga table.
Athletic Club 2-2 Atlético Madrid (Lekue 42, De Marcos 56; Koke 3 Griezmann 80)
Atlético's three-game winning run in the Liga came to an end and it could have been worse for the Colchoneros despite Koke's early opener. Diego Simeone's men were heading for defeat until Antoine Griezmann conjured up a superb late leveller to leave the fourth-placed side eight points off leaders Real Madrid having played a game more.
Benfica 4-0 Tondela (Pizzi 59 76, Rafa Silva 84, Jonas 90+3pen)
The Eagles returned to winning ways at the top of the Portuguese Liga thanks to what ultimately proved a comprehensive win – though they had to wait almost an hour for two-goal Pizzi to open the scoring. Rafa Silva later notched his first for the side and Jonas made it six goals from six games in all competitions as Benfica restored their four-point lead.
Southampton 3-0 Leicester City (Ward-Prowse 26, Rodriguez 39, Tadić 86pen)
Claudio Ranieri's men remain winless away from home in the Premier League after suffering their fifth reverse in nine outings in the competition. The result leaves the Foxes five points above the relegation zone.
SATURDAY
Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Sané 49, De Bruyne 54; Alli 58, Son 77)
With victory wanted by both sides to stay in touch with leaders Chelsea, City took a deserved lead when Hugo Lloris came out of goal and nodded the ball against Leroy Sané, who then tapped into an empty net. Soon after, Lloris spilt a Raheem Sterling cross and Kevin De Bruyne took full advantage. But Dele Alli headed Spurs back into the game and then half-time substitute Son Heung-Min levelled following a flick from Harry Kane. City introduced new signing Gabriel Jesus for his debut and within a few minutes the teenage Brazilian had gone close and had a goal disallowed for offside.
Real Madrid 2-1 Málaga (Ramos 35 43; Juanpi 63)
Sergio Ramos is up to a career-best eight goals for the season after striking twice to set up a victory which keeps Madrid top in the Liga. Having seen their unbeaten run ended with defeats by Sevilla and Celta Vigo in the last week, Madrid needed to get back on track and Ramos headed in a Toni Kroos corner before the captain turned home a free-kick from the German. Málaga came close to turning the game in the second half, though Cristiano Ronaldo hit a post.
AC Milan 1-2 Napoli (Kucka 37; Insigne 6, Callejón 9)
Napoli kept up the pressure on Juventus and Roma at the Serie A summit thanks to two early goals at Milan, who had not lost at home since September. In-form Dries Mertens set up both those goals, turning provider after scoring ten in the previous six matches for Napoli.
Werder Bremen 1-2 Borussia Dortmund (Bartlels 59; Schürrle 5, Piszczek 71)
Dortmund won their opening competitive game of 2017 for their first away Bundesliga victory since 5 November. BVB drew their last three matches of 2016 but went ahead quickly as Marco Reus sent André Schürrle clear. Bremen lost goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobný to a straight red card late in the first half and, although they drew level, Łukasz Piszczek made the extra man count for Dortmund after good work from substitutes Ousmane Dembélé and Raphaël Guerreiro.
Nantes 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain (Cavani 21 65)
Edinson Cavani ended a four-game wait for his first goals of 2017 to move up to 26 for the season and help Paris keep pace with leaders Monaco. Nantes put on a positive display, but Cavani finished off a fine team move to break the deadlock and then doubled the lead with a fine free-kick.
Porto 4-2 Rio Ave (Felipe 18, Marcano 55, Danilo 62, Rui Pedro 88; Guedes 35, Roderick 49)
Porto came from behind to secure a win which keeps up the pressure on leaders Benfica. All four Porto goals came from headers and they remain unbeaten in 16 home competitive games this season.
FRIDAY
Freiburg 1-2 Bayern München (Haberer 4; Lewandowski 35 90+1)
Carlo Ancelotti's men returned from their winter break to extend their winning run to seven games. Robert Lewandowski's brilliantly improvised added-time winner was his 14th league goal of the season and ensured Bayern won for the 39th consecutive Bundesliga game in which he has scored.