Bukayo Saka starred for Arsenal with a brace and an assist as Mikel Arteta’s men took a huge step towards a first title in two decades. Here’s the omplete lowdown on what’s been happening in European football this past fortnight.
Arsenal crushed Crystal Palace 4- 1 to go eight points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table. Bukayo Saka starred for the Gunners with a brace and an help as Mikel Arteta’s men took a huge step towards a first title in two decades.
Pep Guardiola’s City has a game in hand and will look forward to April 27 when it’ll take on Arsenal at its home — to cut down the deficiency further.
Newcastle brushed away its indifferent form as it beat Nottingham Forest 2- 1 to demesne itself behind Tottenham Hotspur in fifth. Eddie Howe’s side is just two points behind Spurs and has two games in hand.
The biggest moment of the week came after the Spurs- Southampton game, which ended in an amusing 3- 3 draw. Tottenham director Antonio Conte vented his frustration in the post-match press conference, criticising his players for their egoism and blasting the club for its lack of a winning intelligence.
Conte’s outburst pushed the formerly tense relationship he has with club president Daniel Levy to the edge and the Italian had to face the sack as he added Spurs to his long list of rancorous ex-employers.
Ligue 1
League- leading Paris Saint- Germain’s 35- match unbeaten home run came to a crashing end as it folded to a 0- 2 defeat at the hands of Rennes.
Among the songwriters for Rennes on a notorious night was former PSG player Arnaud Kalimuendo, who had left the club last time. Marseille capitalised on PSG’s bobble as it secured a 2- 1 comeback palm over Reims to cut down the gap to the top spot to seven points. Alexis Sanchez starred for Marseille with a brace, while Arsenal loanee Folrain Balogun scored his 17th thing of the league season for Reims.
La Liga
Franck Kessie scored a late winner for Barcelona as it crushed Real Madrid in a contentious hassle to push itself 12 points clear of its bitter rival. Madrid had taken an early lead through a Ronald Araujo own thing before Sergi Roberto levelled the score just before half- time.
Atletico Madrid continued its strong form, extending its unbeaten run to eight games with a dominant 3- 0 palm over Valencia. Diego Simeone’s side sits comfortably in third place and is now only five points behind its cross-city rival.
The defeat worsened Valencia’s prospect of avoiding deportation as it now sits 17th in the league table and will have to play out of its skin to insure safety.
Both Real Betis and Real Sociedad secured facile triumphs as the platoon continue their distraction for the final titleholders League qualification spot.
Bundesliga
Julian Nagelsmaan’s abrupt sacking as the director of Bayern Munich, despite the side still being in contention in both the league and at the international position, seasoned up the formerly- hotting- up title chase in Bundesliga.
Nagelsmann’s departure came after his side fell to a levying 1- 2 master down from home to Bayer Leverkusen, with Argentine striker Exequiel Palacios scoring doubly for the home side.
Bayern’s defeat meant Borussia Dortmund, which had before thumped Koln 6- 1, took up the mantle of league leadership. The unheroic squad now holds a slender one- point advantage over the defending champion, which has since appointed Thomas Tuchel as its new director.
The battle at the top of the table will come to a head when the two sides will take on each other at the Allianz Arena on April 1. RB Leipzig’s faint title expedients entered a huge dent when it fell to a shock 0- 1 defeat to VfL Bochum.
Union Berlin capitalised on Leipzig’s misstep as it cantered to a 2- 0 palm against Eintracht Frankfurt to secure the third spot.
Serie A
Napoli looks set to win the Serie A title by a record periphery of points, catching the 22- point mark set by Inter Milan in the 2006- 07 season.
A dominant performance, climaxing in a 4- 0 palm against Torino, fostered Napoli’s bumper at the top to 19 points. Napoli’s star brace — Victor Osimhem and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia starred again, with the Nigerian scoring doubly, and the Georgian chancing the net formerly.
Luciano Spalletti’s side’s march to the Scudetto was backed by Juventus, which beat preliminarily-alternate- placed Inter Milan 1- 0 in an ill- tempered game, with both brigades getting a red card all.
Defending champion AC Milan fell to a shock 1- 3 master down to Udinese, while Jose Mourinho’s Roma succumbed to a 0- 1 loss to Lazio in another game marked by multiple red cards. Know More Latest Football News…
