That, combined with Manchester United’s 1-0 loss at Norwich, put City top. Chelsea lost 2-1 at West Brom to stay third, a result which leaves their opponents comfortable in fourth.
Fifth place Everton lost 2-1 at Reading, and Arsenal climbed into sixth after crushing Tottenham 5-2 in the North London derby. Liverpool beat Wigan 3-0, and Swansea won 2-1 at Newcastle.
In France, there was a major shock as Paris St Germain suffered a second successive 2-1 home defeat, this time to Rennes, who played almost an entire half with nine men. Lyon went ahead of the Parisians with a 3-0 win over Reims, while Marseille lost 1-0 at Bordeaux, the latter of whom are now second in an increasingly congested Ligue 1. Fifth placed St Etienne gave up a 2-0 lead at Evian to draw 2-2, sixth placed Valenciennes were held 1-1 by champions Montpellier, Rennes are now seventh and eighth place Lille lost 2-0 at Lorient. Toulouse lost 1-0 at Nice.
Barcelona won their 11th game out of 12 to remain top of La Liga. Tito Vilanova’s side beat Real Zaragoza 3-1 to remain three points clear of second placed Atletico Madrid, who won 1-0 at Granada. Real Madrid remain five adrift of their city rivals despite a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao. Valencia beat Espanyol 2-1, Levante are into fourth after being Deportivo la Coruna 2-0, Malaga drew 0-0 at Osasuna, and Sevilla crushed Real Betis 5-1 in the Seville derby.
In Germany Bayern Munich were held, 1-1 by Nurnberg, which Schalke 04 failed to take advantage of after they slipped to a 2-0 loss at Bayer Leverkusen. Borussia Dortmund beat Greuther Furth 3-1, and Eintracht Frankfurt beat Augsburg 4-2. Borussia Moenchengladbach suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Stuttgart.
In Italy it is as you were at the top. Juventus were held to a 0-0 home draw by Lazio, while Inter Milan in second were also held 2-2 by Cagliari. Napoli and AC Milan drew by the same score, whilst Fiorentina closed the gap at the top after beating Atalanta 4-1. Udinese drew 2-2 with Parma.
Shakhtar Donetsk’s remarkable run came to an end in Ukraine as they lost their 16th match of the season, 2-0 to Arsenal Kyiv, having won all 15 games before that. CSKA Moscow remain top of the Russian league after a 3-0 win over Amkar Perm, while Anzhi Makhachkala could not keep up as they drew 0-0 at home to Rostov. Spartak Moscow drew 1-1 with Nizhny Novgorod.
PSV crushed Ado den Haag 6-1 in the Netherlands as Twente stumbled again, drawing 1-1 at Utrecht. Feyenoord beat Willem II 3-0, Vitesse cruised to a 4-1 win over NEC and Ajax beat VVV Venlo 2-0.
In Brazil Palmeiras were all but relegated after a 1-1 draw at Flamengo, with Portuguesa’s 2-2 draw with Gremio putting them six points ahead of the Sao Paulo outfit. Meanwhile, Sao Paulo’s 2-1 win over Nautico keeps them in the hunt for a Champions League place, where they will join Gremio, champions Fluminense, who lost 2-0 to Cruzeiro, and Atletico Mineiro, who drew 2-2 at home to Goianense. Internacional lost 2-0 to Corinthians at home, Santos beat Figueirense 2-1 and Vasco de Gama beat Coritiba 2-1.
Boca Junior’s hopes of winning the Argentine Apertura were given a boost after a 1-0 win away to Velez Sarsfield, the league leaders. Boca are still five points adrift though and in fourth, with third placed Newell’s Old Boys losing 2-1 at home to All Boys.
In Africa, Al Ahly won the African Champions League, shocking holders Esperance with a 2-1 win in Tunisia after the first leg was drawn 1-1. In the United States, Los Angeles Galaxy booked a place in the final of the MLS Cup, which they will host, after a 2-1 defeat to Seattle Sounders gave them a 4-2 win overall. They meet Houston in the final, who overcame DC United 4-2 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in the second leg.
The semi finals of the Mexican first division play offs are also set after Tijuana progressed with a 1-1 draw against Monterrey, Toluca beat Chivas 3-1, Leon won 3-0 against Cruz Azul and America join them despite losing their quarter final second leg 2-1 to Morelia.
