Premier League
Liverpool missed the chance to extend their advantage at the top of the Premier League as they drew against 10-man Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. The Reds never truly gained the upper hand or threatened Manuel Almunia’s goal.
Manchester United celebrating victory in the Club World Cup final in Japan
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger and Adebayor were both left fuming over the red card, with referee Howard Webb not helped by Alvaro Arbeloa’s theatrical reaction to the challenge from the Togo international.
Liverpool have now drawn four of their last five matches and, although they remain strong contenders for the title, further dropped points in the second half of the season could see their wait for the top-flight crown extend into a 20th year.
Aston Villa continue to try to upset the status quo in the Premier League and climbed into third place on Saturday with a late victory over West Ham at Upton Park.
West Ham will spend Christmas only one point above the relegation places with further upheaval predicted in the January transfer window.
Mark Hughes’ festive celebrations may also be somewhat muted with Manchester City after a last-gasp defeat at the hands of bottom club West Brom. Roman Bednar’s late header ensured that while the Baggies will be bottom on 25th December, they are at least in touch with the teams above them. The Hawthorns outfit are also the only side in Premier League history to beat the drop having been bottom at this stage of the season.
Blackburn are the occupants of the third relegation place, but they too have cause for optimism after Sam Allardyce made an immediate impact on his return to football management by guiding his new club to a 3-0 victory over Stoke City bringing an end to Stoke’s four-game unbeaten run and leave Tony Pulis’ men just two points clear of the bottom three.
Newcastle have managed to put some distance between themselves and the drop zone, with substitute Damien Duff grabbing a last-minute winner against Tottenham at St James’ Park on Sunday. For all Spurs improvement under Juande Ramos’ replacement the White Hart Lane side are only a point above the relegation trapdoor.
Sunderland claimed arguably the most impressive result of the weekend as they followed up their 4-0 home win over West Brom with a 4-1 triumph away to high-flying Hull City.
Fulham, unbeaten in the last six games move into the top half of the table and can also boast a defensive record which is only bettered by Chelsea and Manchester United. They triumphed 3-0 over Middlesbrough in a clash which saw some questionable decisions by the match officials.
Bolton climbed above Portsmouth and into ninth place in the table after a 2-1 victory at the Reebok Stadium.
Primera Liga
Barcelona extended their lead at the top to 10 points after they came from behind to win away at Villarreal with goals from Seydou Keita and Thierry Henry.
Juande Ramos secured his first league win as manager of Real Madrid at the second time of asking as a Gonzalo Higuain goal was enough to see off Valencia.
Second place Sevilla could only draw 0-0 away at Mallorca while Atletico Madrid recorded their fourth successive league win to move them up to third after a 3-2 victory at Espanyol.
Serie A
Leaders Inter Milan remain six points clear at the top after a Maicon double handed them a 2-1 win away at Siena, the winner coming in the 83rd minute.
Juventus sit second after they won away at Atalanta 3-1.
Roma’s 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions ended as they went down 3-2 away at Catania meaning they slip to 11th.
AC Milan sit third as they thumped hapless Udinese 5-1 at the San Siro with Brazilian pair Kaka and Alexandre Pato helping themselves to two goals apiece.
SPL
Rangers briefly cut Celtic’s lead at the top to just a point after Kris Boyd scored the only goal of the game at home to Hibernian on Saturday.
However the Hoops restored their four-point advantage 24 hours later when they beat Falkirk away 3-0.
Ligue 1
Leaders Lyon remain three points clear of Bordeaux in second after they defeated Caen 1-0 away with Karim Benzema getting the goal.
Laurent Blanc’s men remain hot on their heels after a thrilling contest at Monaco winning 4-3.
Marseille slip to fifth after they suffered a surprise 3-0 home defeat by mid-table AS Nancy.
Eredivisie
AZ Alkmaar temporarily stretched their lead at the top to six points after a 2-0 win over FC Utrecht.
Second-place Ajax emphatically reduced the gap back to three points when they hammered De Graafschap away 6-0.
PSV remain nine points off top spot in fourth place after a 1-0 home win over Feyenoord.
Steve McLaren’s FC Twente lie third five points off the leaders after they beat Willem II 2-0 at home.
Meanwhile in Japan, Manchester United pictured above were crowned winners of the Club World Cup beating Ecuador’s South Amercian champions Liga de Quito 1-0 in the final.
