La Liga (Matchday 16)
Barcelona sprang another step towards the Spanish league title with victory at their nearby challengers Villarreal. The 2006 champions were forced to overturn a one-goal deficit as Cani chipped Villarreal into the lead, but Malian midfielder Seydou Keita threw the scoreline level and Thierry Henry’s volley gifted Barcelona a ten point advantage to dominate the half-way stage of Spanish proceedings. Juande Ramos guided Real Madrid to their first league win under his management as Gonzalo Higuain’s sole effort was sufficient to claim the three points against Valencia. Defeat for Real would have surely seen them drop from the title race as it would have left 15 points adrift. Second-placed Sevilla had to settle for a stalemate draw in Mallorca, while Deportivo La Coruna beat relegation-threatened Recreativo Huelva 4-1 and Atletico Madrid defeated Espanyol 3-2.
Results
Espanyol 2–3 Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid 1–0 Valencia, Deportivo La Coruna 4–1 Recreativo Huelva, Mallorca 0–0 Sevilla, Numancia 4–3 Real Valladolid, Osasuna 5–2 Getafe, Racing Santander 1-1 Malaga, Real Betis 0-1 Athletic Bilbao, Sporting Gijon 1-0 Almeria, Villarreal 1-2 Barcelona.
Premiership (Matchday 18)
Championship hopefuls Chelsea, Liverpool and Liverpool failed to take full advantage of Manchester United’s winter break to Tokyo for the Club World Cup as they could only muster up draws. Ten-man Chelsea were held at Goodison Park and were grateful to leave Merseyside with a point after constant pressure from Everton in the second half, whilst the encounter between Arsenal and Liverpool also resulted in a solid but unspectacular draw. Having both prevailed victorious against their ‘Big Four’ rivals, Liverpool and Arsenal were seeking the entire nine points but Robbie Keane cancelled Robin Van Persie’s opener. Where the Premiership strong guard failed, Aston Villa capitalised through James Milner’s fortunate goal, which deflected off Lucas Neill to bound past a helpless Robert Green. Caretaker boss Ricky Sbragia certified his name amongst the favourites to replace Roy Keane by leading Sunderland to an impressive 4-1 demolition of Hull. Elsewhere, West Brom donned the role as Scrooge to add to Manchester City’s nightmares by beating them 2-1, but will still spend Christmas bottom of the table as Sam Allardyce prompted a Blackburn renaissance by overcoming Stoke City 3-0.
Results
Blackburn Rovers 3-0 Stoke City, Bolton 2-1 Portsmouth, Fulham 3-0 Middlesbrough, Hull City 1-4 Sunderland, West Ham 0-1 Aston Villa, Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool, Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham, West Brom 2-1 Manchester City, Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Serie A (Matchday 17)
Results
Lazio 1-0 Palermo, Siena 1-2 Inter Milan, Atalanta 1-3 Juventus, Cagliari 1-1 Reggina, Catania 3-2 Roma, Chievo 0-1 Genoa, Lecce 0-0 Bologna, Sampdoria 0-1 Fiorentina, Torino 1-0 Napoli, AC Milan 5-1 Udinese
Ligue 1 (Matchday 19)
Results
Grenoble 2-1 Le Mans, Lille 3-1 Le Havre, Lorient 1-2 Stade Rennes, Nantes 1-1 Sochaux, Saint Etienne 2-0 Auxerre, Toulouse 2-2 Nice, Caen 0-1 Lyon, Marsaille 0-3 Nancy, PSG 2-2 Valenciennes, Monaco 3-4 Bordeaux
Eredivisie (Matchday 16)
Results
AZ 2-0 FC Utrecht, Sparta 4-1 Heerenveen, NAC 2-0 Vitesse, Roda JC 2-5 Groningen, NEC 0-0 ADO Den Haag, De Graafschap 0-6 Ajax, Volendam 3-1 Heracles, Twente 2-0 Willem II, PSV 1-0 Feyenoord.
Portuguese Liga (Matchday 12)
Results
Naval 0-0 Vitoria Guimaraes, Sporting Braga 1-0 Rio Ave, Sporting Lisbon 0-0 Academica de Coimbra, Belenenses 3-2 CD Trofense, Pacos de Ferreira 2-0 Vitoria Setubal, Leixoes 1-1 Estrela Amadora, Porto 0-0 Maritimo
Scottish Premier League (Matchday 19)
Results
Hamilton 2-0 Motherwell, Hearts 0-0 Dundee United, Inverness CT 0-3 Aberdeen, Kilmarnock 0-1 Saint Mirren, Rangers 1-0 Hibernian, Falkirk 0-3 Celtic
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