Barcelona, City and Bayern buoyant, trophy for Madrid

SUNDAY


Real Madrid 4-2 (aet) Kashima Antlers (Benzema 9, Ronaldo 60p 97 104; Shibasaki 44 52)
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, including two goals during extra time, as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Japan’s Kashima Antlers in Yokohama and claim their second FIFA Club World Cup.

Napoli 5-3 Torino (Mertens 13 18pen 22 80, Chiricheş 70; Belotti 58, Rossettini 76, Falqué 84p)
Dries Mertens struck a hat-trick in Serie A for the second week running as Napoli moved to within a point of second-placed Roma. Mertens took his tally to eight in three outings following his four-goal haul in Naples. Maurizio Sarri’s men are now unbeaten in nine in all competitions.

Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal (Sané 47, Sterling 71; Walcott 5)
Leroy SanĂ© scored his first goal for Manchester City and Raheem Sterling hit the winner as Josep Guardiola’s side came from behind to return to second place in the Premier League. Theo Walcott had given Arsenal an early lead, but the fourth-placed Gunners lost after going ahead for the second time in succession following their Tuesday defeat at Everton. 

Darmstadt 0-1 Bayern München (Douglas Costa 71)
Douglas Costa struck in the Bundesliga for the second consecutive game as Bayern returned to the summit ahead of their midweek meeting with closest rivals Leipzig. The German title holders have now won their last five matches in all competitions.

Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 Ingolstadt (Mehmedi 63; Morales 26, Cohen 73)
Leverkusen lost Charles Aránguiz to a red card shortly after half-time but were still able to cancel out struggling Ingolstadt’s opener through Admir Mehmedi – only for Almog Cohen to hand the Werkself a third reverse in seven games in all competitions.

Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol (L Suárez 18 67, Alba 68, Messi 90; D López 79)
Lionel Messi was in sensational form as Barcelona won the Catalan derby in style, the Argentinian international setting up two goals with some outrageous skill and adding one of his own in the final minute. The victory took Barça within three points of Liga frontrunners Real Madrid, though their great rivals boast a game in hand.

Monaco 1-3 Lyon (Bakayoko 70; Ghezzal 29, Valbuena 65, Lacazette 87)
Monaco’s hopes of finishing the year in top spot were undone as they lost for the first time in nine Ligue 1 matches, leaving them four points shy of Nice with one game left to play in 2016. The principality side fell behind before the half-hour and received another blow when Benjamin Mendy was dismissed for his challenge on Corentin Tolissso close to the interval – and there was no coming back.

SATURDAY

Juventus 1-0 Roma (HiguaĂ­n 14)
Juventus are now seven points clear of second-placed Roma and confirmed as winter champions after Gonzalo HiguaĂ­n’s goal proved enough for victory. HiguaĂ­n showed his strength to dispossess Roma captain Daniele De Rossi, beat a defender and then shot in from the edge of the box. Juventus have equalled their own record of 25 straight home Serie A wins.

Guingamp 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Salibur 66, De Pauw 70; Cavani 80)
Edinson Cavani managed his Ligue 1-leading 17th goal of the season and hit the crossbar in added time, but Paris are now three games without a league win as they chase Nice and Monaco.

Saúl Ñíguez (Atlético)©Getty Images

Atlético Madrid 1-0 Las Palmas (Saúl Ñíguez 59)
AtlĂ©tico secured their first home league win since October thanks to SaĂşl Ă‘Ă­guez’s powerful finish from just outside the box. Atleti end 2016 nine points adrift of leaders Real Madrid.

Sevilla 4-1 Málaga (Vietto 25 28, Ben Yedder 34, Vitolo 35; Sandro Ramírez 64)
Sevilla finish 2016 within four points of Madrid after this convincing victory. The home side were only slightly stopped in their tracks by Adil Rami’s red card just past the hour for the foul that produced Sandro RamĂ­rez’s free-kick consolation.

Daniel Amartey (Leicester)©Getty Images

Stoke City 2-2 Leicester City (Bojan Krkić 39p, Allen 45+3; Ulloa 74, Amartey 88)
Leicester had Jamie Vardy sent off after 28 minutes and trailed by two at the break but for the second year running came back from 2-0 down to draw at Stoke. Substitute Leonardo Ulloa headed Leicester back into the game within two minutes of his introduction and Daniel Amartey turned in Christian Fuchs’s cross to secure only the reigning champions’ second away point of the season. However, Leicester are a mere three points off the relegation zone.

Estoril Praia 0-1 Benfica (Jiménez 61p)
Benfica restored their four-point lead over Porto, who won on Thursday. An Ailton Silva handball gave Raúl Jiménez the chance to step up and score for the fourth consecutive game.

FRIDAY

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Dortmund)©Getty Images

Hoffenheim 2-2 Borussia Dortmund (Uth 3, Wagner 20; Götze 11, Aubameyang 48)
Dortmund came from behind twice to draw, the second time with ten men following Marco Reus’s 41st-minute dismissal. BVB lost Ousmane DembĂ©lĂ© to a growing injury list after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his 16th goal in 14 league games. Dortmund face Augsburg on Tuesday in their last game before the winter break.

THURSDAY

Porto 2-1 Marítimo (Brahimi 45, André Silva 67; Djoussé 85)
On Thursday, Yacine Brahimi’s powerful shot from a tight angle and AndrĂ© Silva’s neat finish extended the Dragons’ unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 games (W9 D6). Brahimi has now scored three in his last three matches, with AndrĂ© Silva hitting five in the same run of fixtures. MarĂ­timo’s late effort ended Porto’s run of seven straight clean sheets.

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