European football roundup: Man City stumble, Madrid close in on Barcelona

From Harry Kane’s historic feat in Germany to Napoli’s revival under Antonio Conte in Serie A, Gulf News breaks down all the key moments from this weekend’s action across Europe’s top leagues.

Premier League

Pep Guardiola's recent two-year contract extension at Manchester City was overshadowed by a dismal performance, as the Premier League champions suffered a 4-0 thrashing at home to Tottenham. The defeat at the Etihad marked City’s fifth consecutive loss across all competitions and their heaviest home defeat since February 2003, when they were beaten 5-1 by Arsenal at Maine Road.

League leaders Liverpool capitalised on City’s woes with a 3-2 victory at Southampton on Sunday, driven by Mohamed Salah’s brace. The win extended the Reds’ lead at the top of the table to eight points. Only once has a team held a bigger advantage after 12 games – Manchester United in the 1993-94 season, when they led by nine points and went on to claim the title.

Two other teams have matched an eight-point lead at this stage: Manchester City in 2017-18 and Liverpool in 2019-20. Both went on to be crowned champions.

Elsewhere, Arsenal ended their Premier League winless run dating back to October 5 with a commanding 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. Manchester United began their new era under Ruben Amorim with a 1-1 draw against Ipswich, while Wolves picked up only their second win of the season, thrashing Fulham 4-1.

The gameweek will conclude at midnight on Tuesday, as Newcastle United host West Ham at St. James’ Park.

La Liga

Barcelona’s struggles at Estadio de Balaídos continued as the league leaders surrendered a two-goal lead in the final moments to draw with Celta Vigo, following Marc Casado’s red card. The dramatic finish marked Barcelona’s fourth draw in their last ten visits to Spain’s northwest coast, during which they have also suffered four defeats and managed just two wins.

The result opened the door for Real Madrid to narrow the gap at the top, and they did just that with a dominant 3-0 victory over Leganés. Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé were among the scorers as Los Blancos closed to within four points of their arch-rivals.

Elsewhere, six-time La Liga champions Valencia secured only their second win of the season, a thrilling 4-2 triumph over Celta Vigo, lifting them off the bottom of the table. Meanwhile, Alexander Sørloth’s late strike handed Atlético Madrid a crucial win against Alavés to keep them in the hunt for the title.

Serie A

League leaders Napoli returned to winning ways at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, ending their two-game winless streak with a 1-0 victory over Roma, thanks to Romelu Lukaku’s goal against his former club. For Roma, new manager Claudio Ranieri faces a tough challenge, as the defeat extended their winless run on the road to 10 games, leaving them in 12th place, just four points above the relegation zone.

Atalanta kept the pressure on Napoli at the top of the table with a 3-1 victory over Parma, moving to second place and just one point behind the league leaders with 28 points. Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio also share that 28 point mark after picking up wins over the weekend, keeping the race for this season’s Scudetto wide open and shaping it to be one of the most exciting in recent memory.

AC Milan and Juventus, who share 55 Scudettos between them, played out a dire 0-0 draw at the San Siro. The result was unsurprising, given that their previous six league encounters had produced just six goals.

At the bottom of the table, 19th-placed Monza earned their first point in four games with a 1-1 draw against Torino. Meanwhile, Lecce and Venezia, who round out the relegation zone, are set to face each other on Monday evening.

Bundesliga

England captain Harry Kane made Bundesliga history by becoming the fastest player to reach 50 goals in the league, achieving the milestone with a hat-trick in Bayern Munich's 3-0 win over Augsburg on Friday evening.

Kane, who entered the match needing three goals to hit the landmark, opened the scoring with a 63rd-minute penalty before adding two more in injury time.

His 50 goals in just 43 Bundesliga appearances broke Erling Haaland's previous record of 50 goals in 50 games for Borussia Dortmund before the Norwegian’s move to Manchester City.

The victory for league leaders Bayern temporarily extended their lead to eight points over second-placed Leipzig. That margin remained intact after Leipzig suffered a thrilling 4-3 defeat to Hoffenheim.

Frankfurt are now Bayern’s closest challengers, sitting six points back after their narrow 1-0 victory over Werder Bremen. Last season’s champions, Bayer Leverkusen, complete the top four following a commanding 5-2 win over Heidenheim at the BayArena under Xabi Alonso.

In the relegation zone, Bochum, Kiel, and St. Pauli all suffered defeats, leaving the trio rooted inside the bottom three.