Almunia

EPL: A rush of blood by Arsenal’s Manuel Almunia asserted claims by many that he is the Achilles heel of the side as his mistake possibly cost the Gunners three points against West Bromwich Albion in their 2-2 draw.

West Ham continued their impressive run with a 0-0 draw against Real Madrid’s opponent in the Champions League, Tottenham. Manchester United left it late against Bolton, but had Dimitar Berbatov to thank as he stepped off the bench to score an 88th minute winner in their 1-0 win over Bolton.

Blackpool surrendered a two-goal lead at Blackburn to leave Ewood Park with just a point after dominating the match for large spells while Wolves claimed a massive 1-0 win away to Aston Villa. A last-minute strike by Maynor Figueroa earned Wigan three ‘priceless’ points over relegation rivals Birmingham in a 2-1 victory. Everton also had a similar victory over Fulham with goals from Seamus Coleman and Louis Saha.

Stoke City registered the biggest win of the round as they thumped hapless Newcastle 4-0. The citizens were downed at the bridge as David Luiz and Ramires powered Chelsea to a 2-0 win while Liverpool cruised to a 2-0 win over Sunderland.

Twin victories

La Liga: Champion’s Barcelona and title chasers Real Madrid both recorded similar 2-1 victories over Getafe and Atletico respectively. Real Mallorca over-came 10-men Zaragoza to record a 1-0 win while Salomon Rondon hit both goals as Malaga defeated Espanyol 2-0.

Villarreal, Levante, Sevilla and Sporting Gijon all recorded 1-0 victories over Athletic Bilbao, Deportivo, Valencia and Almeria respectively. Tottenham’s Giovanni dos Santos struck a second-half winner to power Racing to a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad. Osasuna distanced themselves from the relegation zone with a thumping 4-0 win over Hercules.

Milan continue to wobble

Serie A: Dorin Goian scored in the 10th minute as Palermo registered a surprise 1-0 win over leaders AC Milan who seemingly has lost their way. Lazio recorded a similar win over Cesena as Mauro Zarate second-minute strike proved enough.

Francesco Totti scored his 200th Serie A goal in Roma’s 2-2 draw with Fiorentina. Napoli, Juventus and Chievo both recorded 2-1 victories over Cagliari, Brescia and Bari respectively. Giampaolo Pazzini was the hero of the day as his strike pushed into to within two points of rivals Milan in a 1-0 win over Lecce.

Parma also registered victory by a similar margin over Sampdoria. Bologna and Genoa played out to a 1-1 draw while European chasers Udinese wrapped up their fourth consecutive victory with a 2-0 win Catania.

Dortmund stutter

Bundesliga: Leaders Borussia Dortmund dropped two points in the title race at home to Mainz in a 1-1 draw. Hannover cemented third place as they beat Hoffenheim 2-0. Didier Konan and Mohammed Abdellaoue scored on either side of the half for the European chasers.

Bayern Munich showed resolve as they bounced back from their mid-week disappointed to beat Freiburg 2-1. A last-gasp Frank Ribery strike snatched all three points. Hamburg moved up to seventh spot after hammering Cologne 6-2. Mladen Petric was the star of the day as he helped himself to a hat-trick. Nuremburg dropped points in their chase for Europe as they fell 3-1 to Werder Bremen. Frankfurt won the battle of the relegation threatened teams as they overcame St Pauli 2-1.

Bayer Leverkusen moved to within seven points of Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund after beating Champions League quarter-finalist’s Schalke 2-0. Eren Derdiyok and a Christoph Metzelder own goal propelled Leverkusen to victory. Felix Magath’s second stint at the Wolfsburg ended in a 1-1 draw as Stuttgart scrambled a last-gasp equaliser at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.