EPL: Arsenal’s reliance on captain Robin van Persie continued as he notched a brace to lift the Gunners to an uninspiring come-from-behind 2-1 win over hosts Norwich.

The Dutchman scored his 31st goal of the calender year to continue his amazing goal return and Arsenal’s reverse in fortunes. Title holders Manchester United battled to a 1-0 win over promoted Swansea to keep their city rivals within distance who remain five points clear with an easy 3-1 win over Newcastle.

Mario Balotelli and Kun Aguero continued their fine goalscoring form hitting a goal apiece in City’s dominant performance. Everton and West Brom both recorded 2-1 victories over Wolves and Bolton respectively.

Heloar Helguson was the hero for QPR who recorded an unlikely 3-2 victory over Stoke at the Britannia. Helguson scored a brace to lift his promoted team to 9th place on 15 points.

Sunderland played out to a tame 0-0 draw with Fulham while it was the exact opposite at the DW Stadium where on-loan Everton striker Yakubu converted a extra-time penalty to give Blackburn a share of the points in a 3-3 draw with Wigan.

Liverpool handed Chelsea their third loss in four outings at strikes from Maxi Rodriguez and former Chelsea player Glen Johnson saw them clinch a much-deserved 2-1 win.

Ronaldo with the winner

La Liga: Christiano Ronaldo continued his heroics as his 79th minute strike proved to be the winner in an enthralling 3-2 win over Valencia. Frenchman Karim Benzema got the ball rolling in the 20th minute before Ramos and Ronaldo added to the score in the span of seven minutes.

Valencia captain Roberto Saldado struck twice to bring his team within touching distance of a point but they were unable to find a leveller.

The win keeps Los Blancos three points ahead of their rivals Barcelona who had an easy 4-0 win over Zaragoza. Lionel Messi was again on target as was David Villa, Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique. Borja Valero stole all three points for Villareal in their 1-0 win over Real Betis.

A 71st-minute strike from Ocsar de Marcos handed Athletic Bilbao a surprising 2-1 away win over Sevilla. Jesus Navas scored the game’s consolation goal.

Levante continue to be put to the sword following their league stopping surge as they suffered their third consecutive loss, this against Atletico Madrid. Pizzi, Adrian and Diego Ribas scored for Atletico with Xavi Torres and Ruben Suarez scoring for Levante.

In form Juve win again

Serie A: Strikes from Alessandro Matri, Simone Pepe and Claudio Marchisio guided Juventus to a 3-0 win at home against Palermo. The win lifts them ahead of Lazio on goal difference as both teams stand tall on 22 points. Brazilians Thiago Motta and Coutinho scored to lift Inter to a 2-1 win over Cagliari who remain in the bottom half of the league despite the victory. Fiorentina versus Milan and Napoli against Lazio both ended in tame 0-0 draws.

The stalemates have certainly hampered the progress of defending champions AC Milan and previous league leaders Lazio.

A penalty strike from the ‘Atomic Ant’ Sebastian Giovinco powered Parma to a convincing 2-0 win over a full-strength Udinese. Miguel Veloso continued in his goal-scoring form from the international break to hand Genoa a 1-0 win over the promoted Novara through an 86th-minute strike.

AS Roma climbed to fifth place in the group thanks to a 2-1 win over Lecce. Fernando Gago scored what turned out to be the winner in the 54th minute while it was Miralem Pjanic who had scored the game’s opener in the 25th.

Gotze the hero

Bundesliga: In the battle of the German giants, Dortmund came out on top with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bayern thanks to a second-half strike from Mario Gotze.

Dutchman Arjen Robben made his long awaited comeback to the Bayern first team, but was unable to propel his team to victory who were undone by a gritty Dortmund performance.

The win put the defending Bundesliga champions within two points of leaders Bayern as the title race heats up. Marco Reus scored an impressive hat-trick as Monchengladbach thumped Werder Bremen 5-0. The win brought Monchengladbach to within two points of leaders Munich and joint second on 26 points with champions Borussia Dortmund.

Wolfsburg had an easy 4-1 win over Hannover while Schalke 04 also hit four in a thumping victory over Nurnberg. Michael Ballack got on the scoresheet as Bayer Leverkusen defeated Kaiserslautern 2-0.

Stefan Reisinger rescued a point for Freiburg with a injury time goal in a 2-2 at home against Hertha Berlin. Hamburg SV put two past TSG Hoffenheim to to climb out of the relegation zone.