Skrtel salvages point for Reds

Liverpool improves to salvage a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in a battle of the struggling top four contenders. Arsenal seemed destined for three points when Olivier Giroud gave Arsenal a 2-1 lead on 64 minutes, but Martin Skrtel left it late — 96 minutes to be exact — to secure an equaliser for the hosts with a powerful header.

Playing without an established striker, Manchester City still managed to brush aside Crystal Palace 3-0 at Etihad Stadium. The returning David Silva was the star with a brace to leave City tied with leaders Chelsea, who plays on Monday.

Aston Villa 1 – Manchester United 1

QPR 3 – West Brom 2

Southampton 3 – Everton 0

Suarez on target in big win

Barcelona ended 2014 on a high with a 5-0 thrashing of newly promoted Cordoba at Camp Nou. Pedro opened before Luis Suarez netted his first La Liga goal. The last 10 minutes saw Pique scoring a header, while Lionel Messi fired in two off the right foot.

Antoine Griezmann scored a hat-trick to propel defending champions Atletico Madrid over Athletic Bilbao in a 4-1 victory at San Mames. Midfielder Raul Garcia also netted a penalty on 53 minutes before setting up the Frenchman’s third.

Villarreal 3 – Deportivo La Coruna 0

Eibar 0 – Valencia 1

Elche 1 – Malaga 2

Bianconeri extends lead

Juventus extended their lead at the top of Serie A after defeating relegation-threatened Cagliari 3-1 last Thursday. Carlos Tevez opened early before Arturo Vidal curled in a splendid volley while Fernando Llorente beat goalkeeper Alessio Cragno from close range. Luca Rossettini headed in a late consolation for Cagliari.

Struggling Inter Milan fought back admirably to take home a point as they drew with fifth-placed Lazio 2-2 at San Siro. Felipe Anderson scored a first half brace to put Lazio 2-0 up but Mateo Kovacic’s stunning volley sparked a comeback that was completed by Rodrigo Palacio on 80 minutes.

Roma 0 – AC Milan 0

Atalanta 3 – Palermo 3

Fiorentina 1 – Empoli 1

All time low for Dortmund

Werder Bremen replaced Borussia Dortmund in 16th place after the former defeated the latter 2-1 on Saturday. Davie Selke put Bremen in front with a fine finish after breaking free of Dortmund’s defence, while Fin Bartels added a second to confirm Dortmund’s worst first half of the season in the club’s history.

Bayern Munich finished the first-half of the season unbeaten after coming from behind to topple Mainz 2-1. Bastian Schweinsteiger’s equaliser came from a perfect free kick while Arjen Robben provided the winner with a minute left.

Augsburg 2 – Borussia M’gladbach 1

Wolfsburg 2 – Koln 1

Bayer Leverkusen 1 – E Frankfurt 1