Shock results shake Europe’s big guns

Tuesday, 8 December 2015 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A weekend of surprise results across Europe’s big leagues saw Bayern Munich’s unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern suffered their first league defeat of the season, losing to Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1. Napoli lost 3-2 to Bologna while Manchester City were beaten 2-0 by Stoke City. Barcelona’s La Liga lead was cut to two points after they could only draw with Valencia.

England

Surprise package Leicester City moved top as both Manchester clubs slipped up. Leicester won 3-0 at struggling Swansea City with a hat-trick by Algerian midfielder Riyad Mahrez.

Arsenal went second after beating Sunderland 3-1 as Manchester City dropped from first to third following a 2-0 defeat at Stoke.

Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United failed to score again in another goalless draw, this time at home to West Ham United, and went down one place to fourth, three points behind the leaders.

Spain

Barcelona’s lead was cut to two points when the Spanish and European champions conceded a late equaliser and were held to a 1-1 draw at Valencia.

Valencia’s new coach Gary Neville was in the stands at the Mestalla stadium to watch forward Santi Mina power home a shot four minutes from time after Luis Suarez had fired Barca ahead just before the hour.

With 14 matches played, Atletico are two points behind Barca in second after they won 2-0 at Granada, with Real Madrid a further two points adrift in third following their 4-1 victory at home to Getafe.

Karim Benzema struck twice for Real, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale netting a goal apiece at the Bernabeu.

Germany

Champions Bayern Munich suffered a shock 3-1 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach for their first league defeat of the season that cut their gap at the top to five points.

Gladbach struck three times in 14 minutes against the stunned visitors to win 3-1 and climb to third place on 26.

Borussia Dortmund, second on 35 points, needed a last-gasp goal from Shinji Kagawa to beat VfL Wolfsburg 2-1, with the Wolves slipping 10 points behind them in fifth.

France

Paris St Germain continued their stroll towards a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title when Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s double helped them to a 3-0 win at Nice.

PSG have 45 points from 17 games and lead second-placed Angers by 15 points after the promoted side added to Olympique Lyonnais’s woes with a 2-0 win at Gerland.

Lyon dropped to fifth on 26 points.

Caen are second on 29 despite a 2-1 home defeat to fourth-placed Monaco (28) while Marseille’s charge to the podium was checked with a 2-2 home draw against Montpellier that left them in ninth place.

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