WHAT’s gone wrong at Ajax? They sacked their coach, John Heitinga, after their fourth consecutive Champions League defeat and installed Fred Grim as interim manager. Ajax were beaten 2-1 at Utrecht, with their former striker, Sebastien Haller, scoring the winner. They are clearly out of sorts and are already 11 points off the top of the table. They have lost just twice, but draws have proved costly for the four-time European champions. Ajax, periodically, produce a stream of young talent, but at the moment, they are reliant on the goals of 33-year-old Wout Weghorst. It is already looking like a two-horse race between PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, although PSV took a three-point lead at the top after an emphatic 5-1 win at AZ, with Guus Til helping himself to a hat-trick. Feyenoord were beaten 2-1 at Go Ahead Eagles.
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Premier League: Liverpool beaten again as City underline title bid
ARSENAL were held 2-2 at Sunderland in a riveting contest that underlined the progress made by the Black Cats this season. Leandro Trossard scored an outstanding goal to give Arsenal a 2-1 lead in the 74th minute, but Brian Brobbey hooked the ball home to save a point in the 94th minute. Arsenal are four points clear of Manchester City, who sent Liverpool to their fifth league defeat in six games, beating them 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium. City’s goals in Pep Guardiola’s 100th match as a manager, came from Erling Harland, Nico Gonzalez and the very impressive Jeremy Doku. Chelsea are in third place after beating strolling Wolves with three second half goals. Tottenham and Manchester United drew 2-2 with Matthijs de Ligt netting the equaliser for United in the sixth minute of added time. Aston Villa put on an excellent display as they beat Bournemouth 4-0 at Villa Park, while Brentford were 3-1 winners against Newcastle United. Igor Thiago scored two more goals for the Bees and Newcastle had Dan Burn sent off. There was some relief for West Ham as they beat fellow claret and blue strugglers Burnley 3-2 at the London Stadium.
Serie A: Roma and Inter leading the way
ROMA are increasingly looking like title contenders this season after their 2-0 win against Udinese. They are level on points at the top with Inter, who are ahead on goal difference. Roma’s goals against Udinese came from Lorenzo Pellegrini, a penalty, and Zeki Celik. Inter, meanwhile, won 2-0 against Lazio with goals from Lautaro Martínez and Ange-Yoan Bonny. Inter may lose their highly-rated central defender Alessandro Bastoni in the next transfer window, the 26-year-old Italy international is being eyed by a number of Premier League clubs. Napoli are stuttering at the moment and lost 2-0 at Bologna, both goals coming in the second half. Antonio Conte was less than happy and said his team had “little positive energy” and Bologna possessed more strength and enthusiasm. The Derby della Mole at the Allianz between Juventus and Torino ended goalless with Juve boss Luciano Spalletti admitting his side needed greater creativity and quality. Milan also drew, throwing away at two-goal lead at Parma. “We fell asleep,” said coach Max Allegri. Milan are said to be interested in West Ham striker Niclas Fullkrug.
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La Liga: Lewandowski shows age is not an issue
ROBERT Lewandowski is 37 and is understandably vulnerable to injuries, but the Polish striker showed against Celta Vigo that he still possesses the goalscorer’s instinct. He netted a hat-trick as Barcelona won 4-2 and moved a little closer to leaders Real Madrid. Barca’s other goals came from Lamine Yamal and Frenkie de Jong, who was red-carded with 10 minutes remaining. Real Madrid were frustrated in their local derby with Rayo Vallecano and were kept goalless for the first time this season and only the second time in 2025 in a league game. Atlético beat Levante 3-1 with substitute Antoine Griezmann scoring twice. Another Atléti forward, Julián Alvarez, is allegedly considering his options as a host of big name clubs add him to their shopping list. Villareal kept up their challenge with a 2-0 win at Espanyol while strugglers Girona won 1-0 against Aláves to lift themselves up the table.
Bundesliga: Leverkusen’s youngsters hit six
BAYER Leverkusen bounced back from their recent 3-0 defeat against Bayern Munich with a 6-0 thrashing of bottom-placed Heidenheim. Under new boss Kasper Hjulmand, Leverkusen have fresh impetus and their young team is impressing people once more. Patrik Schick and Ibrahim Maza netted two apiece as they tore Heidenheim apart, going in at half-time five goals ahead. Bayern had a tough afternoon at Union Berlin and had to thank Harry Kane for an added time equaliser to earn a 2-2 draw. Dutch defender Danilho Doekhi, scored twice for the home team and Luis Díaz was Bayern’s other scorer. Dortmund were denied a win in Hamburg as HSV levelled in the 97th minute. Borussia Mönchengladbach continued their improved form with a 3-1 win in the Rhineland derby against Köln. Haris Tabaković missed a penalty for Gladbach but was on the scoresheet along with Kevin Diks and Philip Sander. Köln’s consolation came from a penalty by Luca Waldschmidt seconds from the end. Stuttgart’s Deniz Undaz scored twice as his team won 3-2 against Augsburg but RB Leipzig’s unbeaten run of eight-games came to an end with a 3-1 defeat at Hoffenheim.
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Ligue 1: Lyon give PSG a hard time
WITH Ligue 1 shaping up to be very competitive, Paris Saint-Germain maintained their two-point lead at the top with a 3-2 win at Olympique Lyonnais. They took the lead three times against Lyon, with the winner coming from João Neves in the fifth minute of added. Lyon had Nicolas Tagliafico sent off just before the decisive goal. Olympique Marseille and Lens are just behind PSG, both winning by three clear goals against Brest and Monaco respectively. OM won 3-0 at home to Brest with goals from Angel Gomes, Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in front of over 66,000 people. Lens pulled off a 4-1 win at Monaco, who played half the game with 10 men. Wesley Säid scored twice for Lens. Strasbourg won 2-0 against Lille, both goals coming from Emanuel Emegha, while Metz made it three wins in a row, beating Nice 2-1.
Attendances – highest over the weekend
Inter Milan v Lazio 71,060
Marseille v Brest 66,279
West Ham v Burnley 62,449
Roma v Udinese 61,684
Tottenham v Manchester United 61,210
Atlético Madrid v Levante 60,119
VFB Stuttgart v Augsburg 58,500
Lyon v PSG 58,257
And elsewhere …
Hearts are held 1-1 by Dundee United at Tynecastle, while Celtic beat Kilmarnock 4-0 and Rangers won 3-0 at Dundee
Benfica lose ground in Portugal by drawing 2-2 at home to Casa Pia in front of 56,428 people. Porto and Sporting both won
Slavia Prague win 5-3 at Viktoria Plzen to go two points clear at the top of the Czech First League.