AEK ATHENS are well and truly immersed in the Greek Super League title race after beating Panathinaikos 4-0 in the Nea Filadelfia stadium. The victory, which puts AEK level on points with PAOK, was a personal triumph for 28-year-old Serbian international Luka Jović, who netted all four of his team’s goals. Panathinaikos were a dispirited bunch as former Milan and Real Madrid striker Jović scored his second hat-trick of the season against AEK’s Athens rivals. His third goal of the game in the 65th minute was the 100th of his club career.
Greek table: 1. PAOK 17 – 41; 2. AEK 17 – 41; 3. Olympiacos 16 – 39; 4. Levadiakos 16 – 31.
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Premier League: It really is Arsenal’s to lose
NONE of the Premier’s top four won this weekend, with Arsenal’s nearest challengers, Manchester City and Aston Villa, both losing and Liverpool drawing with lowly Burnley. A goalless draw for the Gunners at Forest meant they were able to extend their lead at the top to seven points. Only Arsenal have the consistency needed to win the Premier this season, so unless a poor run comes out of the blue, they are increasingly looking like champions-elect. City were beaten 2-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford, a win that was arguably more emphatic than the scoreline suggested. The victory sparked off huge praise for interim manager Michael Carrick, but as United know only too well, one swallow does not make a summer – they have been in this position before. Tottenham were beaten 2-1 by West Ham, who picked up their first win since November 8 (11 games). Callum Wilson scored the winner deep into added time. Rumours have abounded that Spurs are on the verge of sacking their coach, Thomas Frank. Everton pulled off a 1-0 win at Aston Villa, with £ 26 million signing from Villareal, Thierno Barry, scoring the winner on 59 minutes.
Premier table: 1. Arsenal 22 – 50; 2. Manchester City 22 – 43; 3. Aston Villa 22 – 43; 4 – Liverpool 22 – 46.
Bundesliga: The goals keep flowing for Bayern
BAYERN MUNICH have now scored 71 goals in 18 games and have netted 16 since they returned from the winter break. They won 5-1 at RB Leipzig to maintain their 11-point lead at the top of the table. Michael Olise was the star man, coming on as substitute in the 56th minute to create three goals and score one himself. Needless to say, Harry Kane grabbed another one! Borussia Dortmund let slip a two-goal lead before eventually beating St. Pauli 3-2, with Emre Can scoring the vital goal in the 95th minute from the penalty spot. Hoffenheim are in third place after beating Leverkusen 1-0 with a Wouter Berger goal after nine minutes. In Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt saved a point when Ansgar Knauff scored in the 94th minute to make it 3-3 at the Weserstadion. Köln also kept going to the end, coming from behind to beat Mainz 2-1 with both goals coming from Ragnar Ache.
Bundesliga table: 1. Bayern 18 – 50; 2. Dortmund 18 – 39; 3. Hoffenheim 17 – 33 ; 4 – Stuttgart 18 – 33.
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Eredivisie: Seven-goal thriller at De Kuip
FEYENOORD’s indifferent run continued with a 4-3 home defeat at the hands of Rotterdam rivals Sparta. They were two-goals down inside 55 minutes, but pulled one back through Hwang in-beom, only for Shusuke Mito to restore the two-goal advantage for Sparta. Feyenoord’s manager, Robin van Persie sent on his son, Shaqueel, in the 63rd minute and the youngster scored twice in two minutes, one a spectacular overhead kick. Sparta, however, clinched the three points with an added time goal from Joshua Kitolano. Feyenoord are 16 points behind PSV Eindhoven, who won 2-1 at Fortuna SIttard. Thirty-six-year-old Croatian international Ivan Perišić was the matchwinner for PSV. Ajax, meanwhile, were held 2-2 at home by Go Ahead Eagles after throwing away a two-goal lead after 28 minutes. Ajax’s goals came from Davy Klaassen and Kasper Dolberg.
Eredivisie table: 1. PSV 19 – 52; 2. Feyenoord 19 – 36; 3. Ajax 19 – 34; 4 – NEC Nijmegen 18 – 32.
Ligue 1: Lens still lead the way
LENS are still providing the biggest challenge to Paris Saint-Germain this season and are still top of Ligue 1 after their 1-0 win over Auxerre. Lens are demonstrating that sound management and shrewd business can be successful – their squad is valued at € 115 million by Tranfermarkt and cost € 63 million to assemble. The Auxerre game was difficult for Lens and they had to wait until the 65th minute to score through Wesley Säid. PSG are just a point behind, they beat Lille 3-0 with two goals coming from Ousmane Dembélé. Marseille won 5-2 at Angers while Toulouse were 5-1 winners at home to Nice. Paris FC eased their relegation worries with a 2-1 victory at Nantes.
Ligue 1 table: 1. Lens 18 – 43; 2. PSG 18 – 43; 3. Marseille 18 – 35; 4. Lille 18 – 32.
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Serie A: Goals hard to find
THE Serie A title race has been tight all season, but Inter have a three-point lead over AC Milan and are six points ahead of Napoli. Inter’s latest win, a 1-0 success at Udinese, was due to Lautaro Martínez, who scored in the 20th minute. It was his 11th league goal of the season. Milan were also 1-0 winners, beating Lecce at San Siro with a goal from on-loan striker Niclas Füllkrug, his first since arriving from West Ham United. Napoli also won 1-0, against Sassuolo, Stanislav Lobotka scoring the winning goal in the seventh minute. Roma are just behind after their 2-0 victory at Torino, thanks to goals from Donyell Malen and Paulo Dybala.
Serie A table: 1. Inter 21 – 49; 2. Milan 21 – 46; 3. Napoli 21 – 43; 4. Roma 21 – 42.
La Liga: Barca slip-up
ALTHOUGH they closed the gap on Barcelona to one point, it was not a brilliant weekend for Real Madrid. Before the game, Real’s followers waved white handkerchiefs – a sign of discontent – and at various times, players and management were jeered by the crowd. Real won 2-0 against Levante with goals from Kylian Mbappé and Raúl Asencio. Barcelona were beaten 2-1 at Real Sociedad and trailed in the first half to a goal from Mikel Oyarzabel before levelling through Marcus Rashford. Within a minute, Gonzalo Guedes had restored the home side’s lead and they hung on to win, despite losing Carlos Soler to a red card with two minutes remaining. Alexander Sørloth scored the winner for Atlético in a 1-0 home win against Alavés, while Real Betis beat Villareal 2-0 in front of more than 60,000 people. Vedat Muriqi of Mallorca scored a hat-trick to give his side a 3-2 win against Athletic Bilbao.
La Liga table: 1. Barcelona 20 – 49; 2. Real Madrid 20 – 48; 3. Villareal 19 – 41; 4. Atlético 20 – 41.
Attendances
1: 81,365 – Borussia Dortmund v St. Pauli
2: 74,004 – Manchester United v Manchester City
3: 70,591 – AC Milan v Lecce
4: 70,104 – Real Madrid v Levante
5: 61,192 – Atlético Madrid v Alavés
6: 60,857 – Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United
7: 60,431 – Liverpool v Burnley
8: 60,138 – Real Betis v Villareal.