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LONDON. — Spanish soccer champions Barcelona suffered their first league defeat of the season when they went down 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday to lose their three-point lead at the top of La Liga. Arsenal stayed clear at the head of the English Premier League with a 3-0 win at Cardiff City as Chelsea and Manchester City kept up their pursuit with victories over Southampton and Swansea City respectively.
Juventus and Bayern Munich continued to set the pace in Italy and Germany.
In Spain, Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the season and were unable to restore their three-point lead over Atletico Madrid at the top when they crashed to a 1-0 reverse at Athletic Bilbao. An ineffectual Barca followed up last Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League loss at Ajax Amsterdam with another setback when Bilbao forward Iker Muniain turned in a Markel Susaeta cross in the 71st minute at the San Mames.
The Spanish champions barely mustered a shot on target against the Basques and it was only the second time in 15 matches this season they have dropped points after the 0-0 draw at Osasuna in October. Gerardo Martino’s side are level with Atletico on 40 points following the Madrid club’s 2-0 win at promoted Elche. Real Madrid, whose 4-0 drubbing of Real Valladolid at the Bernabeu included a hat-trick from record signing Gareth Bale, are three behind in third, with Bilbao fourth on 29 points thanks to their first La Liga win against Barca since May 2006.
In England, Arsenal maintained their four-point lead at the top of the Premier League with victory at Cardiff City, but the top three now has a more familiar feel after Chelsea and Manchester City both won to stay in pursuit. Aaron Ramsey scored twice for the league leaders on his return to his former club in a 3-0 win for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, who moved to 31 points from 13 matches.
Chelsea climbed to second with a 3-1 win over Southampton thanks to goals from Gary Cahill, John Terry and Demba Ba, and Manchester City surged up to third with a 3-0 win over Swansea City in which Samir Nasri scored twice.
Wayne Rooney also bagged a double for Manchester United as they twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Tottenham Hotspur, leaving the champions in eighth on 22 points and Spurs a point adrift in ninth.
Liverpool, who began the weekend in second, lost 3-1 at Hull City to slip to fourth.
In Germany, Dutchman Arjen Robben scored twice to lead Bayern Munich to a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Braunschweig as last season’s treble winners maintained their four-point lead at the top following their 39th consecutive league game without defeat.
Coach Pep Guardiola also equalled the best start by a Bundesliga coach, having gone 14 league games without losing since taking over, matching Kaiserslautern’s former coach Karl-Heinz Feldkamp in 1978-79.
Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, four points behind on 34, recovered from their midweek Champions League mauling by Manchester United to beat winless Nuremberg 3-0 with forward Stefan Kiessling netting his ninth goal of the campaign.
Borussia Dortmund, in third place a further three points behind on 31, also won when two late Robert Lewandowski penalties helped them overcome Mainz 05 3-1 as coach Joachim Klopp returned to the club where he began his career.
In Italy, Juventus went three points clear at the top of Serie A when Fernando Llorente scored in added time to give them a 1-0 win over Udinese, their sixth successive victory without conceding a goal. — Soccernet.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter