United, Barca in charge

European soccer league matches, but AC Milan’s 1-0 loss at Palermo blew the Serie A title race wide open.
Lille inched away from the chasing pack in France, while Borussia Dortmund are still on target for a first German title since 2002 despite a 1-1 draw against Mainz. In England, Manchester United ended the weekend with a five-point lead over second-place Arsenal after substitute Dimitar Berbatov’s 88th-minute goal – his 20th strike of the season – snatched a 1-0 win at home to Bolton Wanderers.
Arsenal battled back from behind to draw 2-2 at West Bromwich Albion, after a clanger from Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia had allowed Peter Odemwingie to put the hosts 2-0 up. Chelsea landed a significant blow in the fight for Champions League qualification by defeating direct rivals Manchester City 2-0 on Sunday. Late goals from Brazilian pair David Luiz and Ramires at Stamford Bridge allowed the Blues to leapfrog City into third place, and the defending champions are now nine points behind United with a game in hand.
In Spain, Barcelona remain five points clear in La Liga after a 2-1 win at home to Getafe on Saturday, thanks to a superb long-range half-volley from Dani Alves and a deflected strike early in the second half from Bojan Krkic. Second-place Real Madrid kept the pressure on by winning by the same scoreline at city rivals Atletico Madrid. Goals from in-form French striker Karim Benzema and German’s Mesut Ozil put Real 2-0 up at the break before Sergio Aguero belatedly found a way past Real’s imperious goalkeeper Iker Casillas in the 86th minute. Villarreal stole ahead of Valencia on goal difference in the battle for third place, winning 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao through Marco Ruben on Sunday before Valencia slipped to a 1-0 loss at home to Sevilla. In Italy, a shock defeat for league leaders AC Milan, who went down 1-0 at Palermo on Saturday, breathed new life into the Serie A title race and gave fresh hope to the chasing pack.- AFP.