How the contenders fared ahead of matchday four
Sunday, November 1, 2015
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Alex Teixeira and PSV were again among the goals, there were derby wins for Juventus, Valencia and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, and while Bayern München's 100% start ended, Olympiacos rolled on.
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Group A
Rennes 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain
Ángel Di María scored the only goal 15 minutes from time when he swept in a cut-back from the marauding Lucas as Paris moved ten points clear at the Ligue 1 summit ahead of Sunday's fixtures.
Real Madrid 3-1 Las Palmas
Undefeated Madrid made it three successive Liga wins with a regulation success. All the goals came in the first half, with Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo putting the hosts 2-0 up. Hernán Santana halved the deficit, but two minutes before the interval Jesé sealed the points for the Merengues.
Malmö 0-2 Norrköping
The deposed Swedish champions ended the 2015 Allsvenskan fifth after defeat by Norrköping, who succeed Malmö as title holders. Goals from Emir Kujovic and Arnór Ingvi Traustason secured the visitors their first crown since 1989 ahead of IFK Göteborg.
Zorya Luhansk 1-7 Shakhtar Donetsk
Alex Teixeira took his goal tally to 18 in 12 league games as Shakhtar cruised to a seventh straight top-flight success at fourth-placed Zorya. Fred (39) opened the floodgates before second-half doubles from Taras Stepanenko (47, 90), Alex Teixeira (58, 70) and substitute Eduardo (75, 86). Giorgi Arabidze, 17, made his league debut.
Group B
Wolfsburg 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Wolfsburg are third in Germany after coming out on top in their clash with fellow UEFA Champions League contenders Leverkusen, Julian Draxler scoring the winner 13 minutes from time. Draxler struck four minutes after his introduction for a Wolfsburg side who had earlier led through Nicklas Bendtner before Javier Hernández's leveller.
Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester United
Louis van Gaal's side played out their third successive goalless draw as they could find no way past Crystal Palace in south London. The result leaves the fourth-placed Red Devils without a goal in 295 minutes and four points behind leaders Manchester City and Arsenal.
CSKA Moskva 2-0 Ufa
Unbeaten CSKA continue to set a relentless pace in Russia. Sergei Ignashevich's penalty put the Army Men ahead in the 21st minute and Zoran Tošić wrapped up the points midway through the second half, giving Leonid Slutski's side an 11th win in 14 league outings.
De Graafschap 3-6 PSV Eindhoven
Few predicted many problems for the Dutch champions at the Eredivisie's bottom side, even more so after the visitors went 3-0 up inside 31 minutes, Davy Pröpper hitting two. By 64 minutes, though, it was 3-3. PSV regained the initiative and Gastón Pereiro's fifth goal in three games sealed victory.
Group C
Deportivo La Coruña 1-1 Atlético Madrid
The visitors dominated the first half and were rewarded when Tiago (34) thumped them in front from the edge of the box. Yet the visitors were forced to settle for a point when Lucas prised a 77th-minute equaliser.
Tondela 0-4 Benfica
Benfica eased to victory after three first-half goals helped see off struggling Tondela. Jonas's eighth goal in as many league games set the tone in the fourth minute, with an own goal and Gonçalo Guedes all but sealing the points before the break. Mehdi Carcela-González added a late fourth.
Galatasaray 4-0 Eskişehirspor
Galatasaray are now eight competitive matches unbeaten after Thursday night's comfortable victory. Selçuk İnan scored on nine minutes before Burak Yılmaz struck twice late in the first half, the second a penalty. Bilal Kisa completed the scoring with five minutes left.
Astana 1-0 Irytsh Pavlodar
After a week in which they beat title rivals Kairat Almaty and then Atyrau to go top with two games to go, Astana defeated Irtysh through Tanat Nuserbayev's effort in the 57th minute. They will face Aktobe on the final day of the season next Sunday holding a one-point lead.
Group D
Juventus 2-1 Torino
The Bianconeri claimed the Turin derby spoils thanks to Juan Cuadrado's 93rd-minute winner. It looked as if the points would be shared when Paul Pogba's opener was cancelled out by Cesare Bovo, but the Colombian winger scrambled in a low cross at the back post deep into added time.
Manchester City 2-1 Norwich City
There was plenty of late drama as the Premier League leaders took all three points thanks to Yaya Touré's 89th-minute penalty. Leading through Nicolás Otamendi's bullet header, City were pegged back when Joe Hart's mistake led to Cameron Jerome equalising with seven minutes left. A handball allowed Touré to convert from the spot with a minute left, though there was still time for Aleksandar Kolarov to miss another spot kick.
Villarreal 2-1 Sevilla
Sevilla's four-game unbeaten Liga run came to an end. Fernando Llorente struck for the visitors in the 76th minute but it proved a mere consolation after Mario Gaspar and Cédric Bakambu's efforts for the Yellow Submarine.
Hertha Berlin 1-4 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach are up to fourth as their remarkable Bundesliga renaissance continued with a sixth successive win. Oscar Wendt, fit-again Raffael and Granit Xhaka's penalty put them 3-0 up before Alexander Baumjohann pulled one back. Håvard Nordtveit rounded things off in added time.
Group E
Getafe 0-2 Barcelona
Luis Suárez (eight goals in seven games) and Neymar (six in five) struck in each half as Barcelona kept pace with Real Madrid at the Liga summit. The pair have now scored Barcelona's last 14 league goals. Andrés Iniesta returned after a month out with a hamstring problem.
Wolfsburg 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Wolfsburg came out on top in their clash with fellow UEFA Champions League contenders Leverkusen – who stay seventh – as Draxler scored the winner minutes after coming off the bench. Javier Hernández continued his form in front of goal with an equaliser on half-time.
Dinamo Brest 0-1 BATE Borisov
Already confirmed as Belarusian champions, BATE did not ease off for the trip to Brest as they took the three points courtesy of Mikhail Gordeichuk's 71st-minute winner. The result meant they went through the league season undefeated away from home.
Internazionale Milano 1-0 Roma
Gary Medel's sensational strike just after the half-hour mark helped Inter leapfrog Roma to the top of Serie A ahead of Sunday's matches. Both sides had chances, but any hopes of a Giallorossi comeback ended when Miralem Pjanić was sent off 17 minutes from time. It is the first time Roma have failed to score in 25 fixtures.
Group F
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-0 Bayern München
Bayern's record winning streak of ten games at the start of the season came to an end as they were held by a resilient home side, with Robert Lewandowski seeing a potential late winner ruled out for offside.
Veria 0-3 Olympiacos
Marco Silva's side maintained their 100% start to the Greek Super League campaign with a ninth successive win. Ideye Brown and Jimmy Durmaz scored in the second period to secure an eight-point advantage over Panathinaikos, who drew 0-0 with AEK Athens on Sunday.
Swansea City 0-3 Arsenal
Arsenal remain locked together with Manchester City on points after a fifth successive league win. Level at the break, Olivier Giroud headed the visitors into the lead in the 49th minute – the 2,000th Gunners goal under Arsène Wenger – before Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell's first for the club secured another three points.
Split 1-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Having started their league season with a 13-game unbeaten run, Dinamo Zagreb have now suffered consecutive defeats following Petar Franjić's first-half winner.
Group G
União da Madeira p-p Porto
Porto were scheduled to face União on Saturday, but the match was postponed because adverse weather meant their plane was unable to land in Madeira.
Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 Metalist Kharkiv
Dynamo Kyiv kept pace with Shakhtar after a hard-fought win against a struggling Metalist side. Serhiy Sydorchuk put the hosts ahead (34) and Júnior Moraes (74) ensured a return to winning ways after the 3-0 loss to the Pitmen in their last league outing.
Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool
Chelsea lost for the third time in four league outings as they went down to Liverpool despite going ahead through Ramires' fourth-minute header. Coutinho levelled moments before the interval, then put the Reds ahead after the restart. Substitute Christian Benteke rounded things off, leaving the Blues 15th, with 11 points from 11 games.
Hapolel Tel-Aviv 0-1 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Carlos García's second goal in four games earned Maccabi the derby spoils – the Spanish defender's previous 54 games had brought a solitary strike.
Group H
Zenit 0-0 Mordovia
The Russian champions lost more ground on leaders CSKA as they failed to find a way past second-from-bottom Mordovia at home, leaving André Villas-Boas's third-placed side ten points off the summit.
Valencia 3-0 Levante
The hosts continued their 'win-lose' Liga sequence which now stretches to six games as they defeated Levante thanks to a trio of second-half goals. Paco Alcácer's penalty in the 64th minute broke the deadlock before Sofiane Feghouli and Zakaria Bakkali got their first Liga goals of the season to move their side sixth.
Leuven 0-2 Gent
Gent remain unbeaten in the Belgian First League after a fourth successive away triumph. Kalifa Coulibaly scored three minutes in to put Hein Vanhaezebrouck's men ahead, then Brecht Dejaegere struck only two minutes into the second half for a Gent side who kept their first clean sheet in eight attempts.
Troyes 0-1 Lyon
Claudio Beauvue converted a 78th-minute penalty as Lyonedged a victory over a Troyes side down to ten men for over 50 minutes. The result ended a run of five away games without a win for the visitors and kept them ten points behind Paris.