LONDON (AP) ― Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal won in the English Premier League on Saturday. In Spain, Barcelona played to a 0-0 draw at Getafe, halting its run of eight straight victories in all competitions.
The closest Barcelona came to scoring was Lionel Messi’s free kick that hit the crossbar in the second half. Luis Suarez remained without a goal in the league since joining Barcelona. The Spanish power fell four points behind first-place Madrid.
First-place Chelsea responded to its first loss of the season by beating Hull 2-0. Eden Hazard headed in his eighth goal of the season and combined with Branislav Ivanovic before releasing Diego Costa to score.
With the score 1-0, Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone was sent off in the 60th minute, a second infraction for a cleats-up challenge on Filipe Luis.
Defending champion Manchester City won its fifth straight in the league, edging last-place Leicester 1-0 to stay three points behind Chelsea.
Frank Lampard, who scored off a low cross from Samir Nasri, could now potentially extend his loan from sister club New York City FC, which makes its Major League Soccer debut in March.
“Frank wants to stay, we want to keep him,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini said. “Now we must resolve the problem with New York City and MLS.”
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Chelsea’s Eden Hazard turns away after scoring against Hull City on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap) |
The former Chelsea midfielder’s 175th Premier League goal put him even with ex-Arsenal striker Thierry Henry in fourth on the career list.
For Arsenal, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla scored twice following last weekend’s loss at Stoke. The victory nudged Arsene Wenger’s sixth-placed club within two points of top four Champions League places.
While West Ham stayed fourth after drawing 1-1 with Sunderland, Southampton slumped to a fourth successive loss. Burnley’s 1-0 victory left the team in fifth, having been second last month.
Burnley climbed out of the relegation zone, which is now made up of Queens Park Rangers, Hull and Leicester.
Crystal Palace is only a point above the danger zone after drawing 1-1 with Stoke. West Bromwich Albion is two points further in front of Palace after beating 10-man Aston Villa 1-0.
Arjen Robben scored twice for unbeaten Bayern Munich, which routed third-place Augsburg 4-0 to increase its Bundesliga lead.
Bayern, the defending champion, will remain in first place going into the Bundesliga’s winter break. It is in front by 10 points over Wolfsburg, which hosts Paderborn on Sunday.
Robben’s goals came between strikes from defender Mehdi Benatia and Robert Lewandowski.
Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin to return to the relegation zone.
Palermo beat nine-man Sassuolo 2-1 to move into the top half of Serie A and extend its unbeaten streak to seven matches. The Sicilian side leapfrogged Sassuolo by moving into ninth place. Sassuolo, whose unbeaten streak was halted at eight, dropped to 11th.
Bordeaux, bidding for a spot in the Champions League, lost 2-1 at Nantes. The defeat ended fifth-place Bordeaux’s three-game unbeaten run and kept the club seven points behind leader Marseille. Nantes ended a four-game winless streak.
