Published : Feb. 3, 2013 - 19:39
Newcastle United’s Fabricio Coloccini (left) and Chelsea’s Demba Ba challenge for the ball on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap News)
LONDON (AP) ― Chelsea’s week went from bad to worse on Saturday in a loss to Newcastle and Manchester United took a 10-point lead in the title race by beating Fulham.
Moussa Sissoko, one of four Newcastle signings from France in the January transfer window, scored twice in his home debut to give Newcastle a 3-2 victory over Chelsea.
As Newcastle moved further out of the relegation zone, Chelsea missed a chance to close the gap on second-place Manchester City, which trails its crosstown rival by 10 points and leads Chelsea by six ahead of Sunday’s match against Liverpool.
And the pressure is being cranked up on Rafa Benitez, whose Chelsea side also drew against relegation-threatened Reading on Wednesday after being held by third-tier club Brentford in the FA Cup on Sunday.
“What I know, what I can see is the team doing well, working hard and when we have this advantage, we have to manage in a better way,” Benitez said.
Floodlight failure halted United’s match at Fulham for 10 minutes before halftime, and after the break Wayne Rooney provided the spark with a crisp finish to clinch a 1-0 win.
Arsenal won by the same score to go a point behind Tottenham and Everton, who are fourth and fifth.
Everton’s pursuit of the fourth Champions League spot was held up by a 3-3 draw against Aston Villa, which missed a chance to climb out of the relegation zone.
Wigan also remains in the danger spots with Villa, although ahead on goal difference, after being held to a 2-2 draw by Southampton.
It was also a frustrating day for last-place Queens Park Rangers, which drew 0-0 with Norwich. Reading, however, moved two points clear of the bottom three by beating Sunderland 2-1, while West Ham climbed to 10th with a 1-0 victory over Swansea.
Germany
Bayern Munich maintained its march toward a 23rd Bundesliga title with a 3-0 win at Mainz on Saturday.
Mario Mandzukic scored twice, and Thomas Mueller scored to justify Jupp Heynckes’ decision to leave Dutch star Arjen Robben and Germany striker Mario Gomez on the bench.
Bayern moved 14 points clear of Bayer Leverkusen after its 16th win of the season. Leverkusen hosts third-placed Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.
Last place Greuther Fuerth stunned Schalke when Nikola Djurdjic scored two minutes into injury time for a 2-1 come-from-behind victory that ended the promoted side’s 17-game run without a win.
Schalke is 22 points behind Bayern’s 51, leaving Keller under increasing pressure as the club’s midseason slump continues.
Eintracht Frankfurt won 2-0 at Hamburger SV to consolidate fourth place for the promoted side.
Hoffenheim beat visiting Freiburg 2-1 for its first win under coach Marco Kurz.
Augsburg’s Jan Moravek (left) celebrates his goal with teammates Koo Ja-cheol (center) and Ronny Philp on Saturday. ( AP-Yonhap News)
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during a Spanish league match against Granada on Saturday. Granada pulled off a shock 1-0 victory. (AFP-Yonhap News)
Wolfsburg drew 1-1 with Augsburg and Stuttgart lost 3-1 at Fortuna Duesseldorf ― the visitor’s third defeat in a row.
France
Substitute Axel Ngando scored a last-minute equalizer with his first touch in professional football to earn Rennes a 2-2 draw at Lorient in a thrilling Brittany derby on Saturday.
Jeremie Aliadiere blasted a superb solo goal into the top corner with 10 minutes left as Lorient looked set to provisionally move above Rennes into fourth place.
However, Ngando finished calmly just seconds after coming on as Rennes midfielder Yann Jouffre put Lorient ahead in the 31st before forward Mevlut Erding equalized early in the second half to make up for two big misses.
Spain
Osasuna edged out visiting Celta Vigo 1-0 thanks to Emiliano Armenteros’ second-half winner to provisionally escape the Spanish league’s relegation zone on Saturday.
Getafe, meanwhile, overcame the early dismissal of goalkeeper Miguel Moya to come from behind and beat last-place Deportivo La Coruna 3-1 for its first victory in eight matches.