LONDON (AP) ― Arsenal powered to a seven-point lead in the Premier League after beating Cardiff 3-0 on Saturday, with Aaron Ramsey’s prolific season touching new heights with a double against his former club.
There was more misery for Fulham at the other end of the standings, with a demoralizing 3-0 loss at fellow struggler West Ham keeping the team in the bottom three and leaving beleaguered manager Martin Jol fighting for his job.
Ramsey marked his return to his boyhood club by taking his remarkable goal tally for the season to 13 in all competitions. Mathieu Flamini scored in between in the leaders’ 10th victory in 13 games.
“This is where I started my career and where everything began, and hopefully they’ve seen the player they produced today,” said Ramsey, arguably the Premier League’s star player so far this season.
Everton moved level on points with second-place Liverpool and third-place Chelsea, which both play Sunday, with a crushing 4-0 home win over Stoke that was rounded off by Romelu Lukaku’s eighth goal in nine league games.
At the bottom, Crystal Palace dropped to last place by losing 1-0 at Norwich in Tony Pulis’ first match in charge of the London side.
Spain
Diego Costa scored his 15th goal of the Spanish league season to seal Atletico Madrid’s 2-0 win at Elche on Saturday, provisionally lifting Diego Simeone’s side level with Barcelona at the top of the table.
Celta Vigo came back to beat Almeria 3-1 for its first home victory at Balaidos Stadium in eight attempts this season under first-year manager Luis Enrique.
Gareth Bale scored three goals and set up a fourth to make sure Real Madrid didn’t miss injured star Cristiano Ronaldo as it cruised to a 4-0 win over Valladolid.
With Ronaldo out nursing a hurt hamstring for a second straight game, Bale took up the scoring duties in the 32nd minute before finding Karim Benzema to make it 2-0 four minutes later.
Italy
Antonio Cassano scored his 100th Serie A goal as Parma was held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Bologna in the Italian league.
Bologna took the lead in the Emilia-Romagna derby in the 10th minute when Panagiotis Kone latched onto Rolando Bianchi’s ball over the defense and fired it past Antonio Mirante from 25 meters. Cassano’s strike was even more spectacular as the forward volleyed an unstoppable effort into the top left corner.
Bologna played almost the entire second half with 10 men after Frederik Sorensen was sent off following a second booking in the 52nd minute.
Germany
Bayer Leverkusen’s Son Heung-min celebrates the first of his two goals against FC Nuremberg on Saturday.(AP-Yonhap News)
Arjen Robben scored twice for unbeaten Bayern Munich to beat bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday, while Borussia Dortmund needed two late penalties to win 3-1 at Mainz.
Robben scored in the second minute after Mario Goetze picked him out with a ball over the top. The Dutchman’s initial effort struck the post but the rebound fell kindly for him to head home.
Werder Bremen scored in the last minute for a 4-4 draw at Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen beat relegation-threatened Nuremberg 3-0 and Hertha Berlin drew 0-0 with Augsburg.
