LONDON (AP) ― Tottenham beat Swansea 3-1 Sunday to close within goal difference of Arsenal for third place in the English Premier League.

Tottenham’s win also helped it keep Chelsea and Newcastle at arm’s length in the race to finish in the Champions League spots.

Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor scored on two headers in the final 17 minutes at White Hart Lane and Spurs kept a five-point gap on their rivals below them with seven rounds left.

“We hit a little blip but we feel like we’re back now and hopefully heading onto a good run-in towards the end of season,” Tottenham winger Gareth Bale said.

Newcastle’s surprise push for European soccer next season gathered momentum with a 2-0 win over struggling Liverpool, keeping Alan Pardew’s side on the same number of points as Chelsea and condemning the visitors to a sixth loss in seven league games.

Senegal striker Papiss Demba Cisse grabbed a double for the second straight match for Newcastle, with Liverpool finishing with 10 men following the late sending-off of goalkeeper Jose Reina for a headbutt.

The Spain international faces a three-match ban that will culminate with his team’s FA Cup semifinal against Merseyside rival Everton, which is now above Liverpool in the league table by a point.

Spain

Valencia squandered another lead and tied 1-1 with Levante on Sunday, endangering its hold on third place in the Spanish league.

For the sixth time in its last eight games, Valencia failed to secure a win after scoring first and dropped valuable points at home.
 
Also, Radamel Falcao scored his 20th Spanish league goal of the season as Atletico Madrid cruised past Getafe 3-0.

Levante was the more dangerous side early on at Mestalla stadium, but crosstown rival Valencia went ahead 10 minutes before halftime with a move started by Aritz Aduriz, playing instead of the suspended Roberto Soldado.

The Basque striker threaded a superb short pass through a trio of defenders and Sofiane Feghouli laid the ball off for Jonas to tap into the empty net.

Arouna Kone equalized for Levante through a counterattack in the 54th.

After recovering the ball in midfield, Jose Barkero lofted a long ball into the area that Valdo Lopez headed down for Kone to fire in and take his league goal tally to 11 this season.

Italy

New Inter Milan manager Andrea Stramaccioni had a successful debut as Diego Milito scored a hat trick and the Nerazzurri held on for a wild 5-4 win over Genoa on Sunday in a match that both sides finished with 10 men.

The 36-year-old Stramaccioni was hired Monday after Claudio Ranieri was fired following a miserable streak of one win in Inter’s previous 10 league matches. A week ago, Stramaccioni led Inter’s youth squad to a win over Ajax in the inaugural NextGen Series final ― a sort of Champions League for under-19 players.

“The important thing is that Inter won. Yes, it was a wild victory,” Stramaccioni said. “I want to thank the entire group for giving their all to find success again. The merit is theirs. All I added was that little that I know to try and achieve this result.”

This victory moved Inter past Catania into seventh place, 20 points behind Serie A leader and crosstown rival AC Milan, which drew 1-1 at Catania on Saturday.

Germany

Hannover extended its unbeaten home record and climbed to fifth in the Bundesliga with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday, when Schalke was held 1-1 at Hoffenheim.

“The Gladbachers didn’t apply the pressure I expected. The second half went very well for us,” Hannover coach Mirko Slomka said after his club’s 250th Bundesliga win.

Didier Ya Konan slid in to give the home side the lead in the 57th minute by deflecting Konstantin Rausch’s cross through Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s legs.

Hannover, which remains the Bundesliga’s only team unbeaten at home this season, made it 2-0 in the 77th when Sergio Pinto sent Jan Schlaudraff free and the former Moenchengladbach player waited before picking out Mame Biram Diouf with a precise cross.

France

Defending champion Lille beat Toulouse 2-1 to get back into the French league title race by pulling within four points of leader Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain.

Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard converted a penalty kick in the 12th minute after Toulouse defender Daniel Congre fouled him.

Hazard has scored five goals in his last five matches ― and 14 goals this season.

Lille forward Dimitri Payet doubled the lead by taking a pass from Hazard to score from close range in the 31st.

Toulouse defender Serge Aurier pulled one back by diverting home a shot from Adrien Regattin in the 60th.

Lille remained in third place with matches against PSG later this month and Montpellier in May.

Scotland

Celtic is just one point away from clinching its first Scottish title since 2008 after beating St. Johnstone 2-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.

Greece striker Georgios Samaras opened the scoring in the 66th minute before Chris Millar’s own goal sealed victory at Celtic Park, leaving Neil Lennon’s side 18 points clear of Glasgow rival Rangers.