European Football

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FT: Villarreal 0-3 Levante

Levante are now a point clear at the top after a thumping victory at El Madrigal. Levante took the lead on 15 minutes when Valdo's crossfield ball was emphatically volleyed home by Juanlu. 2 minutes before half time, Arouna Kone put in a low cross for Juanlu to score his 2nd of the game. Kone made it 3-0 just before the hour mark after beating his marker and scoring from a tight angle.

Matchday 9 of 38

Saturday 22 October

Sporting Gijon 2-0 Granada
Racing Santander 0-1 Espanyol
Malaga 0-4 Real Madrid
Barcelona 0-0 Sevilla

Sunday 23 October

Real Betis 0-2 Rayo Vallecano
Real Sociedad 0-0 Getafe
Atletico Madrid 1-1 Real Mallorca
Osasuna 3-0 Real Zaragoza
Valencia 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Villarreal 0-3 Levante

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FT: Dinamo Moscow 0-2 Rubin Kazan

Dinamo Moscow have slipped to 5th after defeat to Rubin Kazan. After a goalless first half dominated by Dinamo, Rubin took the lead 15 minutes into the 2nd half through alexander Ryazantsev (sweet strike). Then with 25 minutes to go, Bibras Natkho scored a fantastic freekick to secure the 3 points.

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FT: Granada 0-1 Barcelona

Barcelona returned to winning ways with a tight victory over Granada. It took 20 minutes for the best chance of the game so far when Pedro headed a Dani Alves cross wide from a promising position. The deadlock was broken 10 minutes before the break when Xavi curled home a delightful freekick. Granada finished the math with 10 men with Jaime Romero and Dani Benitez both being shown second yellows.

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FT: Juventus 2-1 Fiorentina

Juventus are top of the table after beating Fiorentina. Fiorentina are without a win in 5 games are in 12th. Simone Pepe was close to breaking the deadlock 5 minutes in but he was denied by Artur Boruc. On 15 minutes, Juve took the lead. An Andrea Pirlo corner picked out Claudio Marchisio whose shot was not held by Boruc allowing Leonardo Bonucci to follow up to slot the loose ball home. Mirko Vucinic tested Boruc 5 minutes before the break with a good effort. Fiorentina equalised 10 minutes into the 2nd half. Alberto Gilardino pulled the ball back for Juan Vargas to tee up Stevan Jovetic to curl home a sweet equaliser. With 25 minutes to go, Alessandro Matri latched onto a Simone Pepe pass to convert the ball past Artur Boruc to score what turned out to be the winner.

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FT: Napoli 2-0 Udinese

Udinese suffered their first defeat of the season away to Napoli. Napoli are now 4th 1 point behind 2nd placed Udinese. Ezequiel Lavezzi headed home an Edinson Cavani cross to break the deadlock on 20 minutes. 10 minutes before the break, Antonio Floro Flores had a shot from close range blocked by Morgan De Sanctis. On the stroke of half time, a Diego Fabbrini cross was headed home by Christian Maggio to make it 2-0. On the hour mark, Samir Handanovic had to be alert to block a Lavezzi shot. Napoli did go forward searching for the 3rd goal but they will be more than satisfied with this win.

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FT: Real Madrid 3-0 Villarreal

Real Madrid comfortably beat Villarreal at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid remain 2nd 1 point behind Levante while Villarreal have slipped into the relegation zone. Real Madrid broke the deadlock 5 minutes in when Angel Di Maria played the long ball to pick out Karim Benzema who then lobbed Diego Lopez. Kaka made it 2 5 minutes later after good link up play and sweet sidefoot finish. It was 3-0 on the half hour mark when a quick counter finished with Di Maria slotting the ball past Diego Lopez.

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FT: Palermo 2-0 Lecce

Palermo beat Lecce at the Barbera to move upto 7th while Lecce remain in the relegation zone. 20 minutes in, Eros Pisano had a goalbound header blocked by Christian Obodo and Massimiliano Benassi. Just before the half hour mark, Palermo were awarded a penalty when Nenad Tomovic fouled Abel Hernandez. Mauricio Pinilla converted the resulting penalty. Minutes later, Obodo tested Alexandros Tzorvas. With 15 minutes to go, a quick counter saw Eran Zahavi set up Hernandez to make it 2-0. Fabrizio Miccoli had the chance to make it 3-0 but sent his shot wide when 1-on-1 with Benassi. Lecce did have their chances in the closing stages with Andrea Bertolacci going close.

Matchday 9 of 38

Tuesday 25 October

Juventus 2-1 Fiorentina

Wednesday 26 October

Atalanta 1-1 Inter
Cesena 1-1 Cagliari
Chievo 0-1 Bologna
Genoa 2-1 Roma
Lazio 1-1 Catania
Milan 4-1 Parma
Napoli 2-0 Udinese
Novara 1-1 Siena

Thursday 27 October

Palermo 2-0 Lecce

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Spanish Primera Division

Matchday 10 of 38

Tuesday 25 October

Granada 0-1 Barcelona
Sevilla 2-2 Racing Santander

Wednesday 26 October

Real Zaragoza 0-1 Valencia
Getafe 2-2 Osasuna
Levante 3-2 Real Sociedad
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Malaga
Real Mallorca 1-2 Sporting Gijon
Real Madrid 3-0 Villarreal

Thursday 27 October

Espanyol 1-0 Real Betis
Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Atletico Madrid

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FT: Zenit St Petersburg 3-0 Volga Nizhny Novgorod

Zenit continue leading the Premier Liga with 1 matchday to go before the split. Zenit comfortably beat Volga at the Petrovsky with goals coming for Victor Faizulin, Alexandr Bukharov and Danko Lazovic. Big game this weekend as 4th v 3rd with Spartak taking on Lokomotiv in a Moscow derby.

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FT: Freiburg 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen scored the 3 points away at bottom club Freiburg. This win puts Leverkusen into 8th place. The winning goal came in the first 2 minutes when Manuel Friedrich picked out Michael Ballack to score from close range. Freiburg's best opportunity came 5 minutes from time when Stefan Reisinger's stinging shot brought out a great save from Bernd Leno.

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FT: Spartak Moscow 3-0 Lokomotiv Moscow

Spartak Moscow have moved upto 3rd after defeating Lokomotiv Moscow. All three goals came from Emmanuel Emenike. Loko finished with 10 men when Victor Obinna was shown a second yellow late on.

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FT: Barcelona 5-0 Mallorca

Lionel Messi scored a hat trick to lead Barca to a 5-0 victory over Mallorca. 15 minutes in, Barca were awarded a penalty after a handball by Emilio Nsue. Messi duly converted the penalty. It was 2-0 on the 20 minute mark when Dani Alves cross found Adriano who then scuffed his cross but allowed Messi to slot home the second. It was 3-0 on the half hour mark when Messi swept home a Dani Alves cross. Adriano then threaded the ball through for Isaac Cuenca to make it 4-0. Dani Alves made it 5 in stoppage time with a superb dipping shot which came off the underside of the crossbar.

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FT: Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid moved to the top of the table with a narrow victory at Anoeta. The only goal of the game came after 10 minutes when Fabio Coentrao threded through a pass for Gonzalo Higuain who then duly lifted the ball over Claudio Bravo to score what proved to be the winner.

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FT: Roma 2-3 Milan

Milan continued their winning run with victory over Roma at the Olimpico. Milan took the lead 17 minutes in when Zlatan Ibrahimovic powerfully headed home an Alberto Aquilani cross. Roma equalised just before the half hour mark when Nicolas Burdisso headed home a Miralem Pjanic cross. However, 2 minutes later, Milan were back in front with Alessandro Nesta nodding home a Robinho cross. Ibrahimovic made it 3-1 with 10 minutes to go by heading home another Aquilani cross. Bojan did pull a goal back with 2 minutes to go when Erik Lamela's strike was not held by Christian Abbiati. Roma have now lost 3 out of their last 4.

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FT: Inter 1-2 Juventus

Juventus remain top of the table after getting the 3 points away to Inter in the Derby D'Italia. Inter have now suffered their 5th defeat in 9 games. Juventus took the lead 12 minutes in when ALessandro Matri diverted a Stephan Lichtsteiner cross towardss goal which was blocked by Luca Castellazzi but Mirko Vucinic fired home the rebound. Inter equalised just before the half hour mark. A corner was not cleared and Wesley Sneijder played the ball back into the box for Maicon who then fired home a thunderbolt past Gianluigi Buffon which took a slight deflection off Leonardo Bonucci on the way. Minutes later, Giampaolo Pazzini saw a header come back off the bar but 10 minutes before the break, Juve were back in front. Claudio Marchisio played a neat 1-2 with Matri and slotted the ball away from Castellazzi into the bottom corner. Marchisio was through on goal again minutes later and was brought down by Castellazzi but referee waved play on. On the hour mark, Vucinic had a shot blocked by Castellazzi and a few minutes before the conclusion. Alessandro The Waterboy scuffed a shot wide when through on goal.

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FT: Mainz 1-3 Werder Bremen

Werder Bremen came from behind to defeat Mainz at the Coface Arena. Mainz took the lead 25 minutes in when Niko Bungert headed home a Yunus Mali corner. Claudio Pizarro equalised 5 minutes later when he went past four players and chipped the ball over Christian Wetklo to score his 150th Bundesliga goal. Mainz had their chances in the remaining minutes of the opening half but could not take them. A minute into the 2nd half, Aaron Hunt scored a terrific long range drive and Sebastian Prodl made it 3-1 when his header came back off the post but he slotted home the rebound.

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FT: Lyon 2-0 St Etienne

10 men Lyon were able to defeat St Etienne and move upto 3rd in the table 6 points behind leaders PSG. Lyon should have took the lead 10 minutes before half time but Bafetimbi Gomis volleyed wide from 6 yards. Substitute Mouhamadou Dabo was then sent off 5 minutes into the 2nd half for a dangerous challenge on Banel Nicolita. With 8 minutes to go, Jimmy Briand headed home a Yoann Gourcuff corner albeit took a dflection off Albin Ebondo. In stoppage time, GOurcuff took advatnage of a poor clearance from Paulao to slot the ball past Stephane Ruffier.

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FT: Roda 0-4 Ajax

Ajax ended their Eredivisie winless streak by comfortable defeating Roda. Christian Eriksen opened the scoring 6 minutes in after a neat 1-2 with Theo Janssen and slotted the ball home. Mads Junker had the chance to equalise midway through the 1st half but he sent his shot over from a promising position. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Janssen converted an Eriksen freekick to make it 2-0. Just before the hour mark, a quick counter saw Jody Lukoki sweep home a Vurnon Anita cross. It was 4-0 with minutes to go when Lorenzo Ebicilio powered home an Eriksen cross.

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FT: Twente 2-2 PSV

Twente and PSV were only able to draw at the Grolsch Veste tonight. Both teams are now 3 points behind AZ Alkmaar and could find themselves further behind if AZ were to win tomorrow. DOuglas put Twente ahead 10 minutes in when fired home after a scramble in the box. 60 seconds later, Zakaria Labyad converted a Giorginio Wijnaldum cross to equalise. Luuk de Jong nearly put Twente ahead just before the hour mark but his header went narrowly wide. PSV went ahead with 25 minutes to go when Marcelo headed home a Dries Mertens corner. PSV were then reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes to go when Kevin Strootman fouled de Jong but it looked debatable. De Jong was then denied by Andreas Isaksson with 15 minutes to go but with 12 minutes to go, Leroy Fer was picked out by Ola John to fire home the equaliser.

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FT: Siena 4-1 Chievo

Siena have moved up into the top half of the table after a resounding victory over Chievo. Chievo are now just three points above the drop zone. Mattia Destro opened the scoring 25 minutes in. Destro raced towards the penalty area, checked onto his right foot and his shot from the edge of the box hit the inside of the post and in. Davide Moscardelli went close to equalising 10 minutes before the break but his freekick was touched onto the corssbar by Zeljko Brkic. Destro made it 2-0 just before the hour mark. An Emanuele Calaio volley was not held by Stefano Sorrentino allowing Destro to steal in. Gaetano D'Agostino made it 3-0 just past the hour with a superb freekick leaving Sorrentino with no chance. Destro had the chance to complete his hat trick with 20 minutes to go but his tame shot was straight at Sorrentino. Moscardelli did get on the scoresheet when he latched onto a Sergio Pellissier pass and slotted the ball past Brkic but Calaio made it 4-1 in stoppages when he raced through and beat Sorrentino.