adhesive technologies: Roundup: Manchester clubs win to break clear

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Roundup: Manchester clubs win to break clear

updated 6:18 p.m. ET Nov. 19, 2011

LONDON - Manchester City remained the only unbeaten team in the English Premier League this season, defeating Newcastle 3-1 Saturday to hand the visitors their first defeat.

Mario Balotelli converted a 41st-minute penalty kick, Micah Richards doubled the score in the 44th and Sergio Aguero made a penalty kick in the 72nd for City (11-0-1), which maintained a five-point lead over defending champion Manchester United (9-1-2). Dan Gosling scored in the 89th minute for third-place Newcastle (7-1-4), which is nine points off the lead.

Manchester United won 1-0 at Swansea on an 11th-minute goal by Javier Hernandez, the third straight victory by that score for the Red Devils.

Chelsea (7-3-1), which is 12 points back, hosts Liverpool (5-2-4) on Sunday.

Arsenal (7-4-1) rallied for a 2-1 win at Norwich (3-5-4) as Robin van Persie scored in the 26th and 59th minutes, overcoming a 16th-minute goal by Steve Morison. Van Persie leads the league with 13 in 12 games.

Wigan (1-8-3) was held to a 3-3 draw by next-to-last Blackburn (1-7-4). Bolton (3-9) also remained in the relegation zone after losing 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion (4-6-2).

Leighton Baines made a penalty kick, rallying Everton and American goalkeeper Tim Howard past Wolverhampton 2-1. Heidar Helguson's two goals helped Queens Park Rangers to a 3-2 win at Stoke, and Sunderland and Fulham played to a 0-0 draw.

American Robbie Findley tied the score 1-1 in the 42nd minute as Nottingham Forest rallied to beat Ipswich 3-2 in the second-tier League Championship. Findley has five goals this season, including two in the league.

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? First-place Real Madrid outlasted Valencia 3-2 to win its eighth straight league game and maintain a three-point lead over second-place Barcelona, which beat Zaragoza 4-0.

Real Madrid opened a 2-0 lead on goals by Karim Benzema in the 20th minute and Sergio Ramos in the 71st.

Striker Roberto Soldado cut the gap four minutes later, before Cristiano Ronaldo made it 3-1 in the 59th on an angled shot, his 18th goal overall and 14th in the league. Soldado scored again in the 83rd.

Real Madrid (10-1-1) has 31 points, three ahead of Barcelona (7-0-4), which extended its overall unbeaten streak this year to 20 games at 14-0-6.

Gerard Pique scored in the 18th minute and Lionel Messi in the 43rd, his 24th goal of the season for Barcelona and league-leading 15th, Messi's goal was his 50th for Barcelona in 2011.

Carles Puyol forced Zaragoza defender Maurizio Lanzaro into an own goal in the 54th, and David Villa scored in the 75th.

Barcelona has outscored opponents 30-0 in league home games this season. Goalkeeper Victor Valdes didn't have to make a single save.

Valencia (7-2-3) is seven points off the lead.

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ROME (AP) ? Lazio (6-1-4) maintained a one-point Serie A lead with a 0-0 draw at Napoli (4-3-3) as defending champion AC Milan (6-2-3) played a scoreless draw at Fiorentina on Saturday.

AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato returned from a two-month injury layoff and hit a post in the 77th.

Inter Milan (3-5-2) beat Cagliari 2-1 on goals by Thiago Motta in the 54th minute and Coutinho in the 60th.

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BERLIN (AP) ? Mario Goetze scored to give defending champion Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win at Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich to cut its gap in the standings to two points.

Goetze scored for Dortmund (8-3-2) in the 65th minute when Shinji Kagawa flicked the ball toward him and over Jerome Boateng, allowing the 19-year-old playmaker to prod it past Manuel Neuer from 10 yards.

Winger Arjen Robben had little effect in only his third league start of the season for Bayern (9-3-1). Mario Gomez had a penalty appeal waved away in the 86th. Franck Ribery came close to tying the score in injury time.

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) ? Defending champion Rangers were held to 0-0 draw by St. Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League, allowing Glasgow rival Celtic to trim the gap to 10 points with a 2-0 win at Inverness.

Americans Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya in the starting lineup for Rangers (12-0-3), and Bocanegra was given a gift by the club before the game marking his 100th appearance for the U.S. national team last Tuesday.

Anthony Stokes scored second-half goals for visiting Celtic (9-3-2) against 10-man Inverness. Celtic could reduce Rangers' lead to seven points if it beats Dunfermline on Wednesday in its game in hand.

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PARIS (AP) ? Montpellier beat Marseille 1-0 as defender Souleymane Daiwara turned a cross from Souleymane Camara into his own net in the 62nd minute.

Paris Saint-Germain (9-1-3) has 30 points and leads on goal difference over second-place Montpellier (9-2-3). PSG hosts Nancy on Sunday.

Also, it was Nice 0, Saint-Etienne 2; Evian 2, Lorient 1; Ajaccio 2, Caen 2; and Dijon 2, Bordeaux 0.

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