updated 10:25 p.m. ET Dec. 3, 2011
LONDON - Unbeaten leader Manchester City turned on the attacking style to maintain its stunning start to the season, thrashing Norwich 5-1 as the Premier League's title-chasers went goal crazy on Saturday.
While second-place Manchester United was content with a 1-0 win at Aston Villa, Tottenham and Chelsea routed Bolton and Newcastle 3-0 each and Arsenal went one better, overwhelming Wigan 4-0 to send the northwest team back to the bottom of the table.
City continues to lead the way, though, extending its undefeated run to 14 matches thanks to goals by Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, Mario Balotelli and Adam Johnson.
In winning 12 of those games, City has racked up 48 goals as the big-spending club seeks to capture its first title since 1968.
Phil Jones' first goal for United, in the 20th minute, kept the champions five points behind of City and two ahead of Tottenham, which has a game in hand over all its title rivals.
A left ankle injury sustained by Javier Hernandez put a dampener on United's fourth 1-0 victory in its last five league games. The Mexico striker was carried off on a stretcher in the 12th minute at Villa Park and could be out for four weeks with ligament damage, according to manager Alex Ferguson.
American goalkeeper Brad Guzan replaced Villa starter Shay Given in the 38th minute of the match after the Ireland goalkeeper appeared to injure a hamstring.
It was just the second Premier League appearances for Guzan, who joined Villa in July 2008. He made his Premier League debut on March 22, 2009, when he entered in the 65th minute of a 5-0 loss to Liverpool after compatriot Brad Friedel received a red card.
Ayegbeni Yakubu scored four goals as Blackburn won its first Premier League game in nine matches, beating Swansea 4-2 to climb off the bottom of the table and provide some relief for its under-pressure manager Steve Kean.
The Nigerian striker became the fifth player in Premier League history ? after Teddy Sheringham, Nicolas Anelka, Kevin Campbell and Les Ferdinand ? to score a hat-trick for three different clubs.
West Bromwich Albion scored late to hold Queen Park Rangers to a 1-1 draw in the other match.
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Spanish league leader Real Madrid extended its winning streak to 14 games in all competitions by beating Sporting Gijon 3-0 on Saturday.
The victory kept Madrid three points ahead of Barcelona.
Angel Di Maria's goal in the 34th minute stood out in an otherwise dull first half that saw more bookings than scoring chances.
Di Maria then produced the through ball for Cristiano Ronaldo to put the game at El Molinon beyond doubt in the 64th with his 17th goal before Marcelo capped the win in stoppage time.
"It was a tough game and the important thing is that we won," Di Maria said. "We scored early and then knew how to manage the rest of the game."
Madrid hosts Barcelona next Saturday in the first highly anticipated "clasico" of the season.
Later in the Catalan capital, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola returned to a three-man defensive line, thereby allowing Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Fabregas to overwhelm Levante in the midfield for a 5-0 win. Lionel Messi scored his 17th league goal, tying Ronaldo for the top spot, and No. 27 for the season.
Levante was missing its two most dynamic players ? midfielder Jose Barkero and forward Juanlu Gomez ? and didn't look like the revelation of the season that had previously spent two rounds at the top of the table.
Barcelona's passing attack worked wonders from the start as the hosts had little trouble remaining unbeaten this season at Camp Nou, where it has outscored its league opponents 39-0.
Elsewhere, Christian Stuani's first-half goal gave Racing Santander a 1-0 win over Villarreal in its first game under interim coach Juanjo Gonzalez since Hector Cuper parted ways with the northern Spanish club.
Racing's second win of the season lifted it out of last place.
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MILAN (AP) ? Udinese beat 10-man Inter Milan 1-0 in Serie A, and Napoli routed Lecce 4-2.
Mauricio Isla gave Udinese the lead in the 73rd minute and the visitors were in position to grab control when they were awarded a penalty and Inter captain Javier Zanetti was sent off.
But Antonio Di Natale had his spot kick saved by Julio Cesar. Inter was awarded a penalty moments later, but Giampaolo Pazzini blazed over.
Udinese defender Damiano Ferronetti was sent off in injury time for dissent.
"When Pazzini was about to take the penalty I was really hoping (goalkeeper Samir) Handanovic could do something," Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin said. "When I saw the ball go over I let out a sigh of relief.
"We deserved the victory. It was a heart-stopping game but I'm pleased with my players' performance. It doesn't always happen that Udinese wins at San Siro. To be at the top is marvelous, we're picking up more and more points."
Edinson Cavani scored twice for Napoli. Ezequiel Lavezzi and Blerim Dzemaili were also on target.
Luis Muriel and Daniele Corvia scored for Lecce. General manager Renato Cipollini said the club could decide to part with coach Eusebio Di Francesco.
"We'll take 24-48 hours to decide and reflect deeply on the situation and on how we can turn around this team which we think has the qualities to save itself," Cipollini said. "I won't go into details about a possible new coach, but if there is one he will have a contract until the end of the season.
"Today we deserved to lose even if we had some good periods of play. We created some good things up front."
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BERLIN (AP) ? Bayern Munich reclaimed the Bundesliga lead with a 4-1 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday, while Borussia Dortmund was held to 1-1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
"Everything is questioned at Bayern after two defeats in a row, so this win is even more important," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said.
Franck Ribery opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, but substitute Markus Rosenberg equalized in the 52nd. Thomas Mueller then earned Bayern's first penalty, which was converted by substitute Arjen Robben in the 69th.
Ribery sealed the win with his second goal in the 77th, and earned another penalty which Robben converted in the 83rd.
"We weren't in the game at all today," said Werder coach Thomas Schaaf.
In Moenchengladbach, Robert Lewandowski scored for the defending champions in the 40th, but Mike Hanke deservedly equalized in the 72nd to preserve Moenchengladbach's unbeaten record at home and leave both sides one point behind Bayern.
"The fans saw a thrilling match. The result is fair," said Hanke.
Elsewhere, Hertha Berlin and Hannover drew 1-1 at Kaiserslautern and Freiburg respectively, while Mainz came from behind to draw 2-2 at Wolfsburg.
Late Saturday, Lukas Podolski scored in the 88th to snatch an unlikely 2-2 draw for Cologne at Stuttgart, after his side had given up an early lead.
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PARIS (AP) ? Montpellier consolidated its top spot in the French league by routing Lorient 4-0 as Olivier Giroud set up three goals and scored one on Saturday.
The France international knocked the ball down for winger Geoffrey Dernis who fired home the opener in the 26th minute.
Giroud got his 12th goal in the 47th. Lorient goalkeeper Fabien Audard stopped a curling shot from playmaker Younes Belhanda but Giroud, the top scorer in the league, followed up to score.
Nigerian forward John Utaka received a pass from Giroud to add a third goal in the 62nd.
Giroud then pulled the ball back for substitute Remy Cabella who sealed the win in the 86th.
Also Saturday, it was: Nice 2, Rennes 0; Ajaccio 2, Lille 3; Brest 2, Saint-Etienne 2; Dijon 0, Sochaux 0; and Evian 2, Valenciennes 1.
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Defending champion Olympiakos beat visiting Panaitolikos 2-0 and climbed to the top of the Greek league on Saturday.
There were second-half goals from Marco Pantelic and Rafik Djebbour.
Panaitolikos played the last half-hour a man down, as Andre Rocha was shown a direct red card.
Olympiakos has one more point than Panathinaikos, which has played two fewer games and two more than AEK, which, like Olympiakos, has played 11 games.
In other games, OFI beat Asteras 3-0 and fourth-place Atromitos edged Ergotelis 1-0.
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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) ? Rangers bounced back from its first defeat of the season by beating Dunfermline 2-1 on Saturday to re-establish its grip at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Alex Keddie's own goal and Nikica Jelavic's penalty gave Rangers a 2-0 lead by the 29th minute and, although Joe Cardle reduced the deficit two minutes later for the next-to-last visitors, the champions held on.
Second-place Celtic needs to defeat Dundee United on Sunday to keep the gap with its Glasgow rival at four points.
Aberdeen would have moved off the bottom and ahead of Dunfermline with a point at Kilmarnock, but slipped to a 2-0 defeat.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsAFP - Getty ImagesMan City routs Norwich
Euro roundup: Unbeaten leader Manchester City turned on the attacking style to maintain its stunning start to the season, thrashing Norwich 5-1 as the Premier League's title-chasers went goal crazy on Saturday.
Season set
Major League Soccer's 2012 season will open March 10 with six games.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45536218/ns/sports-soccer/
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