LONDON, (Reuters) – Chelsea, inspired by a hat-trick from Eden Hazard, beat Newcastle United 3-0 at the weekend to go top of the Premier League while Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 by Liverpool.
Barcelona joined Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on 57 points at the summit of La Liga after the champions crushed Sevilla 4-1 thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi.
ENGLAND
Eden Hazard was in sparkling form as Chelsea went top of the Premier League, the Belgium winger grabbing a hat-trick in a 3-0 win at home to Newcastle United.
Second-placed Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 at Liverpool while Manchester City, in third, were held to a goalless draw at Norwich City.
Chelsea have 56 points with 13 matches to go, with Arsenal and Manchester City respectively one and two points adrift.
Liverpool swept Arsenal aside with four goals in the opening 20 minutes but seventh-placed Manchester United’s woes continued as the champions were held to a 2-2 home draw by bottom club Fulham.
SPAIN
Lionel Messi grabbed a superb double as Barcelona recovered from a shaky start to secure a 4-1 comeback win at rain-lashed Sevilla that lifted the champions back to the top of La Liga on goal difference.
Atletico Madrid crashed 2-0 at promoted Almeria while Real Madrid eased past Villarreal 4-2.
The victory by the champions at the Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville means the top three all have 57 points with 15 matches left, Barca leading Real and Atletico on goal difference.
ITALY
Carlos Tevez bagged two early goals for Serie A leaders Juventus but it was not enough as they drew 2-2 at Verona who hit back with second half strikes from Luca Toni and Juanito Gomez.
