Bruno Fernandes opened his goalscoring account at Manchester United on Sunday as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side climbed to fifth place in the Premier League table with a 3-0 win against lowly Watford. Victory at Old Trafford lifts it to 41 points, just three behind fourth-placed Chelsea. Midfielder Fernandes scored from the penalty spot shortly before half-time and Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood also found the net.
As it stands, fifth place could be enough to earn a Champions League spot because second-placed Manchester City has been banned from Europe’s elite competition for two seasons, pending an appeal.
On Saturday, Gabriel Jesus struck late to give Manchester City a 1-0 win at Leicester, strengthening its hold on second place despite more woe from the penalty spot.
A second-half winner from substitute Jesus after Sergio Aguero had failed to convert a penalty put it 17 points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham and sends it into its midweek match against Real Madrid in good spirits.
There was no joy, however, for Real as its hold on the LaLiga top spot was loosened after a 1-0 loss away to Levante. This followed yet another Lionel Messi master-class, as the Argentine shrugged off all talk of goal drought by scoring four in a 5-0 thumping of Eibar. To add to Real’s woes star summer signing Eden Hazard limped off with yet another injury in the second half.
Real on Sunday confirmed that the Belgian had broken his ankle. “Following the tests carried out today on our player Eden Hazard... he has been diagnosed with a fracture to his right distal fibula,” Real said in a statement.
The results: Premier League: Manchester United 3 (Fernandes 42-pen, Martial 58, Greenwood 75) bt Watford 0; Wolves 3 (Jota 19, 30, Jimenez 50) bt Norwich 0.
LaLiga: Osasuna 0 lost to Granada 3 (Machis 4, 28, Foulquier 41); Alaves 2 (Perez 28-pen, Ely 90+1) bt Athletic Bilbao 1 (Garcia 17).
Serie A: Genoa 2 (Cassata 57, Criscito 89-pen) lost to Lazio 3 (Marusic 2, Immobile 51, Cataldi 71).
Saturday: Premier League: Burnley 3 (Vydra 53, Rodriguez 61-pen, McNeil 87) bt Bournemouth 0; Crystal Palace 1 (Van Aanholt 44) bt Newcastle 0; Leicester 0 lost to Manchester City 1 (Jesus 80); Sheffield United 1 (Stevens 26) drew with Brighton 1 (Maupay 30); Southampton 2 (Long 8, Armstrong 90+5) bt Aston Villa 0.
LaLiga: Barcelona 5 (Messi 14, 37, 40, 87, Arthur 89) bt Eibar 0; Real Sociedad 3 (Merino 12, Monreal 45+1, Januzaj 48) bt Valencia 0; Levante 1 (Morales 79) bt Real Madrid 0.
Serie A: SPAL 1 (Petagna 69-pen) lost to Juventus 2 (Ronaldo 39, Ramsey 60); Bologna 1 (Palacio 90+2) drew with Udinese 1 (Okaka 33); Fiorentina 1 (Pulgar 85-pen) drew with AC Milan 1 (Rebic 56).
Bundesliga: Bor. Monchengladbach 1 (Ginter 11) drew with Hoffenheim 1 (Lucas Ribeiro 90+2); Werder Bremen 0 lost to Borussia Dortmund 2 (Zagadou 52, Haaland 66); Hertha Berlin 0 lost to Cologne 5 (Cordoba 4, 22, Kainz 62, 38, Uth 70); Freiburg 0 lost to Fortuna Dusseldorf 2 (Hoffmann 37, Thommy 61); Schalke 0 lost to RB Leipzig 5 (Sabitzer 1, Werner 61, Halstenberg 68, Angelino 81, Forsberg 89).