Raheem Sterling, Rodri and Bernardo Silva got the goals as Manchester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Everton on Sunday to move within three points of Premier League leader Chelsea.
City made light work of seeing off an Everton side still decimated by injuries to key players.
On Saturday, Liverpool handed Arsenal a reminder of the gulf it has to bridge to compete with the Premier League elite by ending the Gunners’ 10-game unbeaten run with a 4-0 thrashing at Anfield.
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The Reds’ front three of Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah were all on target before substitute Takumi Minamino set the seal on a return to form for Jurgen Klopp’s men after losing for the first time in 26 games in their last outing at West Ham.
Victory lifts the Reds up to second and within four points of leader Chelsea.
Xavi Hernandez needed a penalty to start his return to Camp Nou as Barcelona coach in winning fashion.
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Barcelona’s 1-0 win against Espanyol on Saturday began the way Xavi wanted, with his team dominating the ball. But the same problems that had led to the demise of his predecessor soon emerged.
Atletico Madrid climbed to within two points of the top of La Liga after Felipe’s 87th-minute header sealed a 1-0 victory over Osasuna.
Lionel Messi scored his first goal in the French league and Kylian Mbappe grabbed the fastest goal of his career as Paris Saint-Germain beat Nantes 3-1 on Saturday.
The results: Premier League: Manchester City 3 (Sterling 44, Rodri 55, Silva 86) bt Everton 0.
Serie A: Sassuolo 2 (Scamacca 37, Berardi 52-pen) drew with Cagliari 2 (Keita 40, Joao Pedro 56-pen); Bologna 0 lost to Venezia 1 (Okereke 61); Salernitana 0 lost to Sampdoria 2 (Di Tacchia 40-og, Candreva 43).
On Saturday: Premier League: Aston Villa 2 (Watkins 84, Mings 89) bt Brighton 0; Burnley 3 (Mee 19, Wood 27, Cornet 49) drew with Crystal Palace 3 (Benteke 8, 36, Guehi 42); Liverpool 4 (Mane 39, Jota 52, Salah 73, Minamino 77) bt Arsenal 0; Newcastle 3 (Lascelles 10, Joelinton 39, Saint-Maximin 75) drew with Brentford 3 (Toney 11, Henry 31, Lascelles 61-og); Norwich 2 (Pukki 7, Hanley 79) bt Southampton 1 (Adams 4).
La Liga: Celta Vigo 1 (Mendez 72) drew with Villarreal 1 (Moreno 27); Sevilla 2 (Ocampos 38, Rakitic 90+2) drew with Alaves 2 (Laguardia 5, Joselu 45+7-pen); Atletico Madrid 1 (Felipe 87) bt Osasuna 0; Barcelona 1 (Depay 48-pen) bt Espanyol 0.
Serie A: Atalanta 5 (Pasalic 18, 41, Zapata 38-pen, Muriel 83, Malinovskyi 89) bt Spezia 2 (Nzola 11, 90+1); Lazio 0 lost to Juventus 2 (Bonucci 23-pen, 83-pen); Fiorentina 4 (Duncan 15, Saponara 45+1, D. Vlahovic 60, 85) bt Milan 3 (Ibrahimovic 62, 67, Venuti 90+6-og).
Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Adli 3) bt VfL Bochum 0; Borussia M’Gladbach 4 (Hofmann 9, 57, Neuhaus 28, Plea 43) bt Greuther Fuerth 0; Hoffenheim 2 (Samassekou 12, Dabbur 68) bt RB Leipzig 0; Arminia Bielefeld 2 (Okugawa 11, Klos 54-pen) drew with VfL Wolfsburg 2 (Weghorst 62, Nmecha 63); Union Berlin 2 (Awoniyi 8, Trimmel 30) bt Hertha Berlin 0.
Ligue 1: PSG 3 (Mbappe 2, Appiah 81-og, Messi 87) bt Nantes 1 (Kolo Muani 76) .