Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, third from right, scores his side’s second goal during a Champions League, Group D soccer match
Arsenal was left to rue its defensive vulnerabilities for the second time in a week after again failing to defend a lead in a 2-1 away loss to Swansea on Sunday.
The defeat followed a 3-3 draw at home to Anderlecht in the Champions League on Tuesday, which Arsenal had led 3-0.
Title holders Juventus had no such problems, following a 7-0 rout of Parma to strengthen its lead at the top of Serie A.
Two-time defending champion Paris Saint-Germain closed the gap on league leader Marseille with a 2-0 home win against its bitter rival, while Borussia Dortmund finally got back to winning ways, beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 in the Bundesliga.
ENGLAND. Arsenal and Tottenham slumped to 2-1 losses in the Premier League as their weaknesses were exposed, while Newcastle’s resurgence continued with a fourth straight win.
After throwing away a 3-0 lead against Anderlecht in the Champions League in midweek, Arsenal conceded twice in less than three minutes at Swansea to drop out of the top four.
Chile forward Alexis Sanchez scored for the fourth straight league game to give Arsenal a 63rd-minute lead, only for Gylfi Sigurdsson to equalize with a stunning free kick in the 75th and Bafetimbi Gomis to grab the winner barely 90 seconds after coming on as a substitute.
Spurs lost at home to Stoke to fall to 12th in the standings and increase the scrutiny on new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
“We need to improve quickly because you never have a long time in football,” Pochettino said. “My challenge in the next few weeks is to change the mentality.”
That is something Alan Pardew has managed at Newcastle, which was without a win until Oct. 18 but has surged up to eighth in the table.
Young Spanish striker Ayoze Perez scored for a third straight game to set Newcastle on its way to a 2-0 win at West Brom. Argentine defender Fabricio Coloccino headed in the second goal.
Everton drew 1-1 at Sunderland and is in 10th place.
FRANCE. PSG overcame a poor start before getting the better of title rival Marseille 2-0 thanks to goals from Brazilian winger Lucas and Edinson Cavani.
Marseille started the stronger team.
Top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac hit the crossbar with a header in the fifth minute and the visitors then missed other chances.
PSG’s night was capped by the return from injury of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has missed the past seven weeks with a heel injury. He came on in the 65th minute but failed to score and ignored better-placed teammates on several occasions.
The win moved PSG to within one point of league leader Marseille, with Lyon two points behind Marseille in third place after beating Guingamp 3-1 at home, thanks to Alexandre Lacazette’s 11th goal of the season and two from midfielder Nabil Fekir.
Sixth-place Saint-Etienne drew 1-1 at home to Monaco, and Reims beat Lille 2-0.
GERMANY. Christoph Kramer’s bizarre own goal gave Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach to end the side’s five-game losing streak and lift it out of the Bundesliga’s relegation zone.
World Cup winner Kramer converted into his own net from the center circle in the 58th minute when he inadvertently chipped an attempted back pass over his goalkeeper and could only watch helplessly as the ball bounced in.
After its first defeat of the season, Moenchengladbach is third — seven points behind Bayern Munich.
Wolfsburg beat Hamburger SV 2-0 and consolidated second place, four points behind Bayern, with its eighth consecutive win in all competitions.
ITALY. Carlos Tevez scored a stunning goal to help Juventus crush Parma 7-0 and move three points clear at the top of the Serie A table.
Tevez ran most of the length of the field and beat four men to score Juventus’ fourth before doubling his tally minutes later.
Fernando Llorente and substitute Alvaro Morata also both netted twice, and Stephan Lichtsteiner was also on target to send Parma to its heaviest defeat in Serie A.
“We had a great game,” Tevez said. “It was important to win and we were good in making hardly any errors. After the last international break, we missed so many scoring opportunities. Today we made up for our previous mistakes.”
Second-placed Roma beat Torino 3-0 thanks to goals from Vasilis Torosidis, Seydou Keita and Adem Ljajic, while Napoli went third with a 1-0 win at Fiorentina with a winner from Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain.
Inter Milan’s inconsistent form continued with a 2-2 home draw against Hellas Verona, while Lazio lost 2-1 at Empoli.
Chievo Verona beat fellow struggler Cesena 2-1 to move off the bottom of the table, while Palermo drew 1-1 at home to Udinese. Cagliari was held 1-1 by 10-man Genoa.
SPAIN. Goals by Carlos Vela and Imanol Agirretxe gave lowly Real Sociedad a 2-1 home win against 10-man defending champion Atletico Madrid.
The defeat leaves left Atletico in fourth-place on 23 points — four behind leaders Real Madrid.
Also, Victor Casadesus struck late to give lowly Levante a 1-1 draw at Sevilla in a fierce match.
Sevilla left-winger Víctor Machin headed in Gerard Deulofeu’s pinpoint cross in the 31st minute.
But Casadesus pounced on a poor clearance by Sevilla goalkeeper Antonio Alberto Bastos to equalize in the 80th. The game lasted 96 minutes due to injury stoppages, including Bastos who was treated three times for a bleeding jaw.
The game had to be stopped five times to treat players off the field.
Sevilla occupies fifth place on 23 points. Real Madrid leads the standings on 27 points, two ahead of Barcelona. AP
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