Domestic action all over Europe! 5/8/2011.

Let's start in the Nordic nation of Sweden where the only victory of the day was by Trelleborg who beat Mjallby 1-0 thanks to Johan Nilsson Guiomar's 57th minute goal. On the other hand, Syrianska v.s. Malmo ended 0-0. In Spain, Barcelona beat Espanyol 2-0 due to strikes from Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique in the 29th and 47th minutes respectively. Mallorca and Villarreal ended 0-0 while Osasuna defeated Zaragoza 1-3. This was accomplished despite falling behind in the 16th minute after Lafita had put Zaragoza in the lead. Javier Camunas and Sergio Fernandez scored within eight minutes of each other (62nd and 70th respectively) while Kike Sola slotted home the death blow in the 80th minute. Over the border in Portugal, Academica and Braga played out a 0-0 game while Porto and Pacos de Ferreira also ended level, but 3-3 rather than 0-0. Falcao put Porto into the lead in the 8th with a fine strike. Hulk then tacked on a second in the 42nd, just before stoppage time. Pizzi struck three in for Pacos de Ferreira in the second half to level the sides after Falcao had slotted home in the 53rd. Rio Ave on the other hand were edged out by Benfica 1-2 with the Eagles going 2-0 up through Oscar Cardozo before Braga struck in the 88th minute to make it a 2-1 game and a photo-finish. Finally, Sporting were edged by Vitoria FC 0-1 after Jailson struck in the 55th minute for the away side. In England, Manchester United solidified their position at the top of the English table with their 2-1 win over Chelsea in Manchester. Javier Hernandez struck in the 1st minute of the match while Nemanja Vidic struck in the 23rd to put the ball in Chelsea's court. Frank Lampard dutifully slotted home once, but it wasn't enough as the Blues were beaten. Stoke were also tremendously successful today, winning 3-1 over Arsenal as Kenwyne Jones and Jermaine Pennant struck once each before Arsenal's Robin van Persie slotted home to make it a 2-1 game in the 81st. Jonathan Walters struck for Stoke in the next minute to make it 3-1 when the final whistle blew. Last but not least, Wolves beat West Brom 3-1 going 3-0 up before Peter Odemwingie finally gave West Brom their first goal. Wolves were helped along by two goals from Steven Fletcher on either side of Adlene Guedioura's 28th minute goal. Up north in Scotland, Celtic beat Kilmarnock 0-2 with goals from Scott Brown and Kris Commons. It begs the question of why couldn't the B'hoys do that in their last game?! Anyway, in Italy, Udinese defeated Lazio 2-1 as Antonio di Natale striking twice before Libor Kozak scored one for the away side. Lecce were successful at home too, defeating Napoli 2-1 with Daniele Corvia opening the scoring in the 49th from the spot before being sent off in the 54th. Giuseppe Mascara then brought the away side level in the 67th before Edinson Cavani was given a red in the 74th to put the two sides on equal numbers manpower-wise. Javier Chevanton then scored in the 88th to make it 2-1 when the game ended. Inter defeated Fiorentina 3-1 putting the Milanese club firmly in second place with a 4 point lead over third place Napoli.