Domestic action galore.

I'd like to start in Germany today where Schalke looked on form as they defeated Hamburg in Hamburg by the score line of 1-2. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was on form once more as he struck the opening and closing goals in the 13th and 73rd minutes respectively. Mladen Petric did equalize for Hamburg in the 38th but to no avail. In the other German game today Hannover edged Bremen 3-2 in a closely fought game that began in the 2nd minute! Mohammed Abdellaoue converted his penalty opportunity in the 2nd. He then struck his 2nd in the 38th to give Hannover a 2-0 lead before Marko Arnautovic brought Bremen 1 back. Abdellaoue completed his hat trick in the 59th to give Hannover a 3-1 lead! Claudio Pizarro's 83rd minute did bring Bremen closer, but the home side held on for the win. Sweden had a full list of games today, with Elfsborg defeating Gefle 3-0, Hacken edging visiting Trelleborg 1-0, Helsingborg and Norrkoping finished level 1-1, Orebro beat out Halmstad 1-0, and Kalmar were defeated by visiting Malmo 1-2 after 3 goals after the hour mark provided a lively ending to what had otherwise been a boring game. Meanwhile, in Spain, Barcelona claimed the league apex with a 0-1 win over Sporting Gijon. Adriano was the man to put the Catalan side into the lead in the 12th minute with quite a strike. Athletic edged Real Sociedad 2-1 while Levante v.s. Betis ended the same way Barcelona's game did: 0-1 after a goal from Juanlu in the 33rd. Atletico and Sevilla played out a goalless draw while Real Madrid led in their match with Espanyol as I post this. Surprisingly, Barcelona and Levante are actually sharing the lead with 4-2-0 records for both of them. Over the border in Portugal, Porto have kept even with Benfica in the league after a 3-0 victory over Academica. Feirense and Maritimo drew 2-2 while Leiria and Braga's match ended 1-0 in favor of the home side. Nacional beat Olhanense by the same score line while Sporting Lisbon edged Vitoria 0-1 thanks to a goal from Diego Capel in the 7th. It was a very ill-tempered game to say the least: 8 cards between the 2 teams, a red for Fabian Rinaudo in the 22nd, and all around bad behavior in general. But now to England where Bolton were hammered 1-5 by Chelsea with Frank Lampard scoring a hat trick while Daniel Sturridge tacked on the other 2. Dedryck Boyata was the only one to bring Bolton back 1, but that was already when they were 4 down. Anyway, Fulham destroyed QPR 6-0 while Swansea beat Stoke 2-0. Tottenham were also very happy to deal Arsenal a 2-1 defeat! In Scotland, Celtic fell apart today (in the only match of the day) as they lost to Hearts 2-0 with 2 2nd half goals enough to sink any plans the Glasgow side had for domestic domination. In Italy, the bigger games today were when Lazio edged Fiorentina 2-1 while Juventus defeated AC Milan by the comfortable margin of 2-0. Hope everyone had a good weekend!