Across Europe

ENGLANDChelsea opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 demolition of Charlton Athletic on Saturday and retai...

ENGLAND

Chelsea opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 demolition of Charlton Athletic on Saturday and retained that advantage as champions Arsenal were beaten 2-1 at Liverpool 24 hours later.

England defender John Terry scored twice for Jose Mourinho8217;s side at The Valley, with Damien Duff and Eidur Gudjohnsen completing an impressive victory.

Everton stayed in third spot after a gritty 1-1 draw at Newcastle United, while Manchester United8217;s revival continued as a Paul Scholes doubled sealed a 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion for a third consecutive league victory.

FRANCE

Second-placed Lille lost ground to leaders Olympique Lyon at the top of Ligue 1 as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by lowly Racing Strasbourg on Sunday.

Lille needed an 87th-minute equaliser from Nigerian Peter Odemwingie to rescue a point after Senegal8217;s Mamadou Niang had opened the scoring in the 56th minute for Strasbourg.

Lyon, who beat AJ Auxerre 2-1 on Saturday with goals from Sylvain Wiltord and Juninho Pernambucano, now lead the title race by five points.

GERMANY

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Bayern Munich consolidated their lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a 4-2 home victory over FSV Mainz on Saturday as faltering Wolfsburg went down 3-2 at home to Hertha Berlin.

Schalke 04 closed to within two points of Bayern on Sunday with a nervy 2-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld.

Stuttgart moved above Wolfsburg into third place on goal difference but lost ground after being held 0-0 by Hanover 96.

ITALY

Inter Milan fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with leaders Juventus in the 8216;Derby D8217;Italia8217; at the San Siro stadium with Brazilian Adriano grabbing an 85th minute equaliser after goals by Marcelo Zalayeta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had put Juve in charge.

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Second-placed AC Milan closed the gap on Juve to four points with a 1-0 win at Chievo thanks to a goal from Argentine international Hernan Crespo.

SPAIN

The top two places in the Primera Liga remained unchanged after Barcelona and Real Madrid both posted victories.

Leaders Barcelona held off a spirited comeback by newcomers Getafe to claim a nervous 2-1 win on Saturday. The Catalans went 2-0 up at the break thanks to a fiercely struck freekick from Mexican international Rafael Marquez and a superb strike from Portugal midfielder Deco. Gica Craioveanu pulled a goal back for Getafe early in the second half. 8212; Reuters