Emmanuel Adebayor led the charge for Real Madrid as he scored the opening goal in their 2-0 win over Racing Santander. The Togolese striker scored in the 23rd minute to bolster his side’s title challenge.
Felipe Caicedo also got himself on the scoresheet as his first-half strike proved the only goal of Levante’s win over high-flying Espanyol.
Having limped out of last week’s thrashing of St Johnstone, Vladimir Weiss couldn’t recover in time for Rangers, but they still had enough to edge out SPL strugglers St Mirren 1-0.
Nedum Onuoha was also struggling with injury as he missed Sunderland’s goalless draw at Arsenal, while Roque Santa Cruz was bench-bound for the whole of Blackburn’s 3-2 loss against Fulham.
There was better luck for Wayne Bridge’s West Ham who completed their first back-to-back wins of the season to climb out of the relegation zone. Bridge helped his side keep a clean sheet in a 3-0 win over Stoke.
In Championship action, Ben Mee’s Leicester City were unfortunate to be beaten by table-toppers QPR. Former City striker Ishmael Miller hit an 87th-minute winner and Leicester now sit five points adrift of the play-off spots.
Abdi Ibrahim played the final ten minutes of Scunthorpe’s shock 1-0 win over promotion candidates Swansea, but Craig Bellamy’s Cardiff couldn’t take advantage as they slipped to a 2-0 home loss against Ipswich.
Kieran Trippier’s Barnsley kept a clean sheet in their stalemate with Derby, but it’s now six games without a win for the Tykes. Still in Yorkshire, David Gonzalez’s Leeds beat Doncaster 5-2 – though the keeper remains a back-up to Kasper Schmeichel.
Andrew Tutte’s Yeovil drew 1-1 with ten-man Huddersfield. While Tutte played a full 90 minutes, Javan Vidal didn’t make the squad for Chesterfield, who extended their lead at the top of League Two with a 3-0 win over Cheltenham.
