European roundup - Leicester stay clear, Juve's Buffon sets record
REUTERS - Leicester City stayed five points clear of closest challengers Tottenham Hotspur as both teams won, while Manchester United edged local rivals City in Premier League action at the weekend.
Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon set a record for the longest run without conceding a goal and Real Madrid's Gareth Bale ousted Gary Lineker as the highest scoring British player in Spanish soccer.
Barcelona stretched their La Liga lead to nine points, Bayern Munich edged closer to another Bundesliga title but Paris St Germain suffered a rare home league defeat in France with the championship already won.
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ENGLAND
Leicester City won 1-0 with a goal from Riyad Mahrez at Crystal Palace to stay five points clear at the top of the Premier League ahead of Tottenham Hotspur who beat Bournemouth 3-0 with a double from leading scorer Harry Kane.
While Manchester United teenager Marcus Rashford continued his staggering rise, scoring a delightful goal to secure a 1-0 win at Manchester City in his debut derby, Kane was busy enhancing his claim to being England's top striker.
Manchester City's title challenge appeared to have evaporated after Rashford's goal left them fourth, 15 points adrift of the leaders and just one point clear of their sixth-placed neighbours and West Ham United, who are fifth.
Third-placed Arsenal won 2-0 at Everton.
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SPAIN
Barcelona squandered the chance to go 11 points clear at the top after blowing a two-goal lead in the space of six minutes in a 2-2 draw at Villarreal.
After 30 matches, Barca have 76 points, with Atletico Madrid on 67 ahead of Real on 66.
Real Madrid forwards Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo were all on target in a 4-0 win over Sevilla that moved them within a point of city rivals Atletico Madrid, who suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Sporting Gijon.
Bale's 43rd La Liga goal made him the most successful British import in Spanish soccer, passing the 42 scored by Gary Lineker for Barcelona 27 years ago.
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GERMANY
Bayern Munich remained on track for a record fourth Bundesliga title with a 1-0 victory over Cologne that kept them five points clear at the top with seven matches left.
Three days after eliminating Juventus in extra time for a spot in the Champions League last eight, Bayern, chasing a treble of titles, moved up to 69 points courtesy of Robert Lewandowski's 25th goal of the season.
Second-placed Dortmund stayed on their heels with a 3-1 comeback victory at Augsburg and Adrian Ramos doing a fine job in replacing absent forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with one goal and one assist.
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ITALY
Juventus stayed three points clear of Napoli at the top after both sides won.
Alvaro Morata scored twice to give Juventus a 4-1 win at neighbours Torino in a match which also saw their goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon set a Serie A record of 974 minutes without conceeding a goal.
Gonzalo Higuain scored twice, taking his league tally to 29, as Napoli beat Genoa 3-1.
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FRANCE
Paris St Germain suffered their first Ligue 1 home defeat in almost two years when they lost 2-0 at home to Monaco on Sunday.
Laurent Blanc's side, whose last home loss came on May 7, 2014 against stade Rennais, failed to deliver a week after being crowned champions for the fourth consecutive season, succombing to goals by Vagner Love and Fabinho.
They have 77 points with seven games left and Monaco are second on 55 points, five points ahead of Nice who beat GFC Ajaccio 3-0 earlier on Sunday.
Olympique Lyonnais are fourth a further point back after beating Nantes 2-0 on Saturday.
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NETHERLANDS
Ajax Amsterdam scored after 72 seconds and added a second goal near the end to inflict a 2-0 home defeat on champions PSV Eindhoven and take over the lead of the Dutch league.
The early goal from Arek Milik laid the platform for a victory that put Ajax two points clear. They now have the title in their own hands with six rounds to play.
Ajax have 68 points to PSV’s 66.
Feyenoord strengthened their grip on third place with a 3-1 win over Graafschap Doetincham as AZ Alkmaar, who are fourth, were held 2-2 at Twente Enschede to slip two points behind.
(Editing by Ken Ferris/Alan Baldwin)