European Football: Napoli solidify Serie A top seat, Arsenal's Premier League title chances suffer

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) — In week 31 of Serie A, leaders Napoli beat Juventus 1-0 with a goal in extra time, while their closest follower, Lazio, lost to increase the point gap to 17.

Arsenal, settled for a last-minute 3-3 draw against Southampton at home in a week 32 match and their next in the fixtures is against the Citizens at Etihad Stadium.

- Napoli solidify Serie A lead

The strongest Italian Serie A title contenders, Napoli, played against Juventus, who were once again closing in on the summit after the cancellation of a 15-point deletion penalty.

In the 93rd minute of the match, Giacomo Raspadori scored the winning goal for Napoli.

With this critical win, Napoli have 78 points and increased the gap to 17 in the week when Lazio, the runners-up, suffered defeat, losing 0-1 to Torino at home.

While they retook the third spot after the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) canceled their 15-point deduction penalty previously given by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Juventus missed the chance to climb to second spot.

Milan beat Lecce 2-0 with goals scored by Portuguese striker Rafael Leao in minutes 40 and 75.

Despite performing well in European cups, Inter Milan have been in bad form in the league in recent weeks. They still managed to defeat Empoli 3-0 with goals from Romelu Lukaku in the 48th and 76th minutes and from Lautaro Martinez in the 88th minute.

Napoli have the standings' lead with 78 points and are followed by Lazio with 61 points, Juventus with 59 points, Roma and Milan with 56 points each, and Inter with 54 points.

- Premier League leader Arsenal hurt title chances

Arsenal drew 3-3 with Southampton in week 32 of the English Premier League.

The Gunners currently have 75 points after taking a hit in the championship race by leaving their third game in a row in a draw. After the result, an opportunity arose for Manchester City to take the lead with 70 points, two games short.

Newcastle United defeated Tottenham 6-1 in the league.

At 59, they have the same amount of points as Manchester United and are in the top five in the leaderboards. Tottenham currently have 53 points.

- La Liga leaders Barcelona pass week 30 with win

In a week 30 game of the Spanish La Liga, leaders Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 at home to take another step towards the championship.

Ferran Torres scored the winning goal for Barcelona in minute 44.

Increasing their points to 76, Barca are now 11 points ahead of their closest follower, Real Madrid.

Barca are getting closer to the title with eight weeks to go and have finished the league in the top spot 26 times so far, the last one being in 2019.

They have 76 points and are followed by Real Madrid 11 points behind and Atletico Madrid 16 points behind.

- Borussia Dortmund take over as Bundesliga leaders

Borussia Dortmund defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 in a German Bundesliga week 29 game.

With the win, they secured a total 60 points to become league leaders, a point ahead of Bayern Munich, with five weeks to go to the season's end.

Bayern Munich, which lost to Mainz 1-3, have 59 points and regressed to second place.

Union Berlin defeated Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 and currently have 55 points.

- PSG have preserve 8-point lead in Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the leaders of the French Ligue 1, defeated Angers 2-1.

PSG won the match 2-1 with goals from Kylian Mbappe in the nineth and 26th minutes. Sada Thioub scored the home team Angers' goal in minuty 87.

Racking up 75 points with their third win in a row, PSG maintained a eight-point gap with their closest rivals, Olympique Marseille.

Olympique Marseille beat Olympique Lyon 2-1, in a game where Turkish national Cengiz Under netted in the 44th minute.

Lens beat Monaco 3-0.

PSG maintained their lead with 75 points, while Olympique Marseille follow with 67 points, Lens with 66 points, and Monaco with 61 points.