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Milan picked up three key points on the road at Bologna on Sunday night, as a Krzysztof Piatek penalty and strikes from Theo Hernandez and Giacomo Bonaventura helped move Stefano Pioli’s men into the top half of the Serie A table.

It had been a dire start to season for the Rossoneri, resulting in the sacking of Marco Giampaolo in October, with the experienced Pioli tasked with picking up the pieces.

With just two wins in seven heading into this one, however, it had been a similarly sticky start to life for the ​former Fiorentina and Lazio boss. 

So when they found themselves two goals ahead just after the half hour mark, after Piatek had converted a penalty following a clumsy foul from Mattia Bani and Theo Hernandez had scored a second at the back post from a terrific assist from Suso, it would have served as a much-needed lift for their spirits.

Bonaventura struck a third early in the second half after an own goal by Hernandez just before the break had threatened to make a real game of it, but ​Milan would defend their two-goal lead with a relative degree of comfort for much of the second half – much to their beleaguered manager’s delight.

Nicola Sansone did find the net with five minutes remaining to take the shine off the result, but Milan dug deep and saw out an important result that moved them above their hosts and into 10th place – where they sit level on points with Torino and just one behind both Parma and ​Napoli. 

They have some work to do if they are to claw a route into the top six, with a seven point chasm existing between Atalanta and the teams beneath them, but if Milan can keep up performances like this one then they may fancy their chances over the remainder of the season.

Bologna, meanwhile, sit four points behind Milan, and having now failed to win in seven games in all competitions, they may herald some fears of being dragged into a relegation dogfight.

They face Atalanta next week before what could be a key tie with Lecce, who sit just a point behind them as things stand.

Barcelona returned to the summit of La Liga with a resounding 5-2 victory over Mallorca at the Camp Nou on Saturday evening, surpassing Real Madrid, who beat Espanyol by two goals to nil.

Summer signing Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring for the hosts after a pin-point pass from Barça’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen – cutting onto his right foot and slotting coolly past Manolo Reina in the Mallorca goal.

Having won a record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or on Monday night, Lionel Messi showed exactly why he is considered the world’s best, scoring a breathtaking goal from outside the box into the top right-hand corner of Reina’s goal.

Ante Budimir dragged the visitors back into the game after expertly chipping past Ter Stegen. The talismanic Messi added his second with another curling effort before Luis Suárez got himself on the scoresheet with an outrageous back-heel chip over the hapless Reina to make it 4-1 before half time.

Despite some early second-half pressure from the home side, it was Mallorca who scored first after half time, Budimir scoring his second of the match with a fine header from Fran Gámez’s cross.

Messi rounded off the evening with a phenomenal finish from inside the box, thumping the ball in off the underside of the bar for his hat-trick after a deft touch from Suárez fell into the path of Barcelona’s captain.

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Barcelona

Key Talking Point

​Blaugrana initially struggled to evoke their ‘tiki-taka’ style under Ernesto Valverde at the beginning of his tenure at the club, however he has managed to rediscover the style of play that is synonymous with the club.

In recent weeks, Barcelona have proved they are still one of the most attractive teams going forward and illustrated some sensational football against Mallorca on Saturday evening. Barça’s midfield created passing triangles around the Mallorca players and were able to cut through the heart of los Bermellones’ defence with ease.

Easy on the eye, gliding through transition and dominating possession, playing football the Barça way, Valverde will be extremely content with his sides performance. However he will no doubt want to work on his defence ahead of their crucial clash against ​Real Madrid in the first Clasico of the season on 18th December.

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Player Ratings

Starting XI: ter Stegen (7); Roberto (8), Piqué (8), Lenglet (7), Firpo (8); Rakitic (7), Busquets (8), de Jong (8); Messi (10*), Griezmann (7), Suárez (7)

Substitutes: Vidal (6), Aleña (6), Pérez (N/A)

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Star Man – Lionel Messi

There aren’t enough superlatives to describe this man. Messi is widely considered the greatest to ever play the beautiful game and reinforced that with yet another outstanding performance on Saturday evening.

The diminutive forward was the focal point of everything Barcelona did creatively, contributing to build-up play and helping himself to a hat-trick despite a quiet second half, scoring his 617th goal for the Catalans in his 702nd game for the club.

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Mallorca

Player Ratings

​Starting XI: Reina (4); Sastre (4), Valjent (4), Raíllo (4), Gámez (5); Sevilla (5), Baba (4), Febas (6); Vázquez (5), Budimir (7), Kubo (7)

Substitutes: Hernández (5), Señé (N/A), Prats (N/A)

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Looking Ahead

Following on from their win over Mallorca, Barcelona travel to the Italian city of Milan to face ​Internazionale at San Siro in the last Champions League group stage fixture of the season. The Spanish giants are unbeaten in their five group games and will look to continue their impressive form in Europe. Ernesto Valverde’s men then travel to the Anoeta Stadium to face Real Sociedad in ​La Liga four days later.

Meanwhile Mallorca face Celta Vigo at the Estadio Municipal de Balaídos on Sunday afternoon before a second round Copa del Rey tie away to fourth-tier side El Álamo at the Estadio Facundo Rivas three days later.

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Atletico Madrid made it five away La Liga draws on the trot as their clash with Villarreal ended in stalemate on Friday night.

With pressure thought to be building on manager Diego Simeone, Atleti failed to find a way through their hosts’ defence, with Joao Felix going closest when he hit the post. Villarreal goalkeer Sergio Asenjo was also in inspired form, making some important stops to deny the visitors.

The draw means Atleti will likely lose more ground in the La Liga title race, with rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid both in action on Saturday.

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​VILLARREAL

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Asenjo (8); Gaspar (6), Albiol (7), Torres (7), Quintilla (6); Iborra (6); Chukwueze (7), Anguissa (7), Trigueros (7), Gomez (6); Moreno (6).

Substitutes: Ekambi (5), Morlanes (5).

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ATLETICO MADRID

Key Talking Point

There had been talk before Friday night’s clash that there was some disharmony in the Atleti squad following a series of disappointing results, talk that Simeone was ​quick to quash.

However, ​Atleti had managed just two wins in their last six following the loss to ​Barcelona on Saturday, so it’s perhaps hardly surprising that questions regarding Simeone’s future at the club were starting to pop up.

So perhaps in some ways a goalless first half, interspersed by Felix hitting the post and Jan Oblak making a few stops, was exactly what the 2013/14 La Liga champions needed.

But while things were a little calmer, Atleti struggled in front of goal for the duration of the game.

Felix often looked like the player who may have been able to break the deadlock, racking up an large total of nine shots by full time, but he only ever went close, failing to hit the back of the net.

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Player Ratings

Starting XI: Oblak (7); Arias (7), Felipe (7), Hermoso (7), Lodi (8); Saul (7), Herrera (6), Partey (5), Koke (7); Felix (6), Morata (6).
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Substitutes: Vitola (6), Trippier (5), Llorente (5).

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STAR PLAYER – The below picture probably doesn’t paint him in a great light, but Renan Lodi actually had a pretty solid evening for Los Colchoneros.

Lodi was bright throughout, providing a calm presence down Atletico’s left hand side while bursting forward to support his attacking teammates.

He did, however, miss a golden chance, smacking one over on the half-volley from close range. But all in all it was a good outing from the Brazil international, who looks like the player who could hold down the left back spot as Filipe Luis’ long term successor.

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Looking Ahead

Villarreal aren’t in action until next Sunday, when they take on ​La Liga flyers Sevilla, while Atleti have ​Champions League commitments in midweek to look forward to.

A win against Lokomotiv Moscow on Wednesday would guarantee progression to the knockout stages of Europe’s elite competition, but anything less would open the door for Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen, who host Group D winners ​Juventus.

They’re then back to domestic duty the following weekend with a game against Osasuna at Wanda Metropolitano.

Arsenal stretched their run of games without a victory to nine – their worst run of form since 1977 – as Brighton heaped further misery on the Gunners with a deserved 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

The Seagulls had the better of the game in the opening 30 minutes with Neal Maupay and Davy Propper both drawing saves out of Bernd Leno. Arsenal, in contrast, looked lethargic – misplacing passes and struggling to carve out any opportunities of their own.

The Seagulls grabbed a deserved opener in the 36th minute, Adam Webster firing home a shot after the hosts failed to deal with a corner.

The goal sparked a mini-Gunners revival just before half time, with Joe Willock’s header from a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cross being well saved by Mat Ryan.

After the break this revival continued with Alexandre Lacazette nodding home from a corner in the 51st minute to level up the scores. Arsenal continued to create chances and had a goal ruled out by VAR after David Luiz was shown to have strayed offside before firing home Mesut Ozil’s free kick.

The Gunners were then made to rue their missed opportunities when Aaron Mooy managed to pick out Maupay who headed the Seagulls in front with ten minutes remaining.

Here’s the breakdown of this one.

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​Arsenal

Talking Point

The Gunners came into the game knowing that anything less than a win would represent their longest run without a victory since 1977, ​so you would think they would have come out with a point to prove? Well, they didn’t.

Arsenal’s first-half performance was as bad, if not worse than anything witnessed during the Unai Emery era, with the hosts looking demotivated, uninspired and lethargic. They were even arguing with each other. Whatever Freddie Ljungberg had been working on during the week clearly had not had its desired effect.

Ljungberg had to respond at the break and he brought on Nicolas Pépé in an attempt to inject some life into the Gunners performance. The club’s record signing’s introduction did indeed galvanise the hosts and they soon found an equaliser through Lacazette’s header.

The revival continued for a while but soon burnt out as Arsenal allowed the visitors back into the game. That would prove to be a fatal error, with Maupay’s header condemning the Gunners to their worst run of form since the 1970s. It was nothing less than what their abject first-half performance deserved.

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Player Ratings

Starting XI: Leno (7); Bellerin (6), Sokratis (5), David Luiz (6), Kolasinac (5); Torreira (7), Xhaka (5), Willock (5); Ozil (5), Lacazette (5), Aubameyang (5)

Substitutes: Pépé (6), Tierney (5), Martinelli (5)

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Star Man

​It feels a bit ridiculous selecting a star man​ after a performance like that but I guess the Gunners best player was Lucas Torreira.

While some players’ commitment to the club can be questioned after such seemingly disengaged displays this evening, the Uruguayan’s work rate never wavered.

He passed the ball well at times as well…not all the time though.

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Brighton

Talking Point

The Seagulls had lost their last four away games coming into this one and on their first-half performance it was hard to see why.

​Brighton were disciplined defensively, catching Arsenal’s attackers offside frequently in the opening exchanges, while they also went forward with patience and purpose with Aaron Connolly looking most dangerous.

The Gunners’ second-half fightback was intelligently managed by the Seagulls who never let the hosts overwhelm them going forward.

Brighton got a deserved reward for their committed defending with Maupay’s winning goal, that ended their shocking recent away form.

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Player Ratings

Starting XI: Ryan (7); Alzate (6), Dunk (7), Webster (7), Burn (6); Propper (7), Stephens (7), Mooy (7); Gross (6), Connolly (8), Maupay (8)

Substitutes: Montoya (7)

Star Man

​Brighton’s defence deserve a mention for their mostly resolute performance but the Seagulls’ star man this evening was the Irish pocket rocket, Aaron Connolly.

It was a performance bursting with enthusiasm from t​he 19-year-old, who ran himself ragged before being replaced with 15 minutes left to play.

He got into a series of promising positions in the first half and just needs to improve his decision making to become a genuinely top-class Premier League striker.

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Looking Ahead

Next up, the Gunners travel to ​West Ham as they continue to try and close the gap on the top four, before they face Standard Liege in their final Europa League fixture of the season in a weeks time.

Brighton on the other hand host ​Wolves on Sunday as the Seagulls will be look to pull further away from the relegation zone.

Well, who saw that one coming?

Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United homecoming was ruined by his former club at Old Trafford on Wednesday night – as his new Tottenham Hotspur team fell to a 2-1 defeat. And in truth, it could’ve been more. Lots, lots more.

Here’s how a hugely entertaining game went down on that thing we call social media. Well, Twitter.

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We’re going to start off with a nice little video of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer meeting the man he succeeded in the home dugout. Look how nice they’re being to each other.

After they’d met indoors, it was soon time to get down to business.

For one of the teams at least.

​Tottenham didn’t turn up, and the hosts really did. It didn’t take them long to break through either, as Marcus Rashford slammed a shot at Paulo Gazzaniga’s near post and saw it trickle in. The 22-year-old made a superb start to the game, was voted man of the match, and earned his first reward early on.

It really was a crappy attempt at a save, mind.

​United were on fire, mate, and Rashford was leading the charge. He was shooting for fun in the first half an hour, and saw himself denied by the opposition goalkeeper a couple of times – with one of his efforts smashing the crossbar.

Daniel James – who started on the right – was as busy as ever too, and after getting crunched by Harry Winks in a tackle he fell at the feet of…you guessed it…Jose. DJ’s head, meet Jose’s knee, or shin, or whatever part of his body was hit.

The notoriously streetwise (cheers Giggsy) James doesn’t do head injuries for long though, and he was back up soon after to continue United’s charge to certain victory.

United were playing really, really well. And Tottenham had not even bothered turning up.

So you know what that means, right?

Of course you do.

Perhaps not too many could’ve expected this type of worldie skill from Dele Alli (even if he’s been in top notch form in recent weeks) but they could expect United to defend the goal terribly and to concede very easily after being on top of the game for the entire time preceding it.

You might’ve expected Spurs – who scored just a few minutes before half time – to really step things up, but they simply didn’t kick on and reverted back to their terribly passive football that had been synonymous with Jose’s final months managing that night’s opposition.

Passive is probably the word. And Moussa Sissoko’s defending was all kinds of that as he fouled ​Rashford in the box early in the second half.

Penalty. Converted. 2-1.

And that, really, was kind of it. Tottenham were no match for United’s desire on this night, and should be disappointed with how they performed.

The biggest scare for United fans came just after 9pm, as Solskjaer made the decision to bring off Mason Greenwood for Andreas Pereira.

Tottenham were beaten, and United have now leapfrogged them in the table. It’s a big win for the fans, for the Glazers, for Marcus Rashford and Fred (who was brilliant btw) and most of all, it’s a big win for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who topped off the night with THIS.

Lots of work to do for Jose Mourinho.