Forget Christmas. December is all about defense for Manchester City.
The reigning English Premier League champions maintained their eight-match unbeaten run in all competitions with a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace, Saturday.
City drew level on points with table toppers Chelsea, who will be eager to put daylight between themselves and the defending champions against Stoke City, Monday.
“December is a key month to be in the fight for the title,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini told reporters after his side’s home win.
“If you want to be involved you must be very near the top of the table. I hope we continue playing like this. It was a very good win, a very good performance.”
Crystal Palace had frustrated City during the first half, coming close to scoring themselves, before mercurial forward David Silva sparked into life after the break.
The Spaniard broke the deadlock for City — who are missing key strikers Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko –when his shot deflected off Scott Dan and past Palace keeper Julian Peroni.
Silva swept in a second soon afterwards before Yaya Toure drilled in at the near post to make sure of the victory for Man City.
Their north of England neighbors and rivals, Manchester United, had to settle for a point from their away trip to Aston Villa.
United had been on a six-match winning streak and would have expected more from their trip to Villa Park where they had not lost in 18 matches.
Villa’s talismanic striker Christian Benteke hit a curler into the corner to give the home side the lead after 18 minutes and deny United a magnificent seventh win.
On-loan Colombian striker Radamel Falcao — who played his first full 90 minutes after being given a place in the starting XI — scored the equalizer in the second half when he headed in from close range.
Villa were reduced to 10 men when Gabriel Agbonlahor was sent off with 25 minutes still to play but the advantage did little for United.
“I’m very frustrated,” summed up Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, whose side are third in the table and seven points off the leaders.
Barcelona said Christmas had come early as Luis Suarez scored his first goal for the Spanish La Liga giants, Saturday.
The Uruguayan ace, who joined Barca from Liverpool in a tasty $127m deal, had to wait until October to make his debut following his four-month biting ban.
Suarez finally got off the mark for his new employers in a 5-0 thrashing of Cordoba, slotting in from close range to end his seven-game goal drought.
Pedro Rodriguez opened the scoring at the Nou Camp, Gerard Pique headed in a third before Lionel Messi polished off the five-star performance with a brace.
The victory saw Barcelona draw to within one point of league leaders Real Madrid — who are playing in the Club World Cup final this weekend — before the winter break.
There was a nightmare before Christmas for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
The German side slid to their 10th league defeat of the season, losing 2-1 to fellow strugglers Werder Bremen, and dropped to second from bottom in the table.
Jurgen Klopp’s side, who face Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League in February, will have to wait until the end of January to try to contain their dismal domestic run.
Bayern Munich head into the extended winter break sitting pretty at the top after a 2-1 victory against Mainz, Friday.
Pep Guardiola’s side broke another Bundesliga record for the fewest goals conceded in the first half of the season. Bayern have conceded a miserly four goals so far.
In the French Ligue 1, champions Paris Saint-Germain succumbed to the pressure again as they played out a goalless draw with mid-table Montpellier.
Marseille can consolidate their place at the top of the table if they beat Lille, Sunday.
PSG had made an impressive unbeaten start to the season but are on a downward spiral after losing to Barcelona in the Champions League and then lowly Guingamp in the league.
At least footballers playing in France can put their feet up over the festive period and enjoy a 12-day break from competition before the French Cup swings into action.
