Juventus beat Brescia, Lazio leapfrog Inter into second on key day for Serie A title race

Lazio completed the comeback from an Ashley Young opener to beat Inter with Ciro Immobile’s penalty and Sergej MilinkovicSavic, leapfrogging the Nerazzurri into second place.

This was an unexpected Scudetto showdown, as the Aquile went into the weekend one point behind joint leaders Inter and Juventus. The hosts were unbeaten in a club record 18 rounds, ever since the 1-0 loss at Inter in September, while Antonio Conte’s men were without defeat in 16, having lost only to Juventus.

Juventus labored to a 2-0 win over 10-man Brescia in Serie A on Sunday on what could prove to be a key day for the title race.

Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado scored to help Juventus move three points above Inter Milan, which visits third-place Lazio later with just a point separating them.

There was more good news for Juventus as Giorgio Chiellini returned six months after tearing his cruciate ligament. The 35year-old defender came on 12 minutes from time to huge cheers at the Allianz Stadium.

Juventus rested star forward Cristiano Ronaldo but Brescia’s day still got off to a poor start. It was already without first-choice goalkeeper Jesse Joronen through injury and his replacement Enrico Alfonso had to come off in the ninth minute after an accidental knee to the head from Gonzalo Higuain.

Joronen was replaced by

Lorenzo Andrenacci, who was making his Serie A debut. Andrenacci had made just seven appearances in nearly three seasons at Brescia — all in the second division.

It got worse for the visitors in the 37th when Brescia forward Florian Ayé was sent off following two bookings in quick succession.

Dybala curled the resulting free kick into the left side of the net from just outside the area.

Juventus took until the 75th to double its lead when Cuadrado played a delightful one-two with Blaise Matuidi before firing into the bottom left corner.

Matuidi had only just replaced Miralem Pjanić, who limped off with an apparent muscular injury eight minutes after being introduced as a substitute.

Higuain had a late header disallowed for offside, while Rodrigo Bentancur and Dybala hit the woodwork late on.

Brescia remained second from bottom, seven points from safety.

Spurs boost Champions League bid, Arsenal ends winless run

Jose Mourinho couldn't resist a little swipe at Manchester City following its European ban.

Mourinho's current priority is securing Tottenham's own qualification for the Champions League but he also remembers missing out on the Premier League title to City while Manchester United manager.

Tottenham moved up to fifth place in the Premier League standings after Son Heung-min's stoppage-time strike secured a 32 victory at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Fifth place is now likely to offer a Champions League spot following Manchester City's two-year European ban, although it is yet to officially be confirmed and City is appealing against the UEFA punishment for breaching financial rules.

"I didn't lose one single minute analyzing UEFA - they have to analyse," Mourinho said. "If I go into that, I have to ask if the team which finished second in 2018 are going to be champions, yes or no?"

Mourinho finished runner-up with United two years ago, 19 points behind City.

"Joking apart, I just think about doing the best we can," Mourinho said on his current mission. "At the end of the season we'll see where we are. If we are sixth or seventh then it doesn't matter if fifth goes to the Champions League.

"Wolves, Sheffield United, Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton. Everyone looks to the table and says, 'We can do it'. It's going to be very hard. It's not about huge decisions or small decisions, it's about the rules, the law, 'it is or it isn't'. UEFA punished them but they have the chance to appeal."

Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld, whose partner gave birth to a boy on Friday, poked Anwar El Ghazi's cross into his own net after nine minutes but made it 1-1 when he lashed in from a corner in the 27th minute.

Son put Spurs ahead at the end of the first half when he converted the rebound after Pepe Reina had saved his penalty, awarded after Bjorn Engels had brought down Steven Bergwijn. But Engels got Villa back on level terms again eight minutes into the second half.

Reina made several good stops from Son and Dele Alli but was beaten in stoppage time when Engels continued his action-packed afternoon by missing a routine clearance to allow Son to race clear and score.

"I'm very pleased with the victory but I'd be complaining if the result was 2-2 after we missed so many chances," Mourinho said.

Defeat kept Villa 17th, a point above the relegation zone, and the team has now conceded a league-high 50 goals in the top flight. For the first time since New Year's Day Arsenal won in the league.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pépé, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette all netted in an impressive second half to clinch a 4-0 victory over Newcastle. Mikel Arteta's side rose to 10th place.

Sevilla held 2-2 at home by 10man Espanyol

Jesús "Suso" Fernández scored his first goal for Sevilla to salvage a 2-2 home draw with 10-man Espanyol in the Spanish league on Sunday.

The result left Sevilla in fifth place and Espanyol second-to-last in the relegation zone.

Lucas Ocampos headed Sevilla in front in the 15th minute, but Adrián Embarba equalized from a free kick in the 35th after a long video review to determine a foul outside the area.

Embarba scored by placing his free kick under the players who jumped in the defensive wall.

China forward Wu Lei, playing for the injured Raúl de Tomás, put the visitors ahead five minutes into the second half.