Arsenal cruises, restores its EPL lead
ARSENAL 3, FULHAM 0
Arsenal reclaimed its five-point lead in the English Premier League by outclassing host Fulham, 3-0, on Sunday in London.
Gabriel Magalhães, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard scored first-half goals at Craven Cottage to secure a fifth straight victory in the league for Arsenal.
Leandro Trossard had the assist on all three goals.
Second-place Manchester City had closed within two points of Arsenal by winning, 1-0, at Crystal Palace on Saturday. Arsenal and City have 11 games left.
There was more good news for Arsenal: Striker Gabriel Jesus came on in the 77th minute for his first appearance since undergoing surgery Dec. 6 on a medial collateral ligament injury suffered during the World Cup. . . .
Manchester United held firm after Casemiro’s second red card in his past three Premier League games to secure a 0-0 draw with visiting Southampton.
The Brazil midfielder was sent off in the 34th minute for a studsup challenge on Carlos Alcaraz that initially earned him a yellow card. The referee changed it to a red following a video review, and Casemiro must serve a four-match ban. . . .
Miguel Almirón came off the bench to reignite Newcastle’s Champions League qualification ambitions with the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over visiting Wolverhampton. . . .
Saïd Benrahma’s penalty kick earned West Ham a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa and lifted the hosts out of the relegation zone.
SPAIN: Still mired in control versy over its payments to the company of a former refereeing committee official, Barcelona restored its lead over Real Madrid in
La Liga to nine points with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.
Video review disallowed an 87th-minute goal by Bilbao forward Iñaki Williams for a handball in the buildup. Video review awarded Barcelona forward Raphinha’s goal after it was initially disallowed for offside. . . .
Real Betis and host Villarreal dropped points in their bid for Champions League qualification with a 1-1 draw.
Borja Iglesias opened the scoring for Betis in the 38th minute, and Villarreal equalized with a Yéremy Pino goal in the 55th. . . .
Real Sociedad played to a 1-1 draw at Mallorca.
ITALY: Juventus beat lastl place Sampdoria, 4-2, at home to close in on a Europa League spot despite its hefty points punishment.
Adrien Rabiot scored twice as Juventus, which was deducted 15 points in the Serie A standings for false accounting, moved within four points of sixth-place Atalanta. . . .
Roma lost, 4-3, at home to Sassuolo as Armand Laurienté netted twice for the visitors.
• GERMANY: Ritsu Doan struck late for Freiburg to beat Hoffenheim, 2-1, and leave the visitors last in the Bundesliga. . . .
Union Berlin missed the chance to reclaim third place in the league when Patrick Wimmer scored late to salvage a 1-1 draw for host Wolfsburg. . . .
Bayer Leverkusen survived a late rally from Werder Bremen to win, 3-2, on the road.
• FRANCE: Loïs Openda scored the fastest French league hat trick in 50 years to help Lens move into third place with a 4-0 win at Clermont.
Openda struck three times in 4 minutes 30 seconds. According to stats provider Opta, that was four seconds quicker than Matt Moussilou’s hat trick in Lille’s 8-0 rout of Istres in 2005.
Report: Qatar bugged meeting
A spying operation on behalf of World Cup host Qatar bugged a 2017 hotel meeting between FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Switzerland’s then-attorney general during an investigation of soccer officials, Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported.
Intelligence operatives linked to a former CIA officer wiretapped a meeting involving Infantino and Swiss federal prosecutor Michael Lauber at a Qatari-owned hotel in Bern, the report said.