Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench to score a brace on his return from coronavirus as Juventus got back to winning ways in Serie A with a 4-1 victory against promoted Spezia on Sunday.

The champions ended a run of three consecutive draws to move third in Serie A, four points behind leaders AC Milan, who beat Udinese 2-1 earlier in the day thanks to a spectacular late winner from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Sassuolo overtook Juventus to reclaim second spot, two points behind Milan, after a 2-0 win over Napoli, their first ever success at the Stadio San Paolo.

Ronaldo replaced Paulo Dybala in the 56th minute in Cesena with the match level after Tommaso Pobega had cancelled out Alvaro Morata's opener for Juventus. But the Portuguese striker put Juve in front just three minutes later.

Adrien Rabiot grabbed a third on 68 minutes, with Ronaldo scoring a second from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to go for his fifth goal in three league games this season.

"Cristiano is back. This is the important thing," said Ronaldo, who had been furious at missing Juventus' Champions League 2-0 defeat in midweek by Lionel Messi's Barcelona. "I was stopped for a long time even though I had no symptoms and felt good. Today I got back to doing what I like, playing football."

Ronaldo had been COVID-positive for 19 days after a test while on national duty with Portugal, missing four games. 

In England, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang condemned Manchester United to fresh misery at Old Trafford as his penalty clinched a 1-0 win for Arsenal, while Gareth Bale was the match winner with his first goal since returning to Tottenham in a 2-1 win over Brighton.

Aubameyang ended a five-game goal drought in the league when he stepped up to convert a 69th-minute spot-kick after Paul Pogba fouled Hector Bellerin. The Arsenal captain's first league goal since the opening weekend of the season gave the Gunners their first league win at Old Trafford since 2006.

United have now failed to win any of their four home league games this season, with the three defeats including a humiliating 6-1 rout against Tottenham. It is the Red Devils' worst start to a home league campaign since 1972-73, leaving Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team languishing just six points above the relegation zone in 15th place.

Spurs moved up to second as Bale came off the bench to break Brighton's resolve in a controversial clash at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

Harry Kane's early penalty put Jose Mourinho's men in front before the visitors were denied a spot-kick for a pull on Leandro Trossard by Matt Doherty.

Brighton's bright display got the slice of luck they needed to level 11 minutes into the second-half when referee Graham Scott allowed Tariq Lamptey's equalizer to stand after what appeared a clear foul on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the build-up, despite reviewing the incident on the pitch-side monitor.

Bale got Spurs and Scott off the hook, though, when he powered home a header 17 minutes from time.

In Spain, David Silva scored his first goal for Real Sociedad to help them go back to the top of La Liga after a 4-1 win over Celta Vigo.

Silva headed La Real in front at Balaidos for his first goal since he left Manchester City in the summer, and his first in La Liga since he departed Valencia 11 years ago. Mikel Oyarzabal made it two with his fifth of the season, a tally that also makes him the league's top scorer so far. 

Willian Jose then hit the net twice in the second half, either side of Iago Aspas converting a penalty, which gave Celta brief hope of a comeback. Celta's Jose Fontan was sent off for a second yellow card late on, to cap a disappointing afternoon for the home side, who sit 17th, without a win in six games.

But another impressive victory for Real Sociedad means they have won their last four league games on the bounce, with scorelines of 3-0, 3-0, 4-1 and 4-1. They return to the top of the table, one point ahead Real Madrid, who had temporarily taken first place after their 4-1 win over Huesca on Saturday.

Atletico Madrid are third, three points off the leaders but with two games in hand. Valencia, meanwhile, avoided a fourth straight defeat by drawing 2-2 at home to Getafe.

In France, Lille lost ground on Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain after a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Lyon but kept their unbeaten record this season intact.

Jonathan Bamba curled in a fine 20-yard strike to give Lille the lead but Zeki Celik's own goal just before half-time brought Lyon level.