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8 October 2007, by Sean Gillen

   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

     England     France     Germany     Italy     Spain    Others

England - Premiership

Ronaldo hits brace

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Manchester United finally showed the form that made them champions last season, beating Wigan Athletic 4-0 at Old Trafford. Nani started the match on the bench, coming on for the last ten minutes.

Chelsea followed up their midweek Champions League win over Valencia with a 1-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers. Ricardo Carvalho played in central defence for the Blues, while Paulo Ferreira was introduced for the final six minutes.

Pedro Mendes finally saw some action for Portsmouth in their 2-0 win at Fulham, coming on for the final fifteen minutes. Luis Boa Morte was also a substitute for West Ham, but struggled during his brief cameo at the end of the Hammers’ 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

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France - Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain continue to look like having another disappointing season, as Pedro Pauleta was handed a rare start and played the full ninety minutes of their 3-1 home defeat to Rennes. Marco Ramos was forced off with injury after 25 minutes as his Lens side beat Auxerre 3-0 at home.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Meira sees red

Fernando Meira was sent off for German champions Stuttgart as his side suffered a disastrous 2-0 home defeat to Hannover on Saturday. The Portuguese, who captains his side, was issued a straight red on six minutes for deliberate handball in the box, giving away a penalty from which Hannover took the lead. Sergio Pinto played the full match for the visiting side.

Hugo Almeida’s midweek goal failed to earn the Portuguese a place in the Werder Bremen starting line-up for their trip to Duisburg. The team were victorious however, and Almeida came on in the final minute as his side won 3-1 at the MSV-Arena to move up to third in the Bundesliga.

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Italy - Serie A

Figo still going strong

Luis Figo played the full ninety minutes for champions Inter as the Nerazurri beat Napoli 2-1 at the San Siro to stay top of Serie A, while Vitor Pele was an unused substitute. Juventus stay in second, but lose ground on the leaders after conceding a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw at Fiorentina. Tiago was not called from the bench for the Bianconeri, who were without long-term injury victim Jorge Andrade.

Fellow title hopefuls Roma returned to form with a convincing 3-0 win at Parma. Antunes was left on the bench by the visitors, while Fernando Couto played the full match and picked up a yellow card for Parma. Jose Vidigal played the full match as Livorno lost 1-0 at Catania.

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Spain - La Liga

Deco wins 'Portuguese battle'

Deco was on the scoresheet for Barcelona in their 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid, getting the first in another impressive performance from Los Cules. Atletico started with all three of their Portuguese contingent: Ze Castro, Maniche and Simao Sabrosa.

Real Madrid stay top of La Liga, however, after a 2-0 win over Recreativo at the Bernabeu on Sunday evening. Pepe was still not in the Real squad, while Roberto Beto started in defence for Recre, who were without Carlos Martins and Silvestre Varela with suspension and injury respectively.

Sevilla’s terrible form continued with a 1-0 home loss to Deportivo, with Duda not in the Andalucians’ squad. Ricardo kept a clean sheet for the other side from Seville, as Real Betis drew 0-0 at Murcia.

Title hopefuls Valencia suffered their second home defeat in a week with a 2-1 loss against Espanyol. Miguel played at right-back for Los Ches, while Manuel Fernandes was not included in the match squad. Jose Nunes’ Mallorca beat Getafe 4-2 at the San Moix.

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Others

Greece

AEK Athens are the new leaders of the Greek Super League after maintaining their 100% record with a 3-0 win away at Panionios. Geraldo Alves and Manu both played the full match for AEK, while Panionios were without Lourenco.

Jose Peseiro’s Panathinaikos were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at Asteras Tripolis, while Fernando Santos selected Daniel Fernandes in goal as his PAOK side were held to a 2-2 home draw by OFI.

Holland

Manuel da Costa was not included in the PSV squad for the champions’ 3-0 win over Willem II at the Phillips Stadium. The result sees PSV 3rd in the Eredivisie, two points behind leaders Feyenoord.

Poland

Champions Zaglebie Lubin lost for the third time in six home games on Sunday, going down 2-1 against Dyskobolia Grodzisk. Both Rui Miguel and Tiago Gomes were handed starts, with the latter replaced ten minutes before half time.

Romania

CFR Cluj continue to lead in Romania after a 1-0 victory away at Pandurii Targu Jiu. Cluj started with four of their Portuguese for the match: Amoreirinha and Ricardo Cadu in defence, Andre Leao in midfield and Antonio Semedo in attack. Fredy and Dani were both introduced at half time, ahead of a 66th minute winner from ex Pacos Ferreira striker Didi.

Elsewhere in Romania, Bruno Simao and Edson da Silva played for UTA Arad against Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt, but were on the losing side as their team lost 1-0 at home.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow slipped down to eighth in the Russian Premier League after a 2-1 defeat at Saturn. Danny played the full match, while Custodio was an unused substitute and Cicero was not in the travelling squad.

Scotland

Pedro Moutinho scored a late consolation for Falkirk in their 4-2 defeat at Hearts, who were without their Portuguese duo Jose Goncalves and Bruno Aguiar. Hibernian briefly went top of the Scottish Premier League, following a shock 1-0 win at Rangers, with Filipe Morais coming on as a half time substitute.

Serbia

Leaders Partizan Belgrade drew 1-1 at Smederevo on Sunday evening, with Almani Moreira playing the full ninety minutes. Red Star were without Joao Lucas for their 2-0 home win over Banat Zrenjanin, following the midfielder’s red card in the Belgrade derby last week.

Switzerland

FC Basel stay top in the Swiss Super League after another comfortable 3-0 win at FC Aarau, with Carlitos playing 87 minutes before being replaced late on. FC Thun gave their season a boost with a 4-0 win at St Gallen, as Nelson Ferreira played 73 minutes.

Turkey

Konyaspor got their first win of the season, beating Istanbul 3-2 at home on Sunday evening. Influential Portuguese Neca played the full match in midfield for Konya, who sit in 16th place after the win.

Star Performer

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Portugal’s golden boy is firmly up and running following his early season suspension. The Manchester United winger scored for the second league game running, getting two as his team beat Wigan 4-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Earlier Round-ups