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England - Premiership

With champions Manchester United not in action until Monday night’s home match against Fulham, Chelsea took the opportunity to move ahead of the Red Devils in second place with a narrow win over West Ham United in a London derby.

With no Ricardo Carvalho, who is injured, and Paulo Ferreira in the Blues’ squad, Hilario took his place on the bench as Joe Cole’s 76th minute striker settled matters at Stamford Bridge. Luis Boa Morte played the full ninety minutes for West Ham, picking up a yellow card for a late challenge on Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.

Portsmouth stay sixth after a goalless draw at home against Everton. Pedro Mendes played the full match in midfield for Pompey, while Nuno Valente continued his run at left-back for the visitors, who remain 9th in the table. Ricardo Vaz Te was not involved in Bolton’s 4-0 defeat at Liverpool, while injured defender Ricardo Rocha missed Tottenham’s 3-2 home defeat to Birmingham.

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France - Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain slipped down into the relegation zone after another woeful home result, losing 1-0 to Caen at the Parc Des Princes. Pedro Pauleta played a rare ninety minutes in attack, receiving a yellow card in the process. Meanwhile, Marco Ramos was an unused substitute as Lens won 2-0 at Sochaux.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Stuttgart’s recent improvement in form came to a sudden end as the champions were beaten 2-1 at home by Borussia Dortmund, despite Fernando Meira’s goal. The Portuguese defender, who captained his side, drew Stuttgart level ten minutes before the break, but Mladen Petric’s goal 12 minutes from time saw them slip down to 8th in the Bundesliga.

Werder Bremen briefly took control of the league after Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Hamburg. Bremen, who were without Hugo Almeida for the match, quickly relinquished top spot back to Bayern Munich on Sunday.

Ricardo Costa continued his comeback from injury with no problems in Wolfsburg’s 2-2 home draw with Frankfurt. Sergio Pinto played 73 minutes as Hannover 96 score three times in the last six minutes to beat Hansa Rostock on Friday night.

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Italy - Serie A

Tiago was an unused substitute for Juventus in the weekend’s big game in Italy as the Bianconeri played out a 0-0 draw with Milan at the San Siro on Saturday. The result saw Juve lose ground on top two Inter and Roma after both won on Sunday. Without Luis Figo and with Vitor Pele on the bench, Inter were comfortable 2-0 winners at Fiorentina, while Vitornio Antunes was not in the Roma squad for the capital side’s 2-1 victory at home to Udinese.

Fernando Couto did not play in Parma’s 1-0 win over Empoli, while Costinha is still missing for Atalanta, who hammered Napoli 5-1 in Bergamo, and Jose Vidigal missed Livorno’s stalemate at Cagliari.

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Spain - La Liga

Carlos Martins hits form

Carlos Martins was in sparkling form for Recreativo, getting both goals as his Huelva side beat Zaragoza 2-1 at the Nuevo Colombino. Jose Nunes played in defence for Mallorca in the Islanders’ 1-1 draw with Murcia, but Hugo Viana remained on the bench as Osasuna won 2-1 away at Deportivo.

Champions Real Madrid maintained their 100% home record and stay four points clear at the top of La Liga after a 3-1 win over Racing Santander at the Bernabeu. Pepe played in central defence, continuing his recent run in the Madrid side. Barcelona dropped points in their city derby with Espanyol, as without Deco Los Cules were held to a 1-1 draw.

Atletico Madrid moved in the Champions League positions with a 2-0 win at Real Betis. Maniche started in midfield for Atletico, while Simao Sabrosa came on during the second half and Ze Castro was left on the bench. Ricardo kept goal for 19th place Betis. Sevilla, without Duda, slipped back down the table after a shock 1-0 loss at Almeria.

Valencia’s disastrous season continues to get worse, with their midweek elimination from the Champions League followed by an embarrassing 3-0 home defeat to Athletic Bilbao. Miguel played at right-back for the hosts, who also selected Manuel Fernandes in midfield before Ronal Koeman replaced the former Benfica man early in the second period.

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Others

Greece

AEK Athens returned to the top in Greece with a narrow 1-0 win away at Aris, with Geraldo Alves dropped to the bench and Manu not in the match squad. The Yellow-Blacks go top because Jose Peseiro’s Panathinaikos dropped two points in a 0-0 draw at home with Xanthi.

Fernando Santos’ PAOK, with Daniel Fernandes in goal, suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Asteras Tripolis, which sees them slip down to 9th in the Super League.

Holland

Champions PSV went top of the Eredivisie as, without Manuel da Costa, they won 1-0 at Graafschap on Saturday afternoon. The new leaders have a two-point advantage over nearest rivals Ajax with 13 matches played.

Poland

There were contrasting fortunes for Zaglebie Lubin’s Portuguese players in the champions’ 1-1 draw at Widzew Lodz. Rui Miguel scored his side’s equaliser early in the second half, but defender Tiago Gomes was sent off.

Romania

CFR Cluj are 11 points clear at the top of the Romanian league following a 2-0 win over city rivals Universitatea Cluj. The hosts started with four Portuguese in their lineup: Nuno Claro in goal, Ricardo Cadu and Tony in defence and Antonio Semedo in attack; right-sided midfielder Manuel Jose came off the bench in the final minute.

Bruno Simao was replaced late on as UTA Arad lost 3-1 away at champions Dinamo Bucharest, a result that sees them remain in the relegation zone.

Scotland

Pedro Moutinho was in fine form as Falkirk ran out 5-1 winners at St Mirren. The striker bagged two goals for his side, who stay 10th in the Scottish Premier League. Jose Goncalves played in defence for Hearts as the Jambos held champions Celtic 1-1 at Tynecastle.

Serbia

League leaders Partizan Belgrade have a four-point lead over Banat Zrenjanin at the top of the Serbian Super Liga. Almani Moreira, fully recovered from a recent injury, played the full ninety minutes in attack for Partizan. City rivals Red Star Belgrade, without Joao Lucas, moved into second with a 1-1 home draw with Hajduk Kula.

Switzerland

Carlitos was on the scoresheet for Basel as the leaders went six points clear at the top of the Swiss Super League with a 2-0 win at FC Thun. The former Benfica forward, who started the match, added to Eduardo’s first half strike with a 74th minute goal, while Nelson Ferreira played the full ninety minutes for Thun.

Turkey

Portuguese midfielder Neca set up the winning goal for Konyaspor in their 1-0 home victory over MKE Ankaragücü, which moves them up into 9th place. The former Maritimo midfielder’s shot was followed up in the 39th minute by Veysel Cihan for the Green Lightnings.

Star Performer

Carlos Martins (Recreativo Huelva)

The enigmatic midfielder has so far proved to be a shrewd investment by Spain’s oldest club, and Martins took his season tally to four goals with a brace as Recreativo beat Zaragoza 2-1 on Sunday evening.

Earlier Round-ups