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England - Premiership

Ronaldo hat-trick

Manchester United returned to the top of the Premiership table following a 6-0 thrashing of Newcastle at Old Trafford, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting his first ever hat-trick, while Nani was a second half substitute.

Ricardo Carvalho took his place in central defence for Chelsea in their 2-0 win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, while Paulo Ferreira and Hilario were left out of the match squad. Luis Boa Morte played the final twenty-five minutes of West Ham’s 2-1 victory over Fulham.

Everton, who recently agreed a deal to sign Manuel Fernandes, included Nuno Valente in defence against Manchester City, with the left-back playing the full ninety minutes as the Toffees ran out 1-0 winners at Goodison Park. Pedro Mendes was in the Portsmouth midfield as the high-flying south coast outfit went down to a surprise 2-0 defeat at struggling Sunderland.

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France - Ligue 1

Pauleta hits the net

Pedro Pauleta scored the opening goal five minutes after coming off the bench as Paris Saint-Germain dragged themselves up to 11th in Ligue 1 with a 3-0 home win over Lens on Sunday evening. The Azorean came on ten minutes into the second half and put his side ahead on the hour mark against a Lens side missing Marco Ramos.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Winter break.

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Italy - Serie A

As you were in Italy

Undefeated champions Inter returned from the Italian winter break with a 3-2 win away at Siena, with Vitor Pele coming on as a 72nd minute substitute. Nearest challengers Roma won 2-1 at Atalanta with Antunes on the bench, while Tiago was subbed off at half time during Juventus’ disappointing 1-1 draw with Catania.

Fernando Couto was a substitute but came on after ten minutes following an injury in Parma’s 2-1 home defeat to Fiorentina, while Jose Vidigal played the full ninety minutes as Livorno recorded a 2-1 win at Torino that sees them move up to 14th in Serie A.

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Spain - La Liga

Top trio win

Champions and table-toppers Real Madrid needed a late brace from Ruud van Nistelrooy to beat rock-bottom Levante 2-0 on Sunday. Pepe started in defence for Real, who maintained their seven-point lead at the top with two goals in the final fourteen minutes.

Second place Barcelona had put the pressure on the previous night with a 4-0 hammering of Murcia at the Camp Nou, despite the absence of Portuguese international Deco.

Atletico Madrid are third after a 1-0 win at the Vicente Calderon heaped more misery on Valencia. Simao Sabrosa played the full match for Atletico, while rumours that Miguel will be leaving Los Ches gathered pace with the full-back’s omission from the travelling squad. Marco Caneira was an unused substitute on Ronald Koeman’s Valencia bench.

Sevilla remain in eighth place following a 2-0 defeat away at Athletic Bilbao, with Duda coming on for the final twenty-five minutes. Recreativo slipped down to one place above the relegation zone after losing 3-1 at Valladolid with Carlos Martins starting and Silvestre Varela left on the bench.

Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo kept goal as Real Betis recorded a much needed three points to lift themselves out of the relegation zone, beating Getafe 3-2 in Seville. Jose Nunes was in the Mallorca defence for their 2-2 draw at Zaragoza, while Hugo Viana played the final twenty-two minutes as Osasuna lost 2-0 at home to Racing Santander.

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Others

Greece

AEK Athens are one point clear at the top of the Greek Super League following an emphatic 5-1 win over Veria FC on Saturday. Geraldo Alves started the match in defence, while former Benfica attacker Manu came on for the final twenty-five minutes.

The big match in Greece involved Athens giants Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, managed by Jose Peseiro, who played out a 1-1 draw on Sunday evening. Helder Postiga was not involved for the visitors, having joined from Porto towards the end of last week.

Fernando Santos’ PAOK were beaten 1-0 at home by Xanthi with Daniel Fernandes in goal.

Holland

Champions PSV won the big top of the table clash in the Eredivisie, snatching a 1-0 win at Feyenoord, although Portuguese defender Manuel da Costa was again missing from the visitors’ squad.

Poland

Winter break.

Romania

Winter break.

Scotland

Portuguese winger Filipe Morais was sent off just minutes from the end of Hibernian’s comfortable 3-0 home victory over Inverness CT. Jose Goncalves played the entire match in defence for Hearts as they were held 2-2 at home against Motherwell, while Pedro Moutinho played in attack for Falkirk during their 2-2 draw with Aberdeen.

Serbia

Winter break.

Switzerland

Winter break.

Turkey

Konyaspor dropped down to 7th place in the Turkcell Süper Lig after conceding an injury time goal and losing 2-1 at home to Besiktas on Saturday. Ze Gomes was handed a rare start in defence, while Neca took up an equally unfamiliar position on the substitutes bench.

Star Performer

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Portugal’s star man equalled his Premiership goals tally from last season by scoring his first ever hat-trick as the Red Devils hammered Newcastle 6-0 at Old Trafford to return to the top of the table.

Earlier Round-ups