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England - Premiership

United go top

Manchester United went back to the top of the Premiership with a 1-0 victory at bottom placed Derby, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s late goal. Nani was not involved for the champions, who lead Arsenal on goal difference with one game in hand after the Gunners drew for the fourth game in a row at home against Middlesbrough.

Chelsea were also able to close the gap thanks to a 1-0 win at Sunderland, which sees the Blues just three points off top spot. Paulo Ferreira played the full ninety minutes at right-back for Chelsea, while Ricardo Carvalho was an unused substitute. Elsewhere, Pedro Mendes was not called from the bench as Portsmouth enjoyed a good 2-0 win over Aston Villa.

Everton’s midweek European disappointment was compounded by a surprise defeat at relegation battlers Fulham. Nuno Valente watched from the bench and Manuel Fernandes was not included in the squad as the Toffees went down 1-0 at Craven Cottage. West Ham edged out Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Upton Park without Luis Boa Morte following his red card last week.

Bolton Wanderers’ decision to rest players against Sporting on Thursday was not vindicated in their match with Wigan on Sunday. Ricardo Vaz Te was left out of the squad by manager Gary Megson, who saw his side lose 1-0 ahead of their trip to play champions Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

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France - Ligue 1

Pauleta nets crucial goal

Paris Saint-Germain continue to flirt with the unthinkable in France, drawing 1-1 at home with Valenciennes to remain above the relegation zone solely on goal difference. Pedro Pauleta, who started the match, earned his side the point that keeps them above the danger zone, grabbing an 80th minute equaliser.

In the game of the weekend in France, Marco Ramos watched from the bench as his Lens side shared six goals at home against Marseille in a thrilling 3-3 draw. The hosts were 2-0 down at half time, but three goals in 20 second half minutes put them ahead, before Djibril Cisse salvaged a point for the visitors.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Shock result

Ricardo Costa and Wolfsburg provided a shock result in the Bundesliga on Sunday, beating title chasing Werder Bremen 1-0 at the Weserstadion. Bremen, who started Hugo Almeida in attack, could not find a way past Costa and the Wolfsburg defence, with the visitors scoring the only goal on 50 minutes through Brazilian frontman Grafite. Bremen slip down to fourth and seven points off leaders Bayern Munich.

Fernando Meira captained Stuttgart to a 1-1 draw at Bochum, a result that leaves the champions in 6th place. Sergio Pinto was replaced at half time by Wolfsburg in their 2-2 home draw with Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.

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Italy - Serie A

Tiago starting berth

Champions Inter got back to winning ways after their European exit with a 2-1 win over Palermo at the San Siro. Vitor Pele and Luis Figo were both on the Nerazurri bench, with veteran winger Figo coming on for the last half hour. Roma are still six points behind the leaders, with Antunes left on the bench as the Giallorossi beat Milan 2-1 in the capital.

Tiago played a rare ninety minutes for Juventus, who remain in third following a 1-0 victory over Napoli in Turin, while Fiorentina left Manuel da Costa on the bench for a 3-1 victory over Genoa which saw them restore their four-point lead over Milan in the fourth Champions League spot.

Jose Vidigal scored a rare goal for Livorno in their 1-1 draw with Parma. The former Sporting man put his team ahead minutes before the break, but a Parma side missing Fernando Couto levelled after an hour through Reginaldo.

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Spain - La Liga

Barcelona spurn opportunity

Barcelona missed out on a golden opportunity to pull themselves back into the La Liga title, after conceding a late equaliser to draw 2-2 at Almeria. Deco was not fit enough to be included in the squad for Barca, who twice took the lead but lost defender Gabriel Milito to a 73rd minute red card before Uche grabbed an 86th minute leveller.

The draw meant that Los Cules only made up one point on champions Real Madrid, who lost 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday evening. Pepe again had a night to forget, with the former Porto stopper starting but putting through his own net shortly before the hour to give the Galicians all three points. Real now hold a seven-point lead over their rivals.

Simao Sabrosa was in fine form for Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday evening, scoring the opener and creating the second for Diego Forlan in Los Rojiblancos’ 3-0 victory over rock bottom Levante. Defender Jose Castro was not in the Atletico squad for a win that sees them maintain their two-point lead over Sevilla in the race for the fourth Champions League place.

That is because the Andalucians also won, beating Valencia 2-1 at the Mestalla thanks to a brace from in-form striker Luis Fabiano. Duda was left on the bench by Sevilla, while the hosts, who languish in 10th place, started Miguel at right-back and left Marco Caneira on the sidelines. Hugo Viana made a last minute appearance for Osasuna in their stalemate at Valladolid.

Roberto Beto returned from suspension to help Recreativo Huelva to a 4-2 win over Murcia. Carlos Martins joined Beto in the starting line-up, but Silvestre Varela was not in the Recre 18 for the match. Jose Nunes was in the Mallorca defence as the Islanders lost 2-1 at Espanyol, while Ricardo was keeping goal for Real Betis when their match with Athletic Bilbao was abandoned after visiting goalkeeper Armando was struck with a bottle thrown from the crowd.

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Others

Greece

Jose Peseiro’s Panathinaikos relinquished top spot in Greece after a surprising 3-2 defeat at Xanthi. The home were 3-0 up with 20 minutes remaining, before Helder Postiga pulled one back for Pana and Dimitris Salpigidis gave the hosts a nervy finish to the game. The loss allowed Olympiakos to move into first place with a two-point lead over their arch rivals.

Edinho scored again for AEK Athens, netting his third goal in five games, as a side also containing Geraldo Alves drew 1-1 at home with Aris Saloniki. Fernando Santos’ PAOK sit in 9th place after a poor 1-0 home loss to Asteras Tripolis, with Daniel Fernandes and Sergio Conceicao both playing the full ninety minutes.

Poland

Polish champions Zaglebie Lubin went down to a heavy defeat to Legia Warsaw, losing 3-0 on Sunday evening without defender Tiago Gomes and suspended striker Rui Miguel. Zaglebie sit 6th in the Polish league with nine matches left to play.

Romania

League leaders CFR Cluj were held to a goalless draw at Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt on Saturday evening, in a match which involved eight Portuguese players. The hosts started with Bruno Fernandes in defence, while Hugo Magalhaes was later introduced. Cluj had Nuno Claro in goal; Tony and Ricardo Cadu (captain) played in defence; Andre Leao played in midfield while Dani offered the creative element behind the forwards; Manuel Jose was also involved, coming on as a late substitute.

Steaua Bucharest moved into second, six points behind Cluj, after defending champions Rapid Bucharest drew 1-1 at Universitatea Craiova to drop to third. The champions started with both their Portuguese in the starting eleven; Vasco Matos played in midfield and Joao Paulo was in attack.

Jose ‘Chico’ Fernandes scored for Farul Constanta in their 1-1 draw with Politehnica Iasi on Friday evening, with the Portuguese’s goal minutes away from claiming all three points before the visitors’ 91st minute equaliser.

Politehnica Timisoara were 2-0 winners over UT Arad, with Carlos Milhazes playing in defence for the home side, while Arad selected Daniel Amoreirinha at right-back, introduced Edson da Silva for the final fifteen minutes and left Pedro Oliveira on the substitutes bench.

Pandurii Targu Jiu lifted themselves off the foot of the table with a 3-1 win at Gloria Buzau. Joao Pedro ‘Mingote’ Ribeiro kept goal for Pandurii, while midfielder Marco Soares was an unused substitute.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow kicked off the new Russian season with a 0-0 draw away at Tom Tomsk, with Danny playing the full ninety minutes but Custodio left on the bench. One of many big clubs from the capital, Dynamo finished 6th in the Russian Premier League last year.

Scotland

Filipe Morais scored the opening goal for Hibernian, having started the match, in their 2-0 win over Kilmarnock. Pedro Moutinho was taken off with twenty minutes left to play as Falkirk won 1-0 at Inverness to stay 6th in the Scottish Premier League. Jose Gonclaves was not involved in Hearts’ 1-1 draw at St Mirren.

Serbia

It is ‘as you were’ at the top of the Serbian league after both of the big Belgrade sides won over the weekend. Leaders Partizan won 1-0 at Hajduk Kula with Almani Moreira playing the full match, maintaining their five-point lead over second place Red Star, who beat OFK Belgrade 2-0 without Joao Lucas.

Switzerland

Leaders FC Basel saw their lead at the top over Young Boys Bern cut to three points after they slumped to a surprise 4-2 defeat at FC Sion on Sunday. Basel were without Portuguese forward Carlitos, who was suspended for the match.

FC Thun restored their faint hopes of avoiding relegation by winning 2-0 at Neuchatel Xamax. Nelson Ferreira started and played ninety minutes before being taken off in injury time by Thun, who are still four points adrift at the bottom of the Super League.

Turkey

Ze Gomes was an unused substitute for Konyaspor in their 4-1 defeat at home to champions Fenerbahce. Elsewhere, with Portuguese midfielder Neca suspended, Ankaraspor also lost to one of the country’s heavyweights, going down 1-0 at home to Galatasaray. The result leaves Ankaraspor 15th in the Turkcell Süper Lig, one place and four points below Ze Gomes’ Konyaspor.

Star Performer

Pauleta (PSG)

The Azorean has scored plenty of important goals during his time at PSG, but his 80th minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Valenciennes could prove priceless. The team from the capital would be beginning the week in the Ligue 1 relegation zone had it not been for the 35-year-old’s late header.

Earlier Round-ups