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England - Premiership

United extend lead; Chelsea keep up chase

Manchester United are five points clear at the top of the Premiership following their 3-0 victory over Liverpool on Sunday. Cristiano Ronaldo, who started the match, scored his 25th league goal of the season, while substitute Nani also got on the scoresheet. Elsewhere, Chelsea moved into second place, coming from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 at Stamford Bridge with Ricardo Carvalho in the heart of defence.

Liverpool’s defeat meant Everton moved a point close to their local rivals in fourth place, with just two points now separating the Toffees from a Champions League spot following their 1-1 draw with West Ham at Goodison Park. Nuno Valente and Manuel Fernandes were both selected on the bench, with former Benfica man Fernandes entering the fray after just ten minutes after an injury to Tim Cahill. Luis Boa Morte started the match for the hosts, but was replaced early in the second half.

Pedro Mendes played the full ninety minutes in midfield for Portsmouth in their 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. Relegation battlers Bolton are still in the danger zone after a goalless draw with Manchester City at the Reebok Stadium, with Ricardo Vaz Te not included in the Trotters’ squad.

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France - Ligue 1

PSG in relegation trouble

Paris Saint-Germain finally dropped into the Ligue 1 relegation zone after a 4-2 defeat at champions Lyon on Sunday evening. The side from the capital, who were without the injured Pauleta for the match, are now two points adrift of Lens and have just eight games to save themselves from the ultimate embarrassment of a drop to the second tier of French football. Lens also lost, with Marco Ramos an unused substitute as they went down 3-1 at Rennes.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Werder Bremen’s titles hopes appear to be over after a 1-1 draw with Arminia Bielefeld saw them drift nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Bremen, who are now in fourth place, started Hugo Almeida in attack, but subbed the former Porto man at the break as they trailed 1-0. Another former Dragon, Diego, earned his side a point with a second half penalty.

Champions Stuttgart are now just three points off a Champions League spot after a 4-1 win over Hansa Rostock at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion, with Fernando Meira captaining the side. Elsewhere, Wolfsburg held Hamburg to a 1-1 draw in a match which saw both sides reduced to nine men. Ricardo Costa played in central defence for Wolfsburg, receiving a yellow card along the way. Sergio Pinto was subbed midway through the second half of Hannover’s 1-1 draw at Duisburg.

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Italy - Serie A

Title race blown open

The Serie A title race was blown wide open as Rome closed the gap on leaders Inter at the top to four points on Saturday. Maniche came off the bench to score for the champions against Juventus, but the goal proved a mere consolation as Inter went on to lose 2-1 at home to the Bianconeri. With Pele suspended, Inter also left Luis Figo out of the match squad, while Tiago was an unused substitute for Juventus. The result allowed Roma, who left Antunes on the sidelines, to close the gap with a 2-1 victory over Empoli at the Olimpico.

Manuel da Costa was an unused substitute for Fiorentina as the Viola maintained their four-point lead over Milan in the fourth Champions League spot with a 1-0 victory over Lazio. Jose Vidigal started in midfield for Livorno against Reggina, but was replaced early in the second half of a 1-1 draw. Relegation battlers Parma were beaten 2-0 at Siena, with Fernando Couto left on the bench as the Gialloblu went down to a very late brace from Massimo Maccarone.

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Spain - La Liga

Real slip up; Barça come back

The race for the La Liga title also took and interesting twist, with Barcelona closing the gap on leaders Real Madrid to four points. Champions Real, with Pepe in defence, lost 3-2 at home to a Valencia side containing Miguel and Marco Caneira, while Barcelona hammered Valladolid 4-1 at the Camp Nou without the injured Deco.

Atletico Madrid took a major step towards securing Champions League football for next season by winning away at their main contenders for fourth place, Sevilla, 2-1 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Simao Sabrosa continued his good form by setting up the opening goal for Maxi Rodriguez, while Duda was left on the bench by Sevilla.

Recreativo Huelva remain in trouble in the relegation zone following a 2-0 defeat at Racing Santander, with Carlos Martins and Roberto Beto both starting the game. Real Betis were without Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo as they won 1-0 at Osasuna, who left Hugo Viana out of the squad. Meanwhile, Jose Nunes and Mallorca were 1-0 winners at home against Deportivo la Coruna.

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Others

Greece

Jose Peseiro’s Panathinaikos lost further ground on leaders Olympiakos at the top of the Greek Super League after being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Iraklis Saloniki. Edinho was once again the hero for AEK Athens, getting the only goal of the game as his side won 1-0 at Apollon Kalamaria. Defender Geraldo Alves also started in defence for AEK.

Fernando Santos’ PAOK Saloniki were held to a 0-0 draw at Veria and remain in 9th place. Daniel Fernandes and Sergio Conceicao both started, with winger Conceicao replaced with five minutes left to play.

Poland

Champions Zaglebie Lubin were 2-1 winners over Ruch Chorzow on Saturday in the Polish Liga, with Rui Miguel getting the winner for his side. Both Tiago Gomes and Rui Miguel started the match, with the former Naval forward getting the crucial second goal to put his side ahead just before half time.

Romania

Romanian leaders CFR Cluj suffered a rare defeat, losing 1-0 to Politehnica Iasi on Saturday evening. In a much changed Cluj line-up, just one Portuguese – Dani, who played in midfield - started the match. Antonio Semedo and Manuel Jose both came off the substitutes’ bench in the second half, while Fredy and Andre Leao.

Steaua Bucharest are now six points behind Cluj with one game in hand, having beaten UTA Arad 2-1 at home, with Pedro Oliveira and Daniel Amoreirinha both starting for the visitors. One of the other sides hoping to close the gap on Cluj are Rapid Bucharest, but, with Joao Paulo upfront and Vasco Matos coming on as a late substitute, they were beaten 1-0 at Gloria Buzau. Elsewhere, a Poli Timişoara containing Carlos Milhazes lost 2-1 at home to Dacia Mioveni.

There is likely to be a large Portuguese presence in the Monday night games in Romania as relegation strugglers Pandurii Targu Jiu travel to Farul Constanta and Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt host Unirea Urziceni.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow got their first win of the new Russian season on match day two, beating FK Khimki 2-0 in the capital. Danny was the only Portuguese involved for Dynamo, with the former Sporting man starting the game and setting up the opening goal for Igor Semshov.

Scotland

Pedro Moutinho was dropped to the bench by Falkirk for their trip to Hearts on Saturday. The 28-year-old striker came on in the 72nd minute of the 0-0 draw against the Jambos, who did not include Jose Goncalves in their match squad. Filipe Morais started but was subbed short of the hour mark as Hibernian lost 2-1 at leaders Rangers.

Serbia

Partizan Belgrade remain five points ahead of city rivals Red Star at the top of the Serbian Super Liga after beating bottom placed FK Bezanija Belgrade 2-0. Almani Moreira was not in the Partizan match squad, but former Benfica man Ednilson played the full match in midfield.

Switzerland

FC Basel’s three-point lead at the top of the Swiss Super League is still intact following a narrow 1-0 win over FC Luzern. Former Benfica forward Carlitos played the full ninety minutes for Basel, who won thanks to Majstorovic’s penalty just before half time. The lead stays at three points because second place Young Boys were 4-2 winners over FC Thun, who started Nelson Ferreira in a match in which they twice took the lead.

Turkey

Portuguese defender Ze Gomes started but was later replaced as Konyaspor crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Sivasspor on Sunday evening. Midfielder Neca Fernandes was not involved as Ankaraspor were 3-1 winners away at city rivals Gençlerbirligi.

Star Performer

Edinho (AEK Athens)

The former Vitoria Setubal striker’s form in Greece must surely be attracting the attention of Luiz Felipe Scolari. The 25-year-old scored his fourth goal in six games since moving to AEK in January, notching the winner as his side beat Apollon 1-0 to stay in the title race.

Earlier Round-ups