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England - Premiership

Chelsea cut United lead

Chelsea put themselves right back in the Premiership title race by cutting Manchester United’s lead at the top to three points with five games remaining. The Blues rested Ricardo Carvalho ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League match with Fenerbahce, were 2-0 winners at Manchester City, with Paulo Ferreira coming on for the final few minutes. It proved a potentially crucial victory, with Cristiano Ronaldo on target but United dripping points with a 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough.

Everton took advantage of Liverpool’s draw with Arsenal to close the gap on their city rivals in the race for fourth place to three points. The Toffees started with Manuel Fernandes in midfield and introduced Nuno Valente in stoppage time as they edged past bottom placed Derby 1-0 at Goodison Park.

Elsewhere, this season’s FA Cup finalists were decided, with Portsmouth first to book their place on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Championship side West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Pedro Mendes was an unused substitute for Pompey, while Pedro Pele was also not called from the bench by WBA. Harry Redknapp’s men will meet Cardiff City in the final after they saw off the competition’s surprise package Barnsley in the other semi on Sunday.

Luis Boa Morte’s West Ham entertain Mendes and Portsmouth at Upton Park on Tuesday evening.

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France - Ligue 1

PSG drop into relegation zone

Paris Saint-Germain dropped back into the relegation zone in Ligue 1 after going down 1-0 at high-flying Nancy. Pedro Pauleta played the full ninety minutes for PSG, who are in the bottom three on goal difference. Lens pulled themselves out of the danger area, although they conceded a last-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at home with Metz. Marco Ramos remained on the bench for Lens.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Stuttgart on the up

Champions Stuttgart, captained by Fernando Meira, moved up into fifth place in the Bundesliga and just two points away from a Champions League place with a vital 1-0 win over Hamburg. Meanwhile, fellow top three hopefuls Werder Bremen got back to winning ways as Hugo Almeida played the final half hour of a 2-1 victory at Hertha Berlin.

Wolfsburg are up to 7th place following a 3-2 home win over Hannover, with Ricardo Costa playing in defence for the hosts and Sergio Pinto staying on for the full ninety minutes for Hannover.

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Italy - Serie A

As you were at table top

Inter maintained their four-point lead at the top of Serie A thanks to a 2-0 win at Atalanta on Sunday. Luis Figo came on in the 83rd minute while Vitor Pele and Maniche watched from the bench as teenage sensation Mario Balotelli grabbed one of the goals for the champions.

The Nerazurri’s win came in response to Roma cutting the gap at the top to three points on Saturday with a 3-2 victory against Genoa in the capital. Portuguese left-back Antunes was an unused substitute for the home side.

Third placed Juventus were beaten in the Sunday evening game, losing 3-2 at Palermo, with Tiago coming on at half time with the Bianconeri 2-0 down. An Alessandro Del Piero brace drew Juve level, but Palermo snatched a last minute winner through Mattia Cassani.

Fiorentina still hold a four-point advantage over Milan in the race for the fourth and final Champions League spot after beating Reggina 2-0 in Florence. Manuel da Costa was again left on the bench by La Viola manager Cesare Prandelli. Fernando Couto was not involved as Parma drew 2-2 with Lazio.

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Spain - La Liga

Top two draw

Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at Mallorca on Sunday evening, but increased their lead at the top of La Liga to seven points. Pepe, recently returned from injury, was left on the bench by Real, while Mallorca included Jose Nunes in their defence. With Villarreal losing at Sevilla, who did not call Duda from the sidelines, Barcelona wasted the chance to move into second as Los Cules, who were without Deco, were held 0-0 at home by Getafe.

Atletico Madrid have a three-point advantage in the race for fourth place following an incredible 6-3 win against Almeria at the Vicente Calderon, with Simao Sabrosa grabbing a brace before being replaced with twenty-five minutes to play. Ze Castro was left on the bench by Atleti manager Javier Aguirre.

Valencia dropped into embarrassing territory in the Spanish top flight, with a 1-0 loss at 19th place Murcia seeing Ronald Koeman’s men now in 14th place. Luis Miguel played the full ninety minutes for Valencia, while Marco Caneira was not in the match squad.

Recreativo Huelva recorded a crucial victory away at Osasuna on Saturday night, winning 1-0 in Pamplona. Roberto Beto and Carlos Martins both started for Recre, while Silvestre Varela was an unused substitute. Portugal no.1 Ricardo was again left on the bench by Real Betis for their 3-0 win at Real Zaragoza.

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Others

Greece

Panathinaikos’ title hopes were all but ended as a surprise 4-1 defeat at OFI saw them drift four points behind leaders Olympiakos with just two games left to play. Jose Peseiro brought Helder Postiga on at half time as Pana trailed 2-1, but OFI scored twice in the second half to condemn the visitors to a defeat that saw them slip down to third place.

AEK Athens now appear the only genuine challengers for Olympiakos’ crown after they moved into second and two points off the top with a 3-1 win over Ergotelis Heraklion. Edinho started for AEK but was not on the scoresheet this week, while Geraldo Alves was left on the bench. Elsewhere, Fernando Santos’ PAOK lost 2-0 to Levadiakos with Daniel Fernandes in goal.

Poland

Polish champions Zaglebie Lubin are still in 6th place after being held to a disappointing 0-0 draw at home against Polonia Bytom. Rui Miguel started the match, playing the full ninety minutes for Zaglebie, picking up a yellow card in the process.

Romania

CFR Cluj saw their advantage at the top of the Romanian league reduced merely to goal difference after a shock 2-1 home defeat to Pandurii. Cluj started with five Portuguese: Tony and Ricardo Cadu in defence, Manuel Jose and Dani played in midfield and Antonio Semedo was in attack. Meanwhile, Mingote was in goal for the visitors, who pulled themselves further away from trouble. Cluj now find themselves in a straight fight for the title with Steaua Bucharest, who joined them on 59 points, ten points clear of third placed Rapid Bucharest with seven matches remaining.

Rapid drew 0-0 at Farul Constanta, with Joao Paulo coming on for the final twelve minutes for the visitors, while Farul selected Portuguese striker ‘Chico’ in attack. Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt, with Bruno Fernandes in defence, were held to a 1-1 draw by UTA Arad, who started with Daniel Amorereinha in defence and Bruno Simao in midfield, while also bringing Pedro Oliveira and Edson da Silva off the bench in the second half. Politehnica Timisoara beat Universitatea Cluj 3-0, with Carlos Milhazes in defence.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow continued their good start to the new Russian season with a 2-0 win at Spartak Nalchik. Danny started the match for Dynamo, setting up the second goal in the process, as his side made it three wins and one draw from their first four games of the new Premier League season.

Scotland

Jose Goncalves was in the Hearts defence for their 0-0 draw at Kilmarnock, while Filipe Morais was an unused substitute as Hibernian beat St Mirren 2-0 in the Scottish Premier League. Pedro Moutinho’s Falkirk travel to Aberdeen on Monday evening.

Serbia

Partizan Belgrade stay five points clear in Serbia after drawing 1-1 with city rivals Red Star Belgrade on Saturday evening. Ednilson and Almani Moreira both started for Partizan, who will be much the happier side with the draw as the league campaign reaches the final nine matches.

Switzerland

FC Basel clinched the Swiss ‘Schweizer Pokal’ cup on Sunday, beating AC Bellinzona 4-1. Former Benfica forward Carlitos was replaced ten minutes into the second half by Basel, who retain the trophy after seeing off the lower league side on their own St. Jakob-Park ground.

In the league, bottom placed FC Thun lost 3-0 at FC Aarau, with Nelson Ferreira playing the full ninety minutes for Thun.

Turkey

Portuguese midfielder Neca came on for the final couple of minutes of normal time as Ankaraspor moved up to 13th with a narrow 1-0 win at Istanbul Büyüksehir. Konyaspor also brought their Portuguese, defender Ze Gomes, on for the final stages of a 2-2 draw away at Caykur Rizespor.

Ukraine

Ricardo Fernandes scored his first goal since moving to Ukraine as Metalurg Donetsk played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with champions Dynamo Kiev. The former Sporting midfielder put his side ahead after just three minutes with the first of six goals in the game, all of which were scored in the first hour.

Star Performer

Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Mardrid)

As the quest to impress Luiz Felipe Scolari continues into the final stages of the season, Simao put down another marker in his case to earn a place in the Portugal starting line-up with a brace in Atletico’s incredible 6-3 win over Almeria.

Earlier Round-ups