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England - Premiership

United kill off Arsenal’s title hopes

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 28th league goal of the season from the penalty spot as Manchester United took a big step towards retaining their title with a 2-1 win over Arsenal. Ronaldo converted his spot-kick to equalise for the Red Devils, who moved six points clear of second place Chelsea and now watch on as the Blues play twice during the week, first against Wigan (Monday) followed by a trip to Everton on Thursday.

Everton’s hopes of beating Liverpool to fourth place took a knock as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Birmingham. Fit again Manuel Fernandes played the full ninety minutes for the Toffees, who left Nuno Valente on the bench. Luis Boa Morte started West Ham’s 1-0 defeat at Bolton, while Pedro Mendes was an unused substitute in Portsmouth’s 0-0 draw with Newcastle.

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France - Ligue 1

Pauleta nets but PSG lose

Pedro Pauleta scored but was on the losing side as his Paris Saint-Germain team threw away a lead with six minutes remaining to lose 3-2 at home to Nice. Having gone behind in the first half, PSG pulled level five minutes after the re-start and Pauleta scored on 70 minutes. However, two late goals (84’ and 87’) mean the side from the capital stay in relegation trouble.

Lens, also deep in trouble at the bottom end of Ligue 1, subbed Marco Ramos with just over twenty minutes to play as they lost 1-0 to Lorient.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Pinto goes from hero to villain

Sergio Pinto scored but was later sent off for two yellow cards in Hannover’s 2-1 win over Frankfurt. Pinto drew his side level at 1-1 ten minutes before the break, but was dismissed with the scores still level just after the hour, with Hannover going on to snatch a 90th minute winner through Christian Schulz.

Werder Bremen moved up into second place in the Bundesliga after a sensational 5-1 win over Schalke on Saturday. Hugo Almeida did not take part for Bremen, who are ten points off leaders Bayern Munich. Elsewhere, champions Stuttgart, captained by Fernando Meira, went down 3-0 at Bayer Leverkusen.

Ricardo Costa and Wolfsburg saw their match with Nurnberg suspended due to poor weather.

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Italy - Serie A

Tiago back in the frame

Champions Inter secured a potentially crucial three points by beating Fiorentina 2-0 at he San Siro to maintain their four-point lead at the top of Serie A. Luis Figo came on in the final minute for the Nerazurri, who left Maniche on the substitutes bench. Meanwhile, Manuel da Costa was not called from the sidelines by Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli.

Roma had kept up the pressure on the leaders by coming from behind to beat Udinese 3-1 earlier on Sunday afternoon. Vitorino Antunes was a last minute substitute for the Giallorossi, with the former Pacos de Ferreira left-back coming close to scoring during his brief cameo.

Third place Juventus handed Tiago a start in their 3-2 victory over Milan on Saturday night. Fernando Couto was substituted just before the hour as Parma slipped down to 17th following a 1-1 draw at Empoli. Jose Vidigal missed Livorno’s 2-1 home defeat to Cagliari.

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Spain - La Liga

Real close in on title triumph

The Spanish title race appears to be all but over after champions Real Madrid moved nine points clear at the top with six matches left to play. Pele started in central defence for Real in their 1-0 win over Murcia at the Bernabeu, while fellow challengers Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw by Recreativo. Barca were without Portuguese international Deco, while Carlos Martins and Roberto Beto started and Silvestre Varela came on as a substitute for Recre.

Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 at Valladolid, with Simao Sabrosa subbed with twenty-five minutes remaining, while Duda was left on the bench by Sevilla in their 3-2 win at Jose Nunes’ Mallorca. Valencia slipped further into unthinkable relegation trouble with a 2-1 home loss to Racing Santander. Marco Caneira started for Los Ches, while Miguel was introduced just after the hour mark for Ronald Koeman’s men, who are now in 16th place in La Liga.

Hugo Viana was not involved in Osasuna’s surprise 1-0 win at Espanyol, while Ricardo was again left out of Betis’ 1-0 defeat against Levante.

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Others

Greece

AEK Athens go into the final weekend in Greece with an outside chance of winning the title after a 4-0 win away at Fernando Santos’ PAOK saw them stay within two points of leaders Olympiakos. Edinho started for AEK but was replaced late on, while PAOK had Daniel Fernandes in goal and introduced Sergio Conceicao early in the second half as Santos’ men slip down to 10th in the Super League.

Panathinaikos were relying on Olympiakos to drop points in order to keep their title hopes alive, but the champions win over Xanthi ended Jose Peseiro’s side’s chances. Pana beat Aris 1-0, with Peseiro leaving Helder Postiga on the bench.

Poland

Polish champions Zaglebie Lubin were beaten 2-0 at Dyskobolia Grodzisk on Sunday, with Rui Miguel playing the full ninety minutes for Zaglebie, who stay in 6th place with five matches left to play.

Romania

CFR Cluj are now one point clear at the top of the Romanian league, but could lose leadership of the table on Monday evening. Cluj dropped two points in a midweek draw, but bounced back to beat Rapid Bucharest on Sunday, with six Portuguese in their starting lineup: Nuno Claro in goal; Tony and Ricardo Cadu in defence; Manuel Jose and Dani were in midfield; Antonio Semedo continued in attack. Joao Paulo came on as a sub early in the second half for Rapid. Cluj have just a one-point advantage over Steaua Bucharest, who play their game in hand on Monday.

UTA Arad selected two Portuguese players in their starting lineup, Bruno Simao and Pedro Oliveira, as they were hammered 4-1 at Politehnica Iasi. Carlos Milhazes was in defence for Politehnica Timisoara, who held Dinamo Bucharest to a 1-1 draw at home. Mingote kept goal for Pandurii Targu Jiu for their 1-1 draw with Unirea Urziceni, while defender Bruno Fernandes played for Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt as they also drew 1-1 with Dacia Mioveni.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow beat city rivals Spartak 4-3 to make it four wins and one draw from their opening five matches in the Russian season. Portuguese forward Danny scored twice for Dynamo, putting them 2-1 up (32’) and later 4-2 up (70’), while Custodio and Cicero were not involved.

Scotland

No clubs represented by Portuguese players were in action on FA Cup semi-final weekend in Scotland.

Serbia

Partizan Belgrade saw their lead at the top of the Serbian Super Liga cut to three points after drawing 1-1 at Vojvodina Novi Sad. Ednilson and Almani Moreira both played the full ninety minutes for Partizan, who have eight matches left to play.

Switzerland

FC Basel’s stuttering league form continued on Saturday with a 1-1 home draw against Sion, meaning that the leaders have now gone three matches without a win in the Super League. Carlitos played 85 minutes for Basel, who lead the table by two points but have played one game more than second place Young Boys.

Nelson Ferreira was on the scoresheet for bottom of the table FC Thun in their 2-1 win over Neuchatel Xamax. The Portuguese winger scored the opener for Thun, who are still well off the pace with a seven-point deficit at the bottom.

Turkey

Ankaraspor scored a dramatic late equaliser to hold champions Fenerbahce to a 2-2 draw in the capital on Sunday. The hosts, who introduced Neca in the 73rd minute, twice came from behind, with Mehmet Yilmaz’s late leveller coming five minutes into stoppage time. Portuguese Ze Gomes played in defence for Konyaspor as they beat Buraspor 2-0 to lift themselves up to 14th in the Turkcell Süper Lig.

Ukraine

Metalurg Donetsk were 2-1 winners over Naftovik Okhtirka in the Ukrainian Premier League on Saturday. Portuguese midfielder Ricardo Fernandes played for Metalurg, who are 11th in the table with five matches remaining.

Star Performer

Danny (Dynamo Moscow)

Dynamo have made a strong start to the new Russian campaign, with 13 points from a possible 15 seeing the ‘Musora’ second in the Premier League. Danny has played a starring role so far, and his double during the weekend’s 4-3 victory over Spartak Moscow takes him onto three goals in five games so far this season.

Earlier Round-ups