11 December 2006, by Sean Gillen

Ronaldo on fire as Manchester United increase Premiership lead

Portuguese Abroad weekend round-up

Manchester United were the big winners in the Premiership title race this weekend, going eight points clear at the top of the table after Cristiano Ronaldo helped them to a 3-1 win over city rivals Man City. The former Sporting man set up the first goal and scored the third.

They increased their lead because Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge by Arsenal. Hilario and Ricardo Carvalho played for the Blues, who have a chance to close the gap when they play their game in hand against Newcastle on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Manuel Fernandes played the full 90 minutes of Portsmouth’s 2-0 win over Everton, for whom Nuno Valente completed the game at left-back. Ricardo Vaz Te was an 82nd minute substitute for Bolton in their 4-0 win over West Ham, while Luis Boa Morte captained Fulham in their 4-0 hammering at Liverpool.

In Spain, Barcelona remained top of La Liga after a tight 1-0 win over Real Sociedad, and Deco was replaced with 25 minutes left. Valencia beat a Deportivo side missing Jorge Andrade 4-0, with Hugo Viana coming off the bench while Miguel is still out injured.

There was disappointment for Atletico Madrid, who went down 2-1 at home to Espanyol, with Ze Castro and Maniche playing the full 90 minutes. Jose Nunes saw his Mallorca side beaten 3-0 at Osasuna, while former Sporting defender Beto was withdrawn three minutes into the second half of Recreativo’s 4-2 defeat to Athletic Bilbao.

Figo excluded

In Italy, Luis Figo’s reported bust-up with Inter manager Roberto Mancini resulted in him being omitted from the squad for their 3-0 victory at Empoli as they extended their lead at the top of Serie A to seven points.

Fernando Couto’s Parma drew 0-0 at Cagliari, while Ricardo Esteves watched from the bench as Reggina beat Ascoli 2-1 and Jose Vidigal was an unused substitute as Livorno were swept aside 3-0 by Palermo.

French champions Lyon struck twice in the last three minutes to beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1, after Pauleta had scored a superb equaliser for the visitors. Marco Ramos played the full 90 minutes as Lens stayed second with a last-minute winner, beating Toulouse 1-0.

In the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen recovered from their midweek loss to Barcelona by hammering Frankfurt 6-2, although Hugo Almeida was left on the bench. Fernando Meira captained Stuttgart as a last-minute goal saw them beat Bochum 1-0 and Ze Antonio took his place in the Gladbach defence for their 1-1 draw with Mainz.

Bruno Aguiar was on the scoresheet as Hearts boosted morale after a bad recent period with a 4-1 victory over Motherwell. Manuel da Costa played for PSV as the Dutch champions beat Groningen 2-0 in the Eredivisie.

Sensational comeback

Standard Liege produced a sensational fight-back to draw 4-4 away at third-placed Club Brugge in the Beligan Jupiler League. Standard were 4-1 down with 21 minutes left on the clock, but hit back with three goals (69, 83 and 89) to snatch a point. Miguel Areias and Sergio Conceicao started for Standard, while Sa Pinto came on shortly before the comeback.

Daniel Fernandes’ PAOK Salonika were stunned 3-0 at home by Atromitos in the Greek Super League. Carlitos was substituted early on with injury as second place FC Sion lost 2-1 at leaders FC Zurich in the Swiss Super League, drifting eight points off the top.

Star Performer

Cristiano Ronaldo

The Manchester United winger continues to show his class for the Premiership leaders, and scored his sixth goal of the season after setting up the opener as his side win the local bragging rights with a derby-day victory over their city rivals.

Earlier round-ups:
04/12/06 Star Performer - Deco
27/11/06 Star Performer - Ricardo Carvalho
20/11/06 Star Performer - Maniche
13/11/06 Star Performer - Ze Castro
09/11/06 Star Performer - Hugo Viana
06/11/06 Star Performer - Carlitos
30/10/06 Star Performer - Hilario
26/10/06 Star Performer - Hilario
23/10/06 Star Performer - Manuel da Costa
16/10/06 Star Performer - Tiago
02/10/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
25/09/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
18/09/06 Star Performer - Sergio Conceicao
11/09/06 Star Performer - Ricardo Carvalho
28/08/06 Star Performer - Figo
21/08/06 Star Performer - Deco