22 January 2007, by Sean Gillen

Ze Castro shines in Spain as Premiership top two slip up

Portuguese Abroad weekly round-up

Both Chelsea and Manchester United suffered defeats as the top four teams went head-to-head in the Premiership. Jose Mourinho was without Ricardo Carvalho as his side were swept aside by Liverpool, 2-0, at Anfield. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United conceded two late goals to go down 2-1 at Arsenal, meaning the gap between the top two remains six points.

Abel Xavier scored for Middlesbrough in their impressive 5-1 hammering of Bolton Wanderers at the Riverside. The right-back had already had a hand in forcing an early own goal, before he powered a header into the top corner on ten minutes. Ricardo Vaz Te played the final thirteen minutes for the visitors.

It was a mixed afternoon for Luis Boa Morte, who had a hand in West Ham’s opening goal away at Newcastle, but conceded a penalty for the home side’s equaliser in a 2-2 draw. Pedro Mendes’ Portsmouth had a bad afternoon. The former Porto man was in midfield during the 1-0 home defeat to struggling Charlton.

In Spain, Deco returned to the Barcelona starting line-up as the champions regained top spot with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Gimnastic. Miguel played the full 90 minutes as in-form Valencia beat Real Sociedad 1-0 away from home, while Hugo Viana came on in injury time.

Ze Castro strikes

Ze Castro was the hero for Atletico Madrid, scoring the only goal as they beat 7-man Osasuna 1-0 at the Vicente Calderon. Maniche was withdrawn with five minutes left, while Costinha was an 88th minute substitute.

Jorge Andrade was in the Deportivo defence that kept a clean sheet in the 0-0 home draw with Espanyol, while Beto played in Recreativo’s stalemate with Zaragoza. A weekend of few goals also saw Duda come on as an early substitute for Sevilla, after 27 minutes, as they drew 0-0 at Villarreal.

Inter’s charge in Serie A continued as they came from behind to beat Fiorentina 3-1 at the San Siro. Luis Figo was an unused substitute as the Nerazurri go eleven points clear at the top of the Italian championship.

Fernando Couto was in the Parma backline as a goal from on-loan Manchester United forward Giuseppe Rossi was enough to earn a priceless 1-0 win over Torino. Jose Vidigal watched from the bench as his Livorno side drew 1-1 with Roma, while Jose Semedo was again left out of the Cagliari squad for the 1-0 win at Catania.

On a weekend of French Cup action, Tiago was absent as Lyon beat lower league Laon 3-1 away from home. Marco Ramos started at right-back as Lens breezed past Orleans with a 3-1 away win, while PSG rested Pauleta as they won for the first time under Paul Le Guen, 1-0 against Gueugnon.

Standard Liege resumed their Belgian title challenge with a 3-1 home win over Lokeren, taking them to within seven points of leaders Racing Genk. Ricardo Sa Pinto started the game for Standard, while winger Sergio Conceicao was introduced as a substitute.

Manuel da Costa returned to the PSV side as the Dutch champions beat Heerenveen 3-1 in the Eredivisie. In Scotland, Bruno Aguiar played the full ninety minutes as Hearts were 1-0 victors over Falkirk, who played Vitor Lima in midfield.

PAOK Salonika slipped down to 5th in the Greek Super League after Daniel Fernandes kept goal for a 3-2 home defeat to leaders Olympiakos.

Star Performer

Ze Castro

The young defender is getting better and better following his summer move to Spain, and he proved the match winner as his late goal gave Atletico victory over Osasuna.

Earlier round-ups:
15/01/06 Star Performer - Jose Nunes
08/01/06 Star Performer - Jorge Andrade
21/12/06 Star Performer - Beto
18/12/06 Star Performer - Maniche
11/12/06 Star Performer - Ronaldo
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