26 February 2007, by Sean Gillen

   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

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England

Chelsea and Mourinho pick up more silverware

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea won the first trophy of the English season as Ricardo Carvalho started in their 2-1 win over Arsenal in Sunday’s memorable Carling Cup final.

Manchester United took advantage of Chelsea’s week off in the Premiership to extend their lead at the top to nine points. Cristiano Ronaldo snatched a late winner for the Red Devils as they beat Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

Manuel Fernandes scored his first goal for Everton, getting the opener as the Toffees won 3-0 away at Watford. Injury was once again responsible for keeping left-back Nuno Valente out of the match for the Merseysiders.

Tottenham kept up their good run of form with an impressive 4-1 win over Bolton at White Hart Lane. Ricardo Rocha played in central defence for Spurs, while Ricardo Vaz Te was introduced in the 76th minute for Bolton.

Pedro Mendes recovered from his recent foot injury to play for Portsmouth at Ewood Park against Blackburn, but was taken off early in the second half as his side lost 3-0.

Luis Boa Morte was not in the West Ham squad as the Hammers lost 4-0 at relegation rivals Charlton, leaving them strong favourites for the drop. Abel Xavier was not involved for Middlesbrough in their 2-1 home win over Reading.

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France - Ligue 1

Lyon late show

Lyon staged yet another dramatic late comeback in Ligue 1 to snatch a 3-3 draw at home with Sochaux. The champions, who were without Tiago, were 3-1 down heading into the final minute of normal time, but hit back through Sylvain Wiltord and a 93rd minute Juninho penalty.

Lens took the opportunity to move fourteen points behind Lyon in second. Marco Ramos played the full ninety minutes of their 2-1 win over Nancy. Lens have played a game less then the leaders.

Paris Saint-Germain’s recent good form came to a sudden halt as they were beaten 2-0 at home by St Etienne on Sunday evening. Pedro Pauleta started and played the full ninety minutes for the side from the capital.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Bremen and Stuttgart draw

Werder Bremen ended a three-match losing run with a 2-2 draw away at Gladbach. Hugo Almeida played the first 56 minutes for Bremen before he was taken off, while Ze Antonio played the full match in defence for the hosts.

Fernando Meira did not recover from injury in time to play in Stuttgart’s 0-0 home draw with Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. Sergio Pinto came on in the last minute of Aachen’s 2-2 draw at Bochum. Alex did not play as Wolfsburg went down 2-1 to defending champions Bayern Munich.

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Italy - Serie A

Inter notch up another win

Luis Figo watched from the bench as Inter hammered Catania 5-2 away from home to win for the seventeenth match in succession. Goals from Walter Samuel, Santiago Solari, Fabio Grosso, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz saw the Nerazurri edge closer to the Serie A title.

Jose Vidigal was an unused substitute for Livorno in their 0-0 draw with Ascoli, while Ricardo Esteves was also not called from the bench as Reggina went down 3-0 at Roma. Jose Semedo was not in Cagliari’s squad for their 2-0 home defeat to Lazio.

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Spain - La Liga

Barca bounce back

Barcelona returned to form following their midweek loss to Liverpool and increased their lead at the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win over Bilbao at the Nou Camp. Deco was rested by Barca, who were boosted by a goalscoring return to the line-up of star striker Samuel Eto’o.

Valencia suffered a setback in their bid to catch the champions, losing a last-minute equaliser to draw 1-1 at Gimnastic. Hugo Viana started in midfield for Los Ches, while Miguel was given a rare rest, but did come on as a substitute with ten minutes left as Valencia tried but failed to hold on to their lead.

Atletico Madrid were left to rue a missed opportunity as they failed to beat Real Madrid in the capital city derby on Saturday evening. Ze Castro and Maniche were in the Atletico starting line-up in a 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderon.

Sevilla also dropped points in their chase for the title, with Duda handed a rare start and completing the match as they drew 0-0 at Getafe. Beto’s Recreativo kept another clean sheet and the defender played in defence during their stalemate at Betis.

Jose Nunes played for Mallorca as they conceded a last-minute goal to lose 2-1 at Villarreal. Jorge Andrade’s Deportivo won 1-0 away at relegation threatened Sociedad, while Celta Vigo left Miguel Areias on the bench in their 2-2 home draw with Racing.

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Others

Belgium

Standard Liege kept in the title hunt with a 3-0 win away at FC Brussels in the Belgian Jupiler League. Sergio Conceicao scored the third, from the penalty spot, while Sa Pinto played the final nine minutes for third placed Standard.

Cyprus

It was Cup week in Cyprus this weekend, with two groups of four currently making their way through the round’s six fixtures.

Group A leaders APOEL lost their 100% record in the section, with Ricardo Fernandes and Helio Pinto both starting the 1-0 defeat at ENP. Elsewhere in the group, Joao Paiva played for Apollon in a 2-2 draw with Anorthosis.

Omonia are the new leaders of Group B, with Nelson Veiga and Edgar Marcelino, who scored the second, both starting the 2-0 win over AEK Larnaka. Jose Fernando da Silva started in defence for Larnaka.

Greece

Paulo Costa scored twice, the second from the penalty spot, for Aris Saloniki in their 3-1 win against O.F.I, who left Ednilson on the bench.

Daniel Fernandes was in goal as PAOK Salonika suffered a disappointing 3-1 home defeat to Larisa, while Lourenco started and Carlos Carneiro played the final five minutes of Panionios’ 3-1 home win over Kerkira.

Holland

PSV left it late to beat Gronigen at the Phillips Stadion, with Alex’s 85th minute winner getting the three points for the leaders, who left Manuel da Costa on the bench as he was not 100% fit. Virgilio Teixeira was absent for RKC Waalwijk’s 3-1 home win over Vitesse.

Romania

The Romanian league season resumed this weekend after a ten-week winter break, and CFR Cluj began the second half of the campaign with a 1-1 home draw against relegation threatened Ceahlaul.

The team from the city of Cluj-Napoca boast no less than eight Portuguese players in their squad, and five started against Ceahlaul – Ricardo Cadu and Tony in defence, Pedro Oliveira and Manuel Jose in midfield and Antonio Semedo in attack. Defender Fredy and midfielder Dani were on the bench.

Scotland

There were no clubs represented by Portuguese still involved in this weekend’s Scottish FA Cup Quarter-Finals.

Switzerland

Nelson Ferreira scored the only goal for FC Thun as they lost the Bern derby, 3-1 at Young Boys. Joao Pinto played the full ninety minutes in defence for FC Sion as they drew 0-0 with Basel, while Carlitos was taken off with fifteen minutes remaining.

Roberto Pinto played for the final ten minutes of Grasshoppers’ 1-0 home victory over Aarau. Carlos da Silva was in midfield for Schaffhausen as they were beaten 1-0 at home by St Gallen, while Luis Calapes missed Luzern’s 2-0 home win over FC Zurich.

Turkey

Portuguese midfielder Neca scored twice for Konyaspor as the came from behind to beat mid-table Sivasspor 3-1 away from home to move up into fifth in the Turkcell Süper Lig. The midfielder has now scored four goals in six games since moving to Turkey last month.

Star Performer

Ronaldo (Manchester United)

League leaders United appeared to be heading towards a disappointing draw at Fulham on Saturday after a sluggish performance, but Man of the Match Ronaldo produced a superb individual strike in the closing stages to snatch a crucial three points with his 16th goal of the season.

Earlier round-ups