2 April 2007, by Sean Gillen

   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

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England - Premiership

Top two win

Manchester United edged closer to their first Premiership title in four years as the Red Devils beat Blackburn Rovers 4-1 at Old Trafford. Cristiano Ronaldo started for United, who remain six points clear at the top.

Chelsea’s hopes of catching the leaders almost suffered a critical blow as Jose Mourinho’s men came to within minutes of drawing 0-0 at bottom placed Watford on Saturday. Ricardo Carvalho started the game while Paulo Ferreira came on as a half time substitute for Chelsea, who snatched the points with a 92nd minute goal from Salomon Kalou.

Tottenham Hotspur moved up into sixth place after Ricardo Rocha played in defence during their 1-0 win over Reading at White Hart Lane. Luis Boa Morte’s West Ham won for the second week running, and the Portuguese international came on for the final eight minutes of their 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough, for whom Abel Xavier played the full match at right-back.

Pedro Mendes’ foot injury ruled him out of Portsmouth’s 1-1 draw at Fulham, while Everton, including Portuguese internationals Manuel Fernandes and Nuno Valente, travel to Aston Villa on Monday evening.

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France - Ligue 1

Lyon lose out

Lyon’s hopes of a domestic double were ended as the champions lost 1-0 to Bordeaux in the French Coupe de la Ligue final at the Stade de France on Saturday evening. Tiago played the full match in midfield for Lyon, who lost to an 89th minute winner from Bordeaux’s Brazilian defender Henrique.

Paris Saint-Germain dragged themselves out of the relegation zone in Ligue 1 with a vital 2-1 away win at Lens on Sunday evening. Pedro Pauleta was surprisingly left out of the PSG side, and remained on the bench for the side from the capital. Meanwhile, Marco Ramos played the full match in defence for Lens.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Bremen and Stuttgart close in on leaders

Bundesliga leaders Schalke’s 2-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Saturday saw title challengers Werder Bremen and Stuttgart gain points in the race for the German title.

Bremen missed the chance to go joint-top of after a 0-0 draw at Energie Cottbus. Forward Hugo Almeida came on with over fifteen minutes on the clock for Bremen, who move two points behind Schalke in second place.

Third placed Stuttgart moved to within four points of the top as Fernando Meira captained his side to a 3-1 win over Alemannia Aachen, for whom Sergio Pinto played 74 minutes.

Bottom placed Borussia Monchengladbach continue to cling to their survival hopes after an 89th minute equaliser earned them a point at home against relegation rivals Frankfurt. Ze Antonio played the full match in the Gladbach defence as his side drew 1-1, leaving them five points adrift of safety.

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Italy - Serie A

Figo beats Couto

Inter increased their lead at the top of Serie A to twenty points following a 2-0 home win over struggling Parma at the San Siro. Luis Figo played 70 minutes for the Nerazurri, while Fernando Couto was in defence for Parma, who are three points away from safety in 19th place.

Former Portuguese international midfielder Jose Vidigal came on with a little under twenty-five minutes remaining as Livorno hammered Catania 4-1 at the Armando Picchi stadium. Ricardo Esteves was an unused substitute for Reggina in their 1-0 home defeat to Siena.

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Spain - La Liga

Barcelona extend lead

Champions Barcelona were without influential midfielder Deco as they beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Saturday to extend their lead at the top. Jorge Andrade, currently the subject of strong interest from Barca, played the full match for the visitors.

Barca are now two points clear of Sevilla, who left winger Duda on the bench for their 0-0 draw against Osasuna in Pamplona. Valencia stayed in the title hunt after a 3-2 victory over Espanyol at the Mestalla. Miguel was rested for the match ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Chelsea, while Hugo Viana was introduced for the final fifteen minutes.

Atletico Madrid’s hopes of Champions League qualification took a setback as they were held at home to a 1-1 draw by Mallorca. Ze Castro and Costinha watched from the bench as Mallorca, with Jose Nunes in central defence, won a point after Juan Arango’s second half strike cancelled out Fernando Torres’ opener.

Beto missed Recreativo’s 1-1 draw at Gimnastic and Miguel Areias was left on the bench for Celta in their 2-1 home defeat to Real Madrid.

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Others

Belgium

Standard Liege’s title hopes suffered a setback as they were held to a 0-0 home draw by Beveren on Saturday. Former Sporting man Sa Pinto was the only Portuguese involved for Standard, coming on for the final thirteen minutes as his side fall seven points behind leaders Racing Genk.

Cyprus

APOEL won Group A of the Cypriot Cup, despite losing 1-0 at Anorthosis in round six of the section with Helio Pinto in the side. Apollon finished bottom of the group after a 2-1 home defeat to ENP. Joao Paiva started for Apollon before being replaced in the 65th minute.

Omonia finished top of group B after a 2-1 win over Ethnikos Achnas. Nelson Veiga and Edgar Marcelinho started for Omonia. AEK Larnaka clinched the runners up place in the group with a 2-1 victory over AEL, with Jose Fernando da Silva Gonzalvez playing an hour for Larnaka.

Greece

There were no domestic fixtures in Greece this weekend.

Holland

PSV’s stuttering form in the Eredivisie continued as they drew 1-1 at NAC Breda, a result which saw them drop points for a third week in succession. After last week’s 5-1 home defeat to title rivals Ajax, the Dutch champions selected Manuel da Costa in defence for their match with NAC, but had to rely on a late Jefferson Farfan goal to snatch a draw and keep them three points clear of Ajax.

Virgilio Teixeira was an unused substitute for RKC Waalwijk as they went down 2-0 at Uefa Cup quarter-finalists AZ Almkaar.

Poland

Zaglebie Lubin drew level with league leaders GKS Belchatow at the top of the Polish Liga following a 2-1 win over Groclin. Rui Miguel came on as a last-minute substitute for Zaglebie, who had to come from behind after the visitors had taken an early lead.

Romania

CFR Cluj made it four wins in a row in the Romanian league following a 2-1 home win over FCU Poli on Saturday. Four Portuguese players started for Cluj, with Tony in defence, Manuel Jose and Pedro Oliveira in midfield and Antonio Semedo in attack. Cluj, currently in second place, are now ten points behind runaway leaders Dinamo Bucharest.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow are still without a win from their opening three games of the new Russian season, after a 1-1 draw at Amkar Perm. Danny played the full match for Dynamo, while Cicero was left on the bench.

Scotland

Pedro Moutinho scored his first league goal of the season for Falkirk as they beat St Mirren 2-0 at home to move into 7th in the Scottish Premier League. Moutinho started the match and opened the scoring after twenty minutes, while Vitor Lima was an unused substitute.

Hearts won the Edinburgh derby on Sunday thanks to an 81st minute goal from Marius Zaliukas at Hibernian’s Easter Road ground. Jose Goncalves started in defence for Hearts, while Bruno Aguiar returned from injury to take his place in midfield.

Switzerland

Grasshoppers remain in fourth place in the Swiss Super League after they were beaten 1-0 at Young Boys, with Roberto Pinto playing 67 minutes before being replaced.

Nelson Ferreira was in the FC Thun side hammered 4-1 at last season’s runners up Basel. FC Sion were without Portuguese duo Carlitos and Joao Pinto as they drew 1-1 at Aarau to stay in sixth place.

Turkey

Portuguese midfielder Neca played the full ninety minutes for Konyaspor against Bursaspor, but could not prevent his side from a 1-0 defeat. The result sees Konya slip down to 9th place in the Turkcell Süper Lig.

Star Performer

Pedro Moutinho (Falkirk)

The former Penafiel striker has had a tough time in Scotland with injuries and has found it difficult to make an impact on the first team this season. However, Moutinho scored his first league goal of the season on Saturday to set his side on their way to a 2-0 win over St Mirren.

Earlier round-ups