16 April 2007, by Sean Gillen

   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

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England - Premiership

Chelsea and United set up Cup final showdown

Manchester United and Chelsea both won their FA Cup semi-finals to set up a fascinating final at the new Wembley next month. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 21st goal of the season as United brushed aside Watford 4-1 at Villa Park, while Chelsea, with Ricardo Carvalho in defence, needed extra time to beat Blackburn 2-1 at Old Trafford.

In the Premiership, Ricardo Rocha started for the fourth league game in a row for Tottenham as the London club drew 3-3 at Wigan on Sunday, while Abel Xavier played at right-back for Middlesbrough’s 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa.

West Ham’s hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a setback with a 3-0 defeat at rivals Sheffield United, Luis Boa Morte playing the final twenty-five minutes for the Hammers. Ricardo Vaz Te was also used as a second half substitute for his side, with the youngster coming on midway through the second half of Bolton’s 2-1 defeat away against Arsenal.

Pedro Mendes missed Portsmouth’s 2-1 win over Newcastle and injury also ruled Manuel Fernandes and Nuno Valente out of Everton’s 2-1 win against Charlton.

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France - Ligue 1

Lyon edge towards title

Champions Lyon edged closer to the French title with a 1-0 home victory over Sedan. Portuguese midfielder Tiago came on with six minutes left on the clock as a goal from Hatem Ben Arfa earned Lyon the points.

Paris Saint-Germain picked up another point towards Ligue 1 survival, drawing 0-0 at Bordeaux, with Pedro Pauleta’s recent role of substitute continuing. The Portuguese striker came off the bench with twelve minute remaining for PSG, who remain two points clear of safety.

On a weekend of six scoreless matches in France, Lens also drew a blank in their stalemate with Nantes. Marco Ramos played the full match in defence for Lens.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Exciting title race

Stuttgart and Werder Bremen continue to keep the pressure up on leaders Schalke in the Bundesliga title race. Schalke won their game against Mainz on Saturday, but Bremen remain two points behind in second place after a 2-0 win at Dortmund, although Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida was not in the squad.

Stuttgart stay third after Fernando Meira captained his side to a 2-1 home win against Hanover. Sergio Pinto was taken off at half time for Alemannia Aachen as they lost 1-0 at Nurnberg, while left-back Alex was an unused substitute for Wolfsburg’s 3-2 defeat at Energie Cottbus.

Borussia Monchengladbach appear set for relegation after Ze Antonio was left on the bench for a 1-0 home defeat to Hamburg, which leaves them seven points adrift with only five games remaining.

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Italy - Serie A

Couto hits net; Figo shines

Fernando Couto scored his first goal of the season as Parma failed to build on last week’s victory with a disappointing 1-1 home draw against Catania. The veteran defender earned his side a precious point, but the Gialloblu remain in the relegation zone.

Runaway leaders Inter Milan are still unbeaten in Serie A after coming from behind to draw 2-2 at home with Palermo at the San Siro. Luis Figo started for Inter, and played the full match as the Nerazurri came back from 2-0 with less than twenty-five minutes to go, but snatched a point with goals from Julio Cruz (66) and Adriano (74).

Livorno drew 1-1 with Reggina on Sunday, with Jose Vidigal coming on after an hour for the home side, and Ricardo Esteves left on the bench by Reggina. Jose Semedo was not included in Cagliari’s squad for their 0-0 home draw with Empoli.

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Spain - La Liga

Barcelona pull away

Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga to four points, the biggest margin to separate the top two all season, after Deco played in a narrow 1-0 win over Jose Nunes’ Mallorca at the Nou Camp.

The result was made even more significant as second place Sevilla went down 2-0 at Valencia on Sunday evening. Miguel started for Valencia, and gave away a penalty with his side 1-0 up, only for Santiago Canizares to atone for the Portuguese’s mistake with a fine save. Hugo Viana also started for the home side, while Duda was not included in the travelling Sevilla squad.

Atletico Madrid’s push for a Champions League place was boosted by a 1-0 win over Levante at the Vicente Calderon. Costinha was the only Portuguese to start for Atletico, but was withdrawn at half time, before Fernando Torres’ second half winner.

Celta Vigo’s first match under new manager Hristo Stoichkov ended with a superb 1-0 win over bitter Galician rivals Deportivo La Coruna. Jorge Andrade played in the heart of the Depor defence, while Miguel Areias remained on the bench for Celta, who lifted themselves out of the relegation zone.

Injury ruled defender Beto out of Recreativo Huelva’s 1-1 draw with Osasuna in Pamplona on Sunday.

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Others

Belgium

Standard Liege remain in third place in the Belgian Jupiler League after a 1-0 home win over mid-table Mons-Bergen on Saturday. Sergio Conceicao was the only member of Standard’s Portuguese contingent involved, with the winger coming on with a little over 22 minutes to play.

Cyprus

Helio Pinto scored twice for APOEL FC as the side from Nicosia clinched the Cypriot championship with a 3-0 win over Ayia Napa. Fellow Portuguese Ricardo Fernandes was suspended for the encounter.

The title was clinched because second place Omonia, with Nelson Veiga and Miguel Torrao in the side, lost 2-1 at Olympiakos Nicosia, for whom Portuguese Tiago Carneiro started in midfield.

Greece

Daniel Fernandes kept goal for PAOK Salonika as they beat Xanthi 1-0 to stay in fourth place in the Greek Super League. Lourenco played for Panionios as they moved up to fifth with a 1-0 away win at Atromitos.

Holland

Champions PSV ended their disastrous run of form with a much-needed 2-0 over Twente Enschede to stay two points clear at the top of the Eredivisie. Manuel da Costa remained on the bench for PSV, who had failed to win in the previous four league games.

Virgilio Teixeira was an unused substitute to RKC Waalwijk as they won 3-0 at Excelsior.

Poland

Title challengers Zaglebie slipped down into third place in the Polish league following a 1-1 home draw with LKS Lodz. Rui Miguel came on at half time for Zaglebie, who took the lead on 72 minutes through Michael Chalbinski, only for Lodz to equalise ten minutes later.

Romania

Antonio Semedo struck twice as CFR Cluj strengthened their hold on second place in the Romanian league with a 5-0 win over UTA. The former Estrela da Amadora striker, who started the match, scored in the 26th and 82nd minute for his side.

There were five other Portuguese players involved for Cluj, with defenders Tony and Pedro Oliveira and midfielder Dani also starting the match, while Manuel Jose and Ricardo Cadu both came off the bench.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow suffered a disappointing result on Saturday, losing 3-0 at Zenit St Petersburg. Portuguese duo Danny and Cicero started for Dynamo, although striker Cicero was replaced at half time with the team 1-0 down. Fabio Felicio was not involved in Rubin Kazan’s 1-1 draw with FC Moscow.

Scotland

It was Scottish FA Cup semi-final weekend in Scotland, with no clubs represented by Portuguese left in the last four.

Switzerland

Roberto Pinto played the full ninety minutes for Grasshoppers, but could not prevent his side from losing 2-1 at home to Schaffhausen. Carlos da Silva started for the visitors, but was replaced with a little over twenty minute left and his replacement, Enzo Todisco, scored a late winner.

FC Luzern beat FC Thun 2-1 to pull themselves away from relegation trouble. Luis Calapes was missing for Luzern, while Nelson Ferreira came on as a 67th minute substitute for Thun. Carlitos played in attack for FC Sion as they lost 2-1 at home to FC Zurich.

Turkey

Konyaspor missed influential midfielder Neca as they lost 4-2 to Ankaraspor in the Turkcell Süper Lig on Sunday afternoon. Konya came from two goals down to draw level at 2-2 with twenty minutes left, but conceded twice more (78 & 81) as Brazilian forward Jaba scored four goals for the hosts.

Star Performer

Helio Pinto (APOEL FC)

The former Benfica forward scored twice for APOEL as they beat Ayia Napa 3-0 on Saturday, a result that proved enough to win the Cypriot championship after rivals Omonia slipped up the following day.

Earlier round-ups