23 April 2007, by Sean Gillen

   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

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England - Premiership

Chelsea fail to take advantage of United slip

Chelsea missed a major opportunity to close the gap on leaders Manchester United at the top of the Premiership, as both sides could only draw after lackluster performances this weekend.

Cristiano Ronaldo was in the United side that was held to a disappointing 1-1 draw at Old Trafford by Middlesbrough on Saturday. Abel Xavier was absent for Boro. That meant Chelsea could reduce the gap to one point the following day at Newcastle, but the Blues, including Paulo Ferreira but without Ricardo Carvalho, could only manage a 0-0 draw at St.James Park.

Manuel Fernandes made his return from injury as a 65th minute substitute in Everton’s 1-0 defeat at West Ham, but the game came slightly too soon for fit again left-back Nuno Valente. Luis Boa Morte came on with sixteen minutes remaining for the Hammers, who are not three points adrift of safety.

Ricardo Rocha played at left-back as Tottenham Hotspur scored a 95th minute equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw in the North London derby with Arsenal. Ricardo Vaz Te was not in the Bolton squad for their 3-1 home loss to Reading, while an ankle injury continues to keep Pedro Mendes on the sidelines and saw him miss his team’s 0-0 draw at Aston Villa.

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France - Ligue 1

Lyon champions; Paulets hits double

Lyon were crowned French champions for the sixth season in a row ahead of their match with Auxerre on Sunday after nearest challengers Toulouse were beaten by Rennes. Tiago was not in the squad for the match with Auxerre, which finished in a 0-0 draw.

Paris Saint-Germain are closer to safety from relegation after Pedro Pauleta scored twice in a 4-0 win over Nantes, leaving the side from the capital six points clear of the drop zone. Marco Ramos played the full match in defence for Lens as they beat Le Mans 2-0 on Saturday.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Pinto hits net; Stuttgart on the march

Werder Bremen kept up the pressure on leaders Schalke with a 3-1 home win over Alemannia Aachen on Saturday. Sergio Pinto put the visitors ahead after just two minutes but Bremen, who left Hugo Almeida on the bench, hit back with three second-half goals to stay two points off the top with four games left.

Third placed Stuttgart have all but secured a Champions League spot after beating nearest challengers Bayern Munich 2-0 a home. Fernando Meira captained Stuttgart, who are four points clear of Bayern, while they still have an outside chance of the title, as they are also four points off Schalke.

Borussia Monchengladbach are almost certainly heading for relegation from the Bundesliga after Ze Antonio was left out of their 1-0 defeat at Hannover, which sees them eight points adrift at the bottom. Alex was an unused substitute for Wolfsburg in their 3-2 home loss to Arminia Bielefeld.

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Italy - Serie A

Inter champions; Couto scores in crucial Parma win

Inter were finally confirmed as Italian champions on Sunday after beating Siena 2-1 in Serie A. Luis Figo was not involved for Inter, who win the title because Roma were defeated by Atalanta.

Fernando Couto scored for the second week running as Parma gave their survival hopes a boost with a sensational 4-3 win at Palermo on Sunday evening. The veteran centre-half levelled the scores at 2-2 in the 47th minute for the Gialloblu, who then raced into a 4-2 lead before conceding a late consolation.

Jose Vidigal was left on the bench by Livorno as they were beaten 2-1 at Chievo, while Ricardo Esteves was also an unused substitute in Reggina’s 1-1 home draw with Udinese. Jose Semedo was given a rare run-out by Cagliari, coming on as an 89th minute substitute in a 3-1 loss at Milan.

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Spain - La Liga

Barcelona defeat opens up title race

Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga was cut to one point after they were beaten 2-0 at Villarreal on Sunday evening, with Deco having a quiet night in midfield for Barca. The gap at the top was cut after second placed Sevilla, with Duda on the bench, beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Valencia’s title aspirations took a knock after they lost 2-1 to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Miguel played at right-back for the visitors and Hugo Viana came on in the 83rd minute.

Atletico Madrid’s hopes of a Champions League place were dented by a 2-0 defeat at relegation threatened Real Sociedad. Ze Castro came on as a late substitute for Atletico, who had two players sent off in the second half. Maniche was not in the squad for Los Rojiblancos, while Costinha stayed on the bench.

Jorge Andrade was in the Deportivo La Coruna defence as a 93rd minute winner from Albert Lopo saw them beat Osasuna 1-0 at the Riazor, while Jose Nunes took his place in the Mallorca backline for their 1-0 win over Gimnastic. Roberto Beto was out injured for Recreativo for their 4-2 home win over Racing Santander.

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Others

Belgium

Sergio Conceicao was the sole Portuguese involved for Standard Liege as they beat St. Truidense 3-0 away from home to strengthen their hold on third place in the Jupiler League.

Cyprus

Both Ricardo Fernandes and Helio Pinto were in the starting line-up for newly crowned champions APOEL FC in their 3-2 win at Aris. Pinto was replaced after 66 minutes by APOEL coach Marinos Ouzounidis.

Second placed Omonia were 3-0 winners over Pafos, with Pedro Torrao playing the full ninety minutes. Olympiakos, who beat Omonia last weekend to hand the title to APOEL, pulled themselves out of the relegation zone with a 3-0 win at Apollon. Hugo Machado started the match for Olympiakos, while Tiago Carneiro was on the bench, and Joao Paiva played for Apollon.

Ze Nando played in defence for AEK Larnaca as they lost 2-0 at Ethnikos Achnas.

Greece

Lourenco was in the starting line-up as Panionios beat PAOK Salonika 3-1 in the Greek Super League. Daniel Fernandes was in the PAOK goal, while Carlos Carneiro was on the bench for Panionios.

Paulo Costa played the full ninety minutes for Aris as they recorded an impressive 1-0 win away at Panathinaikos. Daniel Kenedy scored for Ergotelis as they beat Larissa 2-0, with Felipe da Costa left on the bench by Larissa.

Carlos Fangueiro was not involved in bottom placed Ionikos’ 5-1 home defeat to AEK Athens, while Chiquinho was not involved in Skoda Xanthi’s 4-1 win over OFI Crete.

Holland

PSV sensationally lost their place at the top of the Eredivisie after a 1-1 at Utretch. Manuel da Costa was an unused substitute for PSV, who slip to third behind new leaders AZ Alkmaar and Ajax. All three clubs are on 72 points, with the sides currently separated on goal difference.

Virgilio Teixeira was left on the bench by RKC Waalwijk as they drew 1-1 with Willem II.

Poland

Rui Miguel scored the final goal as Zaglebie drew level on points with leaders GKS Belchatow at the top of the Polish first division with a 6-0 win over Arka. The Portuguese attacker came on with ten minutes left and scored the in the final minute for his side.

Romania

CFR Cluj stay six points clear in second place in the Romanian Liga after a 0-0 draw at Vaslui. Cluj included six players in their starting line-up, with Tony and Ricardo Cadu in defence, Manuel Jose, Dani and Pedro Oliveira in midfield and Antonio Semedo in attack.

Vitinha and Fredy were not in the Cluj squad. Sergio Leite and Nuno Gomes were not included in the Vaslui eighteen for the match. Bruno Simao played for UTA in their 1-1 draw with Otelul.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow moved up to 6th place in the Russian Premier League with a 2-1 home win over FK Khimki. Cicero started and played the full ninety minutes for Dynamo, although midfielder Danny was absent.

Fabio Felicio was an unused substitute for Rubin Kazan in their 1-0 defeat to Saturn Mosk Oblast.

Scotland

Midfielder Bruno Aguiar came off the bench with a little over fifteen minutes left to play of Hearts’ 2-1 defeat at Rangers, while defender Jose Goncalves was suspended. Falkirk, with three Portuguese players in their ranks, host St Mirren on Monday.

Switzerland

Carlitos set up both goals as FC Sion beat FC Thun 2-1 on Sunday. The former Benfica man started the match, while defender Joao Pinto came on at half time. Nelson Ferreira played the full match for Thun.

Roberto Pinto came on at half time for Grasshoppers in a 1-1 draw with St.Gallen. Carlos da Silva was taken off after an hour of Schaffhausen’s 2-0 defeat at Young Boys, while Luis Calapes was not involved for Luzern in their 1-0 win over Aarau.

Turkey

Neca played the full ninety minutes as Konyaspor were held to a 1-1 home draw by relegation threatened Erciyesspor. The result sees Konya slip down to 8th place in the Turkcell Süper Lig.

Star Performer

Pedro Pauleta (PSG)

Having struggled for goals and starts in recent weeks, Pauleta showed his class by scoring a magnificent double as his side pulled further away from relegation with a 4-0 win over Nantes.

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