30 April 2007, by Sean Gillen

   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

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England - Premiership

United open up five-point gap

In what could prove to be a crucial day in the Premiership title race, Manchester United extended their lead at the top over Chelsea to five points with three games remaining.

United, who started the game without Cristiano Ronaldo, introduced the winger late on as they came from behind to beat Everton 4-2 at Goodison Park. Manuel Fernandes started the game for the Toffees, and his rasping shot from outside the area put his side 2-0 up in the second half.

The result was made even more significant as Chelsea, with Ricardo Carvalho starting in defence before coming off injured, drew 2-2 with Bolton. Ricardo Vaz Te came on at half time for Bolton, whose manager Sam Allardyce has since announced his resignation.

Luis Boa Morte scored his first league goal in West Ham’s colours as the Hammers beat relegation rivals Wigan Athletic 3-0 to leave them only in the drop zone on goal difference. Ricardo Rocha played at left-back for Tottenham in their 3-2 win at Middlesbrough, who were without Abel Xavier.

Pedro Mendes’ ankle injury again ruled him out action for Portsmouth, the midfielder missing his side’s 2-1 victory over Champions League semi-finalists Liverpool.

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France - Ligue 1

PSG continue resurgence

Paris Saint-Germain continued their recent good form with a 3-1 victory at Toulouse, although Portuguese striker Pedro Pauleta was an unused substitute. Tiago was also on the bench for his side, Lyon, but did play the final twenty minutes at the champions edged past Le Mans 2-1 at home.

Marco Ramos played the full match in defence as Lens were beaten 1-0 at Bordeaux.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Bremen miss golden opportunity; Stuttgart go second

Werder Bremen missed a golden opportunity to go top of the Bundesliga after a shock 3-2 defeat at Arminia Bielefeld. With leaders Schalke losing on Friday evening, Bremen could have gone top with just three games remaining if they could win their match on Sunday.

Hugo Almeida scored his side’s second goal with fifteen minutes to go shortly after coming on as a substitute, but Bremen’s defeat means that they remain two points off the top and slip down to third place.

Fernando Meira’s Stuttgart moved up into second place with a 1-0 win at Borussia Monchengladbach. Meira missed the match for Stuttgart, while the hosts were without defender Ze Antonio, and are now almost certainly relegated from the German top flight.

Sergio Pinto was in the Alemannia Aachen side beaten 4-0 at home by Hertha Berlin, while Wolfsburg drew 1-1 at Nuremberg without full-back Alex.

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Italy - Serie A

Parma pull clear

Luis Figo returned to the Inter line-up as the Nerazurri were 3-1 home winners over Empoli at the San Siro on Sunday. Ricardo Esteves was an unused substitute for Reggina in their 3-2 win at Ascoli.

Fernando Couto was out but would have been delighted to see his Parma team-mates pull themselves three points and five places clear of relegation with a crucial 2-1 home win over Cagliari, who were without Jose Semedo. Jose Vidigal played the final seventeen minutes for Livorno as they were beaten 2-1 at home by Palermo.

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Spain - La Liga

As you were at table summit

There was no change at the top of La Liga after all of the top four won this weekend. Champions Barcelona included Deco in the side that defeated Levante 1-0 at the Nou Camp, while second place Sevilla left Duda on the bench for their 3-1 win against Espanyol.

With Real Madrid also winning, fourth place Valencia started with Miguel at right-back and brought on Hugo Viana with twenty minutes remaining to beat Recreativo 2-0 at the Mestalla. Roberto Beto was not in the travelling Recre squad.

A Uefa Cup place appears to be the best Atletico Madrid can hope for after Ze Castro and Costinha played in their 0-0 draw with Real Betis. Meanwhile, Jorge Andrade took his place in the Deportivo La Coruna backline for their goalless draw at Racing Santander.

Jose Nunes was selected for Mallorca as they beat Celta Vigo 3-0 away from home. Miguel Areias was not in the squad for Celta, who slip down into the relegation zone.

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Others

Belgium

Standard Liege remain in third place in the Jupiler League after a 2-2 home draw with GB Antwerpen. Sergio Conceicao played the full ninety minutes for Standard.

Cyprus

Joao Paiva scored a hat-trick for Apollon as a 5-1 win at Pafos lifted them up to sixth place. The former Maritimo forward put his side 2-0 up at half time and, after Zandi had made it three (63), Paiva added a fourth in the 67th minute before a late Antone strike completed the rout.

Champions APOEL included Ricardo Fernandes and Helio Pinto in their 1-0 home win over Anorthosis.

Hugo Machado started and Tiago Carneiro came on at half time for Olympiakos in a vital 1-0 home win over ENP. Ze Nando played in defence for AEK Larnaca in their 2-1 home defeat to Omonia, who were without Pedro Torrao and Edgar Marcelinho.

Greece

Paulo Costa started and was on the scoresheet for Aris FC as they beat Kalamaria 3-2 at home.

Daniel Fernandes kept goal as PAOK Salonika lost 2-1 at Atromitos to slip to 5th in the Greek Super League. Lourenco started up front and Carlos Carneiro came on as a sub, but could not prevent Panionios from losing 3-1 at OFI Crete.

Daniel Kenedy missed Ergotelis’ 5-1 defeat at Kerkira, while Carlos Fangueiro was not involved for Ionikos in their 1-0 loss at Iraklis. Felipe da Costa was an unused substitute for Larissa in their 1-1 draw with Panathinaikos.

Holland

Manuel da Costa became the latest Portuguese footballer to win a league champions winners medal after PSV snatched the Dutch Eredivisie title on a dramatic final day in Holland.

Da Costa was ruled out through injury but looked on as his team-mates, having to win by 4 goals to snatch the title, beat Vitesse Arnhem 5-1 to seal the championship for Ronald Koeman’s team.

Poland

Zaglebie were without Rui Miguel as they won 2-0 at Wisla Plock to stay level on points with league leaders GKS Belchatow at the top of the Polish top flight.

Romania

CFR Cluj started with five Portuguese players for their 0-0 draw with FC Arges Pitesti. Tony and Ricardo Cadu lined up in defence, while Manuel Jose, Dani and Antonio Semedo played across the midfield.

Russia

Danny scored the winning goal as Dynamo Moscow moved up to 5th place in the Russian Premier League with a 1-0 win away at Luch Vladivostok. Cicero, who played a part in the goal, also started the game in attack for Dynamo. Fabio Felicio was not involved for Rubin Kazan as they drew 0-0 at home with Rostov.

Scotland

Jose Goncalves took his place in defence as Hearts spoiled Celtic’s championship winning party with a 3-1 win in Glasgow. Goncalves was replaced at half time, while Bruno Aguiar was not in the squad. Pedro Moutinho and Vitor Lima were both unused substitutes for Falkirk as they drew 3-3 at Motherwell.

Switzerland

Joao Pinto and Carlitos were the goalscorers as Sion won 2-0 at FC Aurau on Saturday. Defender Pinto opened the scoring shortly before the twenty-minute mark, and former Benfica forward Carlitos sealed the win early in the second half.

Roberto Pinto started for Grasshoppers in their 2-1 home defeat to Young Boys, but was substituted with thirteen minutes left on the clock. Nelson Ferreira started and was booked in the first half as FC Thun went down 2-0 at home to Basel.

Schaffhausen drew 0-0 at home with Luzern on Sunday, with the home side missing Carlos da Silva and the visitors without Luis Calapes.

Turkey

On-loan Portuguese midfielder Neca was in the Konyaspor side beaten 2-1 at Kayserispor on Saturday, a result that sees them stay in 8th place in the Turkcell Süper Lig.

Star Performer

Luis Boa Morte (West Ham)

Having struggled with fitness and form since his January move to Upton Park, Boa Morte showed his quality by scoring one and setting up another as West Ham secured a crucial 3-0 win over relegation rivals Wigan.

Earlier round-ups