14 May 2007, by Sean Gillen

   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

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England - Premiership

Boa Morte and West Ham complete great escape

The final day of the Premiership season saw attention firmly focused on the relegation battle. The outcome was a happy one for Portuguese winger Luis Boa Morte, who played in his side’s 1-0 win at Manchester United, who introduced Cristiano Ronaldo during the second half. The result saw West ham avoid relegation after an incredible late run.

Runners-up Chelsea also dropped points on the final day, after being held to a 1-1 home draw with Everton. Paulo Ferreira started for Jose Mourinho’s side, while Nuno Morais made his last league appearance for the club as a late substitute, ahead of his imminent move to Cyprus. Manuel Fernandes played 77 minutes for Everton, while fit again Nuno Valente was an unused substitute.

There was also a return to first team football for Pedro Medes in Portsmouth’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal. The midfielder, who has been out of action with an ankle injury, played the final twenty-five minutes for Pompey as the team narrowly missed out on European qualification.

Ricardo Vaz Te came on in the 55th minute of Bolton’s 2-2 home draw with Aston Villa, as the Trotters secured European football for next season. Meanwhile, injury ruled Ricardo Rocha out of Tottenham’s final day win over Manchester City. Goals from Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov gave the London club a 2-1 victory, which saw them end the season in fifth place.

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France - Ligue 1

There were no Ligue 1 fixtures in France this weekend, as Sochaux beat Marseille 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the French Cup final in Paris on Saturday.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Meira one win away from title

Stuttgart are one win away from claiming the Bundesliga title, after snatching first place with a 3-2 win at Bochum. Fernando Meira was suspended for his side, who go top after Schalke were beaten 2-0 in the Ruhr derby by Dortmund.

Werder Bremen bowed out of the title race after a surprise 2-1 home defeat to Frankfurt. Hugo Almeida came on with a little under half an hour remaining for the hosts, who now find themselves four points off the leaders with one game left.

Sergio Pinto played 76 minutes of Alemannia Aachen’s 2-2 home draw with Wolfsburg, a result that leaves them three points adrift of safety. Alex Domingos was not in the squad for the visitors, who stay one place above the dropzone.

Ze Antonio was not in the squad for relegated Borussia Monchengladbach as they went down 3-0 at Mainz.

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Italy - Serie A

Parma move clear of relegation zone

Parma moved clear of the relegation zone after a 4-1 victory over Messina. Fernando Couto played in defence for the Gialloblu, who went 4-0 up in the first half. The team are now only two points, but five places, above the drop zone.

Champions Inter beat Lazio 4-3 in a thriller at the San Siro, with Luis Figo coming on at half time as Hernan Crespo hit a hat-trick. Ricardo Esteves was an unused substitute as Reggina drew 1-1 with Chievo.

Jose Semedo missed Cagliari’s 1-0 defeat at Fiorentina, while Livorno midfielder Jose Vidigal picked up a midweek injury that ruled him out of their 1-0 win over Sampdoria.

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Spain - La Liga

Barcelona slip up; Atletico hit form

Barcelona conceded a last-minute equaliser at home against Real Betis to slip down to second place in La Liga with four games remaining. Deco played the full ninety minutes in midfield at the Nou Camp, where Rafael Sobis struck in the dying seconds to earn Betis a point.

Duda was an unused substitute as third placed Sevilla kept in the title hunt with a 2-1 home win over Andalucian neighbours Recreativo, who left Roberto Beto on the bench.

The Barca result meant that fourth placed Valencia move two points close to the leaders after their 2-0 home win over Zaragoza. Miguel played at right-back and Hugo Viana played the final twenty minutes as Los Ches cut the gap between themselves and the leaders to four points.

Atletico Madrid gave their Uefa Cup hopes a major boost with a 4-1 thrashing of city rivals Getafe. Maniche started the match and was on the scoresheet, scoring the second, while Ze Antonio played in defence and Costinha was a 66th minute introduction.

Celta Vigo are now four points adrift of safety, with Miguel Areias not involved in a 2-1 home defeat to Getafe. Jorge Andrade played in defence for Deportivo in their 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao, while Jose Nunes and Mallorca moved up to 11th with a 2-0 victory at Racing.

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Others

Belgium

Belgian cup finalists Standard Liege secured third place in the Jupiler League with one match to go after beating Club Brugge 1-0 at home. Nuno Coelho started in defence for Standard, while Sergio Conceicao completed the full match in midfield and Sa Pinto was a 80th minute substitute.

Cyprus

Omonia’s disappointment after missing the league title was compounded after they lost a lead to go down 3-2 to Anorthosis Famagusta in the Cypriot Cup final. Nelson Veiga (45) and Edgar Marcelino (79) both came on as substitutes for Omonia.

Egypt

Manuel Jose celebrated another title win with Egyptian side Al Ahly after Sunday’s 2-0 home win over El Geish saw them move nine points clear at the top of the table. While the Portuguese’s side still have three games to play, second place Ismaily have only two, so therefore cannot prevent Al Ahly from securing their third consecutive league title.

Greece

Lourenco opened the scoring for Panionios as they beat AEK Athens 3-1 in the Greek Super League; Carlos Carneiro was an unused substitute for the winning side. Daniel Fernandes kept goal for PAOK in their 1-0 win over OFI.

Daniel Kenedy scored the second for Ergotelis as they beat Aigaleo 3-0 to move up to ninth. Paulo Costa missed Aris’ 2-1 home loss to Atromitos.

Holland

The Dutch season has finished.

Poland

Zaglebie remain two points behind Polish leaders GKS Belchatow with a sensational 6-2 home win against Pogon. Rui Miguel played the full match for Zaglebie, and scored the second goal on 14 minutes.

Romania

Diogo Andrade started and Bruno Simao was an unused substitute as UTA Arad lost 2-0 at Jiul on Saturday. CFR Cluj and their strong contingent of Portuguese players host Gloria Bistrita on Monday.

Russia

Danny played the full ninety minutes for Dynamo Moscow, but could not prevent his side from losing 1-0 at Tom Tomsk. Fabio Felicio was sent off after coming on as a first half substitute, but his Rubin Kazan side were still 1-0 winners in their match with Amkar Perm.

Scotland

Hearts won the Edinburgh derby on Saturday, beating Hibernian 2-0 at home, with defender Jose Goncalves emerging from the bench to play the final half hour. Vitor Lima started and Pedro Moutinho came on at half time as Falkirk were 2-0 winners over Dundee United.

Switzerland

Carlitos played the full ninety minutes for FC Sion as they beat Young Boys 2-0. Roberto Pinto was taken off at half time as Grasshoppers were hammered 3-0 at Basel. Schaffhausen were without Carlos da Silva for their 0-0 draw at Zurich, while Luis Calapes missed Luzern’s 1-1 with St Gallen.

Turkey

Neca started in midfield, but was later substituted, as Konyaspor beat Manisaspor 1-0 to move up to 6th with two games left to play in the Turkcell Süper Lig.

Star Performer

Maniche (Atletico Madrid)

The Portuguese midfielder was at the heart of Atletico’s fantastic 4-1 win over Getafe, scoring one and creating two goals for Fernando Torres to boost his side’s European hopes.

Earlier round-ups