10 April 2006, by Sean Gillen

Portuguese Abroad round-up

Who will crack first in Premiership race?

The Premiership title race continues to gather pace, with Manchester United continuing their winning run in the hope of catching leaders Chelsea. Jose Mourinho’s men were back on the winning trail this weekend with an impressive victory over West Ham, despite the early dismissal of Maniche.

Mourinho’s consistent ability to motivate his team was clear again when an under-pressure 10-man Chelsea side fought back from a goal down to thrash West Ham 4-1, and take another step towards the title. Cristiano Ronaldo was involved as United responded with a 2-0 win over Arsenal to continue their tremendous run and keep the gap at 7 points.

Elsewhere, Pedro Mendes’s Portsmouth picked up a valuable point against Blackburn as they battle relegation. Ricardo Vaz Te and Nuno Valente did not feature this weekend and Luis Boa Morte’s Fulham’s game with Sunderland was abandoned during the first half because of bad weather.

In Spain, Barcelona and Deco had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Racing Santander, while Miguel’s Valencia moved into second with a win at Celta, using Hugo Viana late on. Edgar was subbed at half time as Malaga edged closer to relegation, losing to a stoppage-time winner at home against Getafe.

Italian clean sweep

There were wins all round for the Portuguese contingent in Serie A. Luis Figo came on at half-time with Inter 1-0 down at Ascoli and saw the Nerazzuri turn the game around to win 2-1. Rui Costa played the last 20 minutes of Milan’s 4-1 win over Chievo and Fernando Couto was missing as Parma stormed to a 4-0 victory against Reggina. Jose Vidigal came on for the final three minutes of Udinese’s 2-0 win at Livorno.

Fernando Meira kept a clean sheet as Stuttgart won 1-0 at home against Nuremberg, although a yellow card means the defender is now facing a suspension. Ricardo Sousa played the last half hour of Hanover’s 0-0 draw at Mainz.

Pauleta played as Paris Saint Germain conceded a last-minute penalty to draw 1-1 at Lens. Tiago was subbed early in the second half as Lyon beat Nice 2-1, while Beto remained on the Bordeaux bench during the 0-0 draw with Helder Postiga’s St Etienne. Jose Delfim was again unused by Marseille in their defeat at Monaco.

Costa and Moreira go top in Belgium

A crucial weekend in the Belgian title race saw Standard Liege take first place from Anderlecht with just 4 games remaining. Jorge Costa and Almani Moreira played in the 2-0 at Westerlo. Standard are now one point clear of Anderlecht; the top two meet in a title decider in two weeks time, in Brussels.

In Romania, Carlos kept goal as 2nd placed Steaua Bucharest earned a crucial 1-1 draw at leaders Dinamo. The result means that Steaua are three points behind their city rivals with a game in hand.

Dinamo Moscow’s bad start to the new Russian season continued with a 3-2 defeat at Amkar. Danny played the full 90 minutes, but Nuno was overlooked for the goalkeeper’s jersey and Costinha remains out of the picture after disciplinarily problems. The result sees Dinamo 4th from bottom, with just two points from their first four games.

Star Performer

Jorge Costa

The veteran former Porto captain is in with a great chance of adding to his incredible haul of winners’ medals. Costa continues to prove he is a model professional as he aims to help Standard Liege end a wait of almost two decades for a Belgian championship title.

Earlier round-ups:
20/02/06 Star Performer - Miguel
27/02/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
06/03/06 Star Performer - Sérgio Conceição
13/03/06 Star Performer - Pedro Mendes
20/03/06 Star Performer - Luís Boa Morte
27/03/06 Star Performer - Fernando Couto
03/04/06 Star Performer - Pauleta