Bayelsa
Still Top
Bayelsa United remained on top of the
Nigeria league standings after they
defeated third-placed Warri Wolves 1-0
at the Oghara Township in southern
Nigeria.
Stanley Onyawuchi was the hero and
villain after he scored the winner after
54 minutes only to be sent off later in
the game, along with Wolves defender
Abudu Diku.
Promoted Wolves are one of four clubs on
30 points each. The others are Sharks,
Kano Pillars and Enugu Rangers.
Second-placed Heartland FC of Owerri
stayed within touching distance of
Bayelsa after a 1-1 draw with struggling
Niger Tornadoes at home.
Heartland went in front on 20 minutes
from the penalty spot through Ghanaian
midfielder Aziz Ansah after former youth
international John Owoeri was fouled
inside the box.
Tornadoes drew level through Stephen
Saviour in the 40th minute after
teammate Alin Mohamed missed a penalty
earlier in the encounter.
In other matches, Kaduna United defeated
Zamfara United 3-1, Sunshine Stars drew
0-0 with champions Kano Pillars, Gombe
United beat neighbours Wikki 2-0 and
Rangers defeated Sharks 2-0.
 The
top teams around the continent produced
a mixed bag of results at the weekend.
League leaders Liverpool, Inter Milan
and Lyon all failed to muster a win,
allowing their pursuers to close in at
the top. In the weekend's biggest match,
meanwhile, FIFA Club World Cup winners
Manchester United cruised past rivals
Chelsea.
FIFA.com
reviews the weekend action in Europe’s
biggest leagues.
Premier
League: Chelsea sink without a trace
The Premier
League’s first battle of the titans in
2009 ended in an unexpectedly
comfortable victory for Manchester
United at home to Chelsea. Goals from
Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar
Berbatov eased the champions to a 3-0
victory over their out-of-sorts rivals.
The Red Devils move to within a point of
the Blues, and can overtake them in a
couple of days when they play the first
of two games in hand, the second of
which could take Sir Alex Ferguson's
side top.
For the
moment, Liverpool remain in pole, but
they suffered a setback in a goalless
draw away to promoted Stoke City. The
chasing teams profited and made up
ground in the standings. Aston Villa
beat bottom club West Brom 2-1 in the
West Midlands derby, while Arsenal
scraped past Bolton by the only goal of
the game.
Top three:
Liverpool (46 points), Chelsea (42),
Manchester United (41)
Bottom
three:
Tottenham Hotspur (20 points), Blackburn
Rovers, West Bromwich Albion (both 18)
Leading
scorers:
Nicolas Anelka (14 goals), Robinho (11),
Amr Zaki (10)
Weekend
stat: 20
- Chelsea
lost on their travels for the first time
in 20 matches. The Blues were previously
unbeaten away from home since December
2007 (16 wins, 4 draws)
La Liga:
Real up to second as Barca march on
Leaders
Barcelona stretched their unbeaten run
in La Liga to 16 games, winning 3-2 in
Osasuna to move a yawning 12 points
clear at the top. The Catalans were 2-1
down with just ten minutes remaining on
Sunday, but Xavi (80) and Lionel Messi
(85) struck late to turn the contest on
its head.
Real Madrid
had a double reason to celebrate earlier
in the day, chalking up a 3-0 win away
to Mallorca courtesy of Arjen Robben,
Raul and Sergio Ramos, and also
accelerating up to second in the table.
The men from the capital benefited from
slip-ups among their rivals. Valencia
were held 3-3 by Villarreal and Atletico
Madrid fell 3-2 to Bilbao. Sevilla moved
up to third with a 3-1 success in La
Coruna.
Top three:
Barcelona (47 points), Real Madrid,
Sevilla (35)
Bottom
three:
Espanyol (15 points), RCD Mallorca (14),
CA Osasuna (13)
Leading
scorers:
Samuel Eto'o (16 goals), David Villa
(14), Diego Forlan (12)
Weekend
stat: 2
- Real Madrid finished a matchday in
second spot for only the second time
this term.
Serie A:
Juve make up ground
The big two
in Milan suffered a frustrating weekend.
Superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic salvaged a
point for leaders Inter in a 1-1 draw
with Cagliari, while AC Milan had to be
content with a 2-2 draw on David
Beckham’s debut away to AS Roma. The
match featured a brace apiece for
Romes’s Mirko Vucinic and Milan’s
Alexandre Pato.
Juventus
made the most of their opportunity, the
evergreen Alessandro del Piero striking
the only goal of the game after
half-an-hour to see off Siena and move
the Turin outfit to within four points
of Inter. AC Milan remain third ahead of
Napoli, 1-0 winners over Catania.
Top three: Inter (43 points),
Juventus (39), AC Milan (34)
Bottom
three:
Torino (15 points), Reggina (13), Chievo
Verona (10)
Leading
scorers:
Marco di Vaio (13 goals), Alberto
Gilardino, Diego Milito (both 12)
Weekend
stat: 8
- Inter finally dropped Serie A points
as an eight-game winning streak came to
an end.
Ligue 1:
Bordeaux close in as Lyon stumble
Lyon’s lead
in the French standings is down to a
solitary point after the champions were
surprisingly held 1-1 at home by Lorient.
Ederson fired the leaders into a
ninth-minute lead, but Fabrice Abriel
levelled with half-time approaching.
In the
weekend’s biggest fixture, Bordeaux
moved into second after trouncing Paris
St. Germain 4-0. The win heaps the
pressure on Lyon, while the men from the
capital slip back to sixth. Rennes and
Marseille also made up ground with a 1-0
win over Grenoble and a 2-0 success away
to Auxerre respectively.
Top three:
Lyon (39 points), Bordeaux (38), Rennes
(37)
Bottom
three:
Sochaux (17 points), Valenciennes (15),
Le Havre (12)
Leading
scorers:
Fernando Cavenaghi, Andre-Pierre Gignac
(both 12 goals), Guillaume Hoarau (11)
Weekend
stat: 3
– Leaders Lyon have drawn all of their
last three home games. The 1-1 draw with
Lorient followed consecutive goalless
stalemates. Elsewhere
In the
Greek Super League, AEK Athens, in
fourth, beat second-placed PAOK Saloniki
1-0. Champions Olympiakos Piraeus
defeated AO Xanthi 2-1 to maintain a
nine-point cushion at the top.
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