Chelsea, Juventus stay on top

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December 05, 2005 10:41 IST

Following is a round-up of weekend action in the main European leagues:

SPAIN

Real Madrid overcame the sending-off of England captain David Beckham to scrape a 1-0 win over Getafe, an unconvincing result that ended the reign of their Brazilian coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo who was sacked on Sunday.

A 2-0 victory by Barcelona at Villarreal, their seventh consecutive league win, moved the champions back to the top.

An own goal by Villarreal defender Juan Manuel Pena and deflected strike by midfielder Deco took Barcelona to 31 points, level with Osasuna who won 2-1 at Malaga.

Celta Vigo are third following a 2-1 victory over Real Betis, a point ahead of Real Madrid.

ITALY

Juventus opened an eight-point lead at the top of Serie A after Mauro Camoranesi struck an 88th-minute winner to secure a 2-1 victory at Fiorentina.

Champions Juventus have 39 points with AC Milan, who lost 2-1 at Chievo Verona on Saturday, on 31 points and Fiorentina and Inter Milan level on 29.

Juventus took the lead through French forward David Trezeguet but Fiorentina striker Giampaolo Pazzini equalised for the home side six minutes before the break.

Fabio Capello's side rode their luck at times with Fiorentina hitting the woodwork on three occasions, including a Luca Toni shot against the post in the 75th minute.

Camoranesi drove home the winner two minutes from the end of normal time after Trezeguet had outjumped a hesitating Giuseppe Pancaro to put the winger through on goal.

Juve's lead is the biggest any club has held at this stage in the season since Serie A switched to three points for a win for the 1994-95 season.

ENGLAND

Arsenal slipped 14 points off the Premier League pace when they lost 2-0 at Bolton Wanderers while champions Chelsea and second-placed Manchester United won.

John Terry headed his first league goal for a year after 62 minutes as Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 1-0 to move to 40 points.

Manchester United ended an emotional week with a win, easily accounting for Portsmouth 3-0 at Old Trafford on the day of George Best's funeral in Belfast.

United are second on 30 points, Liverpool are third with 28 after beating Wigan Athletic 3-0.

United, whose game was preceded by a minute's applause for Best, won comfortably with a 20th-minute header by Paul Scholes, a shot by Wayne Rooney in the 80th and a delightful close-range chip by Ruud van Nistelrooy five minutes from time.

GERMANY

Bayern Munich were lucky to escape with a goalless draw at VfB Stuttgart after having Sebastian Deisler sent off late in the first half.

Hamburg SV took advantage to cut Bayern's lead at the top of the Bundesliga to four points thanks to a 3-1 win at home to Cologne, with goals from Thimothee Atouba, Benny Lauth and Sergej Barbarez.

The game was spoiled, however, when Hamburg's Alexander Laas was cut in the head by a drumstick thrown from the crowd following the second goal.

That dealt another blow to Germany's image before the World Cup draw in Leipzig on Friday after Kaiserslautern's game against Eintracht Frankfurt had to be called off.

The Kaiserslautern stadium, one of 12 venues to be used at the World Cup, was declared unsafe after a crack appeared in one of the stands.

With 15 games played, champions Bayern lead the standings on 38 points, followed by Hamburg on 34.

FRANCE

AJ Auxerre kept up their chase of runaway leaders Olympique Lyon when they demolished Nantes 4-0.

Unbeaten Lyon maintained their 11-point lead over Auxerre with a 2-0 home win over Paris St Germain. Lyon have 43 points and second-placed Auxerre 32 after 17 matches.

A first half double by striker Peguy Luyindula and a goal by midfielder Luigi Pieroni before the break secured Auxerre's victory with Bruno Cheyrou completing the rout in injury time.

Girondins Bordeaux laboured to a 1-0 victory over improving Lille to remain in third place on 31 points.

Lyon once again looked in a class of their own dominating from the start to smother the Parisian side at Gerland stadium.

Brazilian striker Fred volleyed home the opener after five minutes and substitute John Carew wrapped it up in stoppage time to take revenge on PSG, who were the last side to beat Lyon in a Ligue 1 match -- 1-0 at Gerland in April.

 

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