02 March 2004	Tuesday	10 Muharram 1425

LONDON, March 1: Europe's table-topping clubs relied heavily on the French connection at the weekend to strengthen their title challenges. Robert Pires and Thierry Henry were both on target as Arsenal continued their relentless march with a win over Charlton Athletic.

French defender Valerien Ismael scored for Bundesliga leaders Werder Bremen to beat Borussia Dortmund while Zinedine Zidane polished Real Madrid's win over Celta Vigo.

In Italy, AC Milan maintained their push for a first title since 1999, carving out a 1-0 win at Lazio thanks to Massimo Ambrosini's second-half goal. AS Roma stayed second, five points behind, thanks to a 4-1 win at Parma on Sunday while champions Juventus remain in third, 12 points ahead of fourth-placed Lazio, after seeing off Ancona 3-0.

Arsenal stretched their unbeaten league run to 29 games and the gap over Chelsea and Manchester United to nine points with a 2-1 victory against fifth-placed London rivals Charlton.

Arsene Wenger's side were 2-0 up after five minutes thanks to Pires and Henry, although they did have to survive a strong Charlton fightback. Louis Saha, who recently scored on his debut for France, gave champions Manchester United an early lead at his former club Fulham, but United could only draw 1-1 to drop below Chelsea who won 1-0 at Manchester City.

Middlesbrough collected the first English silverware of the season on Sunday when they ended a 128-year wait for a trophy by beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the League Cup final.

Early goals from Joseph-Desire Job and Boudewijn Zenden set Boro on course for victory which means they will play in next season's UEFA Cup. Real Madrid can sense a 30th league title in Spain after they recovered from a poor first half to beat relegation-threatened Celta 4-2.

Ronaldo equalised before Zidane and Luis Figo put the hosts in charge and the masterly Zidane added his second in stoppage time. Victory increased Real's lead to eight points after their nearest challengers stumbled.

Valencia came unstuck with a 2-1 defeat in snowy conditions at Espanyol while third-placed Deportivo became the latest victims of rejuvenated Barcelona who have now won five league games in a row.

Brazilian Ronaldinho was twice on target for Barca in their 3-2 away victory, achieved despite finishing a stormy game with 10 men after midfielder Thiago Motta was dismissed.

Werder Bremen are seven points clear in Germany after a 2-0 win against Dortmund on Saturday. The northerners, chasing their first league title since 1993, went ahead through Ismael's deflected free kick before Brazilian striker Ailton clinched the points with his 20th league goal of the season.

Champions Bayern Munich stayed second with an unconvincing 2-0 victory at home to VfL Wolfsburg. In France, Ligue 1 leaders Monaco were held 1-1 at relegation-threatened Toulouse on Saturday, but second-placed Olympique Lyon, who like Monaco appeared jaded after midweek Champions League action, failed to take advantage, drawing 1-1 with Lens. -Reuters