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| October 24, 2006 | Tuesday | Ramazan 30, 1427 |
Big guns win showdowns over fierce rivals
LONDON, Oct 23: It was a big-game weekend in Europe's top leagues and when the dust settled Manchester United, Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Olympique Lyon and Ajax Amsterdam were able to celebrate wins over fierce rivals.
SPAIN
Barcelona lost their unbeaten league record in the worst possible way, a 2-0 defeat by Real Madrid in the Bernabeu.
Goals from Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy hoisted Real to 14 points, alongside Deportivo Coruna, 1-0 home winners over Atletico Madrid with a header by Angel Arizmendi.
Barcelona, who missed a host of chances, are joint top on 16 points with Valencia, who overcame Osasuna 1-0. Sevilla are third on 15 points after defeating Gimnastica 2-1.
FRANCE
The title race could be over already after champions Olympique Lyon thumped second-placed Olympique Marseille 4-1 away to open an eight-point gap after 10 matches.
Juninho put Lyon ahead after 20 minutes and Karim Benzema doubled the lead in the 49th.
Marseille's hopes of a comeback disappeared with a 56th-minute red card for Taye Taiwo. Although they pulled a goal back through Habib Bamogo, Juninho's second seven minutes later and a late effort by Kim Kallstrom settled the issue.
Lyon, seeking a sixth successive title, have 28 points. AS Nancy are third on 19 after beating Nantes 1-0.
GERMANY
Werder Bremen proved themselves worthy of the Bundesliga lead when they beat champions Bayern Munich 3-1.
In an action-packed first half Diego and Pierre Wome put Werder ahead before visiting Bayern hit back through Roy Makaay.
A 62nd-minute own goal by Lucio ensured Werder's win.
Werder have 16 points, as do Schalke 04 after their 2-1 home victory over Hanover 96. Hertha Berlin moved up to third, ahead of Bayern on goal difference on 13 points, after beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1.
ENGLAND
Manchester United and Chelsea continue to set the pace in the Premier League but Liverpool's chances of their first title since 1990 already look to have disappeared.
Chelsea's two big close-season buys Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack were on target in a 2-1 home win over Portsmouth while Paul Scholes marked his 500th game for Manchester United with a goal in a 2-0 home victory over Liverpool.
The top two have 22 points, two clear of Bolton Wanderers, who won 1-0 at Blackburn Rovers but needed two penalty saves in the last four minutes by Jussi Jaaskelainen to earn the points.
Arsenal thrashed Reading 4-0 to move up to fourth on 17 points with a game in hand. Liverpool are 11th, already 11 points off the pace.
ITALY
Inter Milan were held to a 0-0 draw at Udinese and the champions were joined at the top by Palermo, shock 2-0 winners at AC Milan thanks to goals from Marco Bresciano and Amauri.
Third-placed AS Roma needed a late equaliser from Francesco Totti to earn a 1-1 home draw with Chievo Verona.
Inter and Palermo lead on 15 points with Roma on 13 and Udinese, Atalanta and Livorno all on 12.
Atalanta produced the comeback of the weekend, recovering from 2-0 down to beat Sampdoria 3-2.
In Serie B, Juventus moved off the bottom when their sixth successive win, 1-0 at Triestina, put them on two points after they began the season on -17.
NETHERLANDS
Ajax Amsterdam thrashed arch-rivals Feyenoord 4-0 away to stay clear in the Dutch league.
Two goals each for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Kenneth Perez, one a penalty, made the difference while Feyenoord had Pierre van Hooijdonk and Sebastian Pardo sent off.
Ajax have 21 points from eight matches while Feyenoord are ninth, 10 points behind.
PSV Eindhoven climbed to second with 19 points, two above AZ Alkmaar, after beating AZ 3-1 away.—Reuters
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