Turkey: Sivasspor protect slender lead
Beşiktaş JK remain one point behind Turkish Süper Lig leaders Sivasspor after both recorded victories over the weekend. First-half goals from Sedat Bayrak and Hervé Tum helped Sivasspor to a 2-0 win at Denizlispor – unbeaten in their previous six league matches – while Beşiktaş beat Kayserispor 1-0 at home to keep intrigue levels high in the championship race. The two frontrunners look set to contest the title between them, though Fenerbahçe SK climbed up to third, six points off the top, with a 2-1 home win over Eskisehirspor. That moved Fener ahead of Trabzonspor on goal difference after the fourth-placed side were only able to record a goalless stalemate with Istanbul BB SK.
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Portugal: Hopefuls keep up Porto pursuit
FC Porto maintained their four-point cushion in Portugal after coming from behind to celebrate a 3-1 triumph at Vitória SC. Roberto gave the hosts a half-time lead but Ernesto Farías headed in a Raul Meireles cross, Mariano González redirected Tomás Costa's shot past Nilson and Rolando headed in Lucho's corner to complete an eighth successive away league victory.
Sporting Clube de Portugal refuse to let the UEFA Champions League hopefuls have everything their own way, however, and prolonged their own title hopes with a 1-0 win at Leixões SC, courtesy of a Derlei effort after 13 minutes. A point further back, SL Benfica also enjoyed an away victory, 2-1 at CF Estrela da Amadora, while SC Braga are fourth and in line for a potential UEFA Europa League berth following their 3-0 success at Vitória FC.Results/table
Belgium: Standard draw level
The Belgian title race took another twist at the weekend as RSC Anderlecht's two-point lead was wiped out by R. Standard de Liège. The capital club had returned to the summit prior to the international break, but their goalless draw at KSK Lokeren OV allowed the titleholders to draw level courtesy of a 3-1 success against KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen, Axel Witsel's penalty and further goals by Milan Jovanović and Dieudonné Mbokani converting a deficit into victory. Third-placed Club Brugge KV saw off R. Charleroi SC 2-1 but lie eight points off the pace, while in the lower reaches KSV Roeselare moved out of the bottom three by winning 1-0 at fellow strugglers AFC Tubize.
Results/table
Netherlands: AZ close in on title
AZ Alkmaar prised open an imperious eleven-point lead in the Eredivisie after coming from a goal down at half-time to overpower ADO Den Haag 4-1. Closest challengers FC Twente had only drawn 1-1 at NEC Nijmegen on Friday,
but it appeared as though AZ would not take advantage when Christiaan Kum gave the visitors a first-half lead. Despite that setback, Moussa Dembélé, Maarten Martens, Mounir El Hamdaoui and Nick van der Velden provided an emphatic response to see off the last side to defeat AZ. "It was an excellent performance," said coach Louis van Gaal. "The fans really enjoyed it, as did I on the bench." Third-placed AFC Ajax trail Twente by a solitary point following their 2-1 success at Roda JC.Results/table
Russia: Zenit send a message
Reigning champions FC Rubin Kazan were held to their second goalless draw in three games as they failed to make their superiority count against FC Moskva. That allowed FC Zenit St. Petersburg and FC Terek Grozny to move out in front on seven points apiece, with the 2007/08 UEFA Cup winners celebrating a 3-0 success at FC Tom Tomsk courtesy of a first goal in the Premier-Liga for Fernando Meira and efforts from Igor Denisov and Fatih Tekke. Terek ended FC Dinamo Moskva's 100 per cent record with a 1-0 win, while PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara saw their own perfect start come to an end as they lost 2-1 at FC Lokomotiv Moskva.
Results/table
Romania: Dinamo enjoy derby spoils
FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti were the big winners in the Romanian capital derby on Saturday, 3-0 against FC Rapid Bucureşti to stay four points clear of AFC Unirea Urziceni at the Liga 1 summit. Ionel Danciulescu opened the scoring in the 29th minute, before Marius Niculae registered on 56 minutes and Adrian Cristea added his team's third in the dying moments. The result left Rapid in sixth, one spot higher than FC Steaua Bucureşti, who saw off CF Gloria 1922 Bistrita 1-0 at home. Unirea are still closest to the frontrunners, Dan Petrescu's men defeated struggling CS Otopeni 1-0 to keep Dinamo within reach.
Results/table
Scotland: Top two maintain momentum
Three points continues to separate the top two in Scotland after Rangers FC responded in kind to a victory for leaders Celtic FC. Gordon Strachan's men returned to winning ways with a convincing 4-0 victory over Hamilton Academical FC,
thanks in large part to a Georgios Samaras double, but their eternal rivals put a difficult week behind them by prevailing 1-0 at bottom club Falkirk FC. Kris Boyd made the difference with his 22nd Scottish Premier League effort of the season, keeping Rangers 12 points clear of third-placed Heart of Midlothian FC, who in turn enjoy a seven-point gap to nearest rivals Aberdeen FC after seeing off Kilmarnock FC 3-1.
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