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   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

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England - Premier League

Chelsea off to a flyer

Portuguese international Deco enjoyed a dream debut for Chelsea alongside fellow new signing Jose Bosingwa as the Blues cruised to a 4-0 win over Portsmouth in Luiz Felipe Scolari’s first game in charge. Both players started, as did Ricardo Carvalho, while Paulo Ferreira replaced Bosingwa with seven minutes left to play, before Deco rounded off a superb individual performance with a 20-metre screamer in the final minute. Hilario was an unused substitute for Scolari’s men.

Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo watched from the stands as champions Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford by Newcastle. The Portuguese, who is recovering from ankle surgery, was joined on the sidelines by the suspended Nani, as injuries forced the Red Devils to field a somewhat depleted starting line-up.

Veteran full-back Nuno Valente started but was replaced late on as Everton suffered a disappointing 3-2 home defeat to Blackburn at Goodison Park. Luis Boa Morte played the final few minutes of West Ham’s 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic at Upton Park. Pedro Pele was an unused substitute for West Brom in a 1-0 defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Hugo Almeida started but was substituted on 73 minutes for Werder Bremen in their 2-2 draw at Arminia Bielefeld on the opening day of the Bundesliga season. Armando Petit was handed his first German league start for Cologne but was on the losing side as they went down 2-1 at Wolfsburg, who selected Ricardo Costa in central defence. Sergio Pinto was not called from the bench during Hannover’s 3-0 defeat at Schalke.

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Italy - Serie A

Season not yet started.

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Spain - La Liga

Valencia have the upper hand in the Spanish Supercup after beating Real Madrid 3-2 at the Mestalla in the first leg on Sunday evening. Miguel started at right-back for Los Ches, while Manuel Fernandes was introduced as 76th minute substitute as the hosts secured a narrow advantage heading into next week’s second leg at the Bernabeu.

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Others

Romania

A disappointing weekend for CFR Cluj saw the champions held 1-1 at home by Universitatea Craiova in Romania. Cluj started with four Portuguese players in their starting line-up – Tony, Ricardo Cadu (captain), Andre Leao and Antonio Semedo – but the point means that last season’s title winners sit in 12th place after four rounds of the new campaign.

Jose Peseiro’s Rapid Bucharest were removed from top spot and had their 100% start ended by a 2-1 defeat at Otelul Galati. Peseiro started defender Ricardo Fernandes and midfielder Joao Paulo Andrade for the match.

Russia

Dynamo Moscow remain in second place in the Russian Premier League after Danny’s 2nd minute goal gave the capital club a 1-0 home win over Spartak Nalchik. Ricardo Silva played in defence for Shinnik Yaroslavl in their shock 3-1 win at Zenit St. Petersburg, which leaves them in 9th place with 18 rounds played so far in the Russian top flight.

Scotland

Pedro Mendes made his debut for Rangers in their 2-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox on Saturday, making it two wins from their opening two league games for last season’s runners-up. Injured midfielder Bruno Aguiar was not involved for the Jambos. Filipe Morais was left on the bench as Hibernian were 3-2 winners over Falkirk.

Serbia

Partizan Belgrade’s Serbian title defence got off to a good start with a 1-0 home victory over Napredak Krusevac. Portuguese forward Almani Moreira played the full ninety minutes for Partizan, who are currently involved in a Champions League qualifying tie with Turkish giants Fenerbahce.

Switzerland

Champions FC Basel are top of the Swiss Super League after six rounds of matches, following a 4-1 victory at FC Zurich, with Portuguese forward Carlitos helping himself to a brace. The former Benfica man played the full ninety minutes, and scored his team’s final two goals in the second half. FC Luzern’s nightmare start to the season continued, with Nelson Ferreira playing 83 minutes as the rock bottom side lost 3-0 at home to Young Boys.

Ukraine

Metalurh Donetsk made it five wins from their opening five games of the new Ukrainian season with a 2-0 away victory at Zorya Luhansk. Ricardo Fernandes was again on the score sheet for Metalurh, opening the scoring on 32 minutes before being replaced late on. Metalurh finished a lowly 12th in Ukraine last season.

Star Performer

Deco (Chelsea)

Both Deco and Jose Bosingwa enjoyed excellent debuts for Chelsea, but it was the Brazilian-born playmaker who stole the headlines by capping an excellent individual display with his first goal in English football, as the Blues hammered Portsmouth 4-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Earlier Round-ups