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England - Premier League

Bosingwa riding high

Jose Bosingwa scored his first goal in the colours of Chelsea as the Blues stayed top of the Premiership thanks to a 2-0 victory at newly promoted Stoke City on Saturday. The former Porto right-back started and then finished a move to put Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side ahead in the first half, while Paulo Ferreira was introduced in the last minute.

Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo recorded his first league goal of the season from the penalty spot in champions Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford. Fellow former Sporting winger Nani came on for the final ten minutes for the Red Devils, and Ricardo Vaz Te played twenty-five minutes for Bolton.

Luis Boa Morte returned to former club Fulham with London rivals West Ham, but only managed the final few minutes for the Hammers in a 2-1 victory for Gianfranco Zola’s men. Nuno Valente was an unused substitute for Everton in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool, which the Toffees lost 2-0 at Goodison Park. West Bromwich Albion secured a priceless away victory, beating Middlesbrough 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium with Pedro Pele left on the bench.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Costa goal in vain

Ricardo Costa came off the bench to score but was on the losing side on Sunday afternoon as Wolfsburg went down to a 2-1 defeat at Karlsruhe. His side were already 2-0 down when the former Porto stopper emerged from the bench to score immediately for ten-man Wolfsburg, who had Brazilian striker Grafite sent off.

Werder Bremen scored five goals for the second league match running, beating Hoffenheim 5-4 at home on Sunday to move up to third in the Bundesliga. Hugo Almeida did not play a part for Bremen, however, watching the whole ninety minutes from the substitutes’ bench. In Friday night’s match, newly-promoted Koln had Armando Petit in midfield as they upset Schalke 1-0 at the Rhein Energie Stadion.

The biggest shock of the weekend, however, was Hannover’s 1-0 win over champions Bayern Munich, although the hosts were without Sergio Pinto for the memorable victory. Daniel Fernandes was in goal for Bochum as they went down 3-2 at home to Leverkusen.

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Italy - Serie A

Inter lose Milan derby

Jose Mourinho suffered his first defeat as manager of Inter as the Nerazurri were beaten 1-0 in the Milan derby by their city rivals. Ricardo Quaresma was handed a start in the Inter attack by Mourinho, but both men were left disappointed as Ronaldinho’s first goal for Milan earned the Rossoneri all three points and saw Inter slip down to 4th in Serie A.

Juventus also dropped points this weekend, drawing 0-0 at Sampdoria with Tiago Mendes left on the bench. Vitorino Antunes played the full ninety minutes of Lecce’s 2-0 home victory over Cagliari, while Manuel da Costa was not involved as Fiorentina beat Genoa 1-0.

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Spain - La Liga

Valencia stay top

Valencia are still top of the pile in La Liga after a 4-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna at the Mestalla maintained their slim advantage over second place Villarreal. There were three Portuguese participants in the match, with Miguel starting and Manuel Fernandes introduced just after the hour for Valencia, and Ze Castro selected in central defence for the visitors.

Pepe started for Real Madrid in their 2-1 win at Real Betis, who started Nelson at right-back, in a match which saw the champions move up into third place. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid’s recent good form came to a halt, as without Maniche and Simao Sabrosa Los Rojiblancos fell to a 1-0 home defeat to Sevilla at the Vicente Calderon.

There was a Portuguese in both match squads as Mallorca won 2-1 at Racing Santander, with Jose Nunes starting as the Islanders came away with all three points at the expense of Jorge Goncalves, who was left on the Racing bench. Helder Rosaria, Duda and Eliseu all started for Malaga in their 2-1 victory over Valladolid. Roberto Beto was not in the Recreativo squad for their 1-0 defeat at Almeria.

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Others

France

Paulo Machado was given a start in midfield for St Etienne in their 1-1 draw with Bordeaux at the Stade Chaban-Delmas on Sunday evening. The Portuguese, who is on loan from Porto for the season, was withdrawn on 71 minutes as his side relinquished a 27th-minute lead, given to them by Payet’s goal, when Fernando Cavenaghi struck for the hosts early in the second half.

Greece

Fernando Santos’ PAOK Saloniki moved up into second place in Greece with a 1-0 home win over Aris on Sunday. Sergio Conceicao was unavailable for Santos’ side, while Vieirinha started but was replaced at half time. Edinho played the full ninety minutes up front for AEK Athens as they drew 2-2 at Panionios, who were without Luis Lourenco.

Romania

Antonio Semedo returned to champions CFR Cluj for the first time since joining Steaua Bucharest over the summer, as last season’s top two played out a 1-1 draw on Friday. The Portuguese forward was subbed ahead of the hour, while Tiago Gomes came on for the final twenty minutes for Steaua, who relinquish top spot. Tony, Ricardo Cadu and Dani all started for Cluj, ahead of their historic meeting with Chelsea on Wednesday.

Jose Peseiro’s Rapid Bucharest dropped down into 11th place after a surprise 3-1 home defeat to Arges Pitesti. Peseiro, who is coming under increasing pressure in the capital, started all three of his Portuguese contingent: Ricardo Fernandes and Joao Paulo Andrade in defence, with Joao Paulo Pinto in attack.

Dinamo Bucharest are the new leaders, although Bruno Simao missed their 2-1 win at Gloria Bistrita. Portuguese forward Diogo Ramos, formerly of Porto, scored Gloria’s goal. Unirea Urziceni are the surprise team in second place, and Bruno Fernandes was in defence as they won 2-0 at FC Vaslui, who had Hugo Luz at the back.

Chico Fernandes was amongst the goals for Farul Constanta, getting an 11th-minute opener in their 1-1 draw with Otelul Galati. Ex-Leixoes defender Nuno Diogo was also on the scoresheet this weekend in Romania, scoring the opening goal just after the hour as his side beat Gaz Metan 2-0 at home.

Bottom place Gloria Buzau started with Tiago, Miguel Fallardo, Pedro Russiano and Jorge Tavares in their starting line-up, but could not avoid a 1-0 home defeat to Pandurii Targu-Jiu. Carlos Milhazes was in defence for Poli Timisoara in their 2-0 win at Politehnica Iasi, for whom Nuno Viveiros was in the forward line, while Rui Duarte and Paulo Adriano both started for FC Brasov in a 0-0 draw at Universitatea Craiova.

Russia

Danny played in midfield for Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg as they warmed up for their midweek Champions League clash with Real Madrid by beating Lokomotiv Moscow 3-0 in the capital. The result does not change Zenit’s league position, however, with Dick Advocaat’s men languishing in 7th place.

Scotland

Pedro Mendes continued in the heart of the Rangers midfield as his new club maintained their three-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a comfortable 3-0 win at Hibernian. Filipe Morais was not involved for Hibernian. Bruno Aguiar, back from long-term injury, watched from the substitutes’ bench as Hearts lost 3-0 at Dundee United.

Serbia

Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade have six wins from their opening six games at the start of the new season, after Almani Moreira scored the only goal in a 1-0 home victory over Vojvodina. The Portuguese no. 10 played the full ninety minutes for Partizan, getting on the scoresheet ten minutes into the second half.

Switzerland

FC Basel saw their lead at the top of the Swiss Super League cut to two points after a surprising 2-1 home defeat to Young Boys Bern. Carlitos started the match for champions Basel, but was taken off on 77 minutes with his side already 2-0 down. Hapless FC Luzern, who are rock-bottom of the table, were beaten 1-0 at Vaduz, with Nelson Ferreira playing the full match and Joao Paiva coming on as a late substitute.

Turkey

Fernando Meira’s Galatasaray appear to be finally up and running after a slow start to the Turkish league season. Having been eliminated from the Champions League preliminary round by Steaua Bucharest, Gala started the new domestic season with two wins and two draws from their opening four games. However, a convincing 4-1 win over Konyaspor on Sunday, with Meira in defence, sees the champions up into third place in the Turkcell Super League.

Elsewhere in Turkey, Neca looked to have won the match for Ankaraspor at Genclerbirligi, but a quick equaliser saw the hosts snatch a point. Portuguese midfielder Neca, who started the match, put his side ahead on 77 minutes, only to see Brazilian forward Kahe level for Genclerbirligi just five minutes later.

Ukraine

Early season pacesetters Metalurh Donetsk dropped down to second place in the Ukrainian Premier League, despite earning a respectable 1-1 draw at local rivals Shakhtar Donetsk. Full-back Mario Sergio started for Metalurh, who have 22 points from nine games and are second to Dynamo Kiev only on goal difference.

Star Performer

Almani Moreira (Partizan Belgrade)

The well-travelled Portuguese midfielder has been an integral part of Partizan’s recent domination of Serbian football, and the former Portugal under-21 international’s winner in the weekend win over Vojvodina maintained his team’s 100% start to the new league season.

Earlier Round-ups