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| Sunday, October 20, 2002 15:20 EST |
Real shut out in first loss
[Reuters]
Primera Liga | Serie A | Bundesliga | France | Scotland | Finland
MADRID -- Real Madrid were dealt their first defeat of the season by an inspired Racing Santander, who
produced a sparkling exhibition of attacking football to claim
an impressive 2-0 win over the European champions on Saturday.
Goals from Uruguayan striker Mario Regueiro and former Real
Madrid forward Pedro Munitis secured what could have been an
even more comfortable win for the Cantabrians, who only returned
to the top flight this season.
The result underlines Real's poor road form in the league
with their last victory away from the Bernabeu coming at the end
of March against Sevilla.
In another upset, Villarreal scored their first victory of the season after they came from behind to earn
a deserved 3-1 win over Deportivo Coruna.
Depor took the lead after just eight minutes when Victor Sanchez directed a Fran free kick into the net with a sharp
header.
But Villarreal fought back and got its lucky break three
minutes into the second half when defender Cesar miscued his
clearance from a harmless cross and sent the ball spinning into
his own net.
Victor Fernandez gave Villarreal the lead from the penalty
spot midway through the second half and despite being reduced to
10 men after defender Unai was sent off they continued to attack
and grabbed a third when Brazilian international Juliano
Belletti headed home in the dying minutes.
Real, missing the injured Luis Figo and Raul, looked
uncomfortable without the ball, and Ronaldo, making his first
start in a full game for his new side, was forced to live off
scraps.
Defending champions Valencia missed their chance to return to the top of the table when they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Atletico
Madrid.
Italy: Inter rallies for tie
ROME -- Inter Milan and Juventus drew a
remarkable match 1-1 on Saturday thanks to a last-ditch goal by
Inter striker Christian Vieri.
The match had looked as though it was heading Juventus's way
when Alessandro Del Piero scored from the penalty spot after
Inter defender Francesco Coco was judged to have brought down
Mauro Camoranesi.
But a frenetic and bad-tempered finale -- in which referee
Pierluigi Collina sent off Juventus's Antonio Conte and Inter's
Domenico Morfeo for brawling --- ended with a corner being
converted by Christian Vieri four minutes into injury time.
The draw leaves Inter three points ahead of second-placed AC
Milan at the top of Serie A and Juventus in third on nine
points, equal with AS Roma.
AS Roma moved up to third place with a 3-1 win at Empoli on Saturday.
Brazilian midfielder Emerson put Roma ahead in the 31st
minute, driving the ball low through a crowd of defenders from a
Vincent Candela corner.
Three minutes later Candela doubled the visitors' advantage,
striking the ball high past Empoli goalkeeper Gianluca Berti.
Empoli pulled a goal back in the 76th minute when Antonio Di
Natale volleyed home but Damiano Tommasi sealed the Rome side's
victory with a goal in the 90th.
Germany: Dortmund still undefeated
BERLIN -- Bayern Munich boosted its morale four days before its vital Champions League clash with AC Milan by
winning 1-0 at Hansa Rostock to move five points clear at the top the German first division.
The Bavarians, who need a good result in Milan on Wednesday to avoid an early exit after picking up just one point from their first three Champions League games, wasted several chances when Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto hit the winner from close range in the 73rd
minute.
Brazilian striker Elber had rattled the crossbar on 62 minutes as Bayern kept the pressure on the northerners, now in seventh after their fourth straight home defeat.
Ze Roberto then followed up after goalkeeper Mathias Schober had failed to block an effort from playmaker Michael Ballack to give Bayern
victory.
"We controlled the game and you could see that we wanted to win at any price," said Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. "Rostock concentrated on defending and left us very little space but we still should have taken the lead much earlier."
Defending champions Borussia Dortmund stayed in second but dropped five points back after a goalless draw at home with Arminia Bielefeld.
Dortmund, which came close when Brazilian striker Ewerthon hit the post with a header on 11 minutes, remains the only undefeated side after nine Bundesliga games.
"We created more chances than Bielefeld but we would not have deserved to win because we didn't play that well," said Dortmund coach Matthias Sammer, who will probably have to make do without Christoph Metzelder for a few games.
The Germany defender, who had just recovered from a heel injury, was substituted at halftime with a broken nose and will almost certainly miss Dortmund's Champions League match at home to PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
Werder Bremen remained in third, level on points with Dortmund, after a spectacular 4-4 draw at Hanover 96.
Last season's runners-up Bayer Leverkusen held on with 10 men for a 1-0 victory over Kaiserslautern that lifted them three spots up to 12th.
France: Olympique Lyon posts shutout
PARIS -- A hat trick by Brazil's Juninho Pernambucano gave champion Olympique Lyon an important 3-0 victory at home to pace setters AJ Auxerre.
The Brazilian struck twice with direct free kicks in the 36th and 76th minutes and in between scored from close range in the 50th minute after being set up by Eric Carriere, who won the ball from Auxerre's defense just outside the box.
Lyon jumped from ninth to fifth place on 18 points, three behind Auxerre who lost top spot to Nice on goal difference.
Nice held struggling Nantes to a goalless draw in a later game on Saturday.
Auxerre had not lost since the opening day of the season on Aug. 3 when they were beaten 1-0 at PSG.
They held firm for half an hour as Lyon strikers Sidney Govou and Sonny Anderson struggled against a strong defense led by young French international Philippe Mexes.
But Juninho's first free kick, a curving shot around Auxerre's wall, broke the deadlock in what then became a one-sided encounter.
Both teams are in Champions League action next week with Lyon hosting Inter Milan after winning in Italy while Auxerre are at Arsenal, having lost at home against the Londoners.
Despite having midfielder Jerome Leroy sent off, Paris St Germain won away at Troyes 2-1 with Argentine Martin Cardetti and Brazil's Ronaldinho scoring their goals in the first eight minutes.
The replacement of Stade Rennes coach Philippe Bergeroo by former Lille manager Vahid Halilhodzic paid off as the Brittany side humbled Sedan 3-1 for only their second victory of the season, the first away.
Olympique Marseille and Racing Strasbourg meet on Sunday.
Scotland: Rangers build on standings lead
GLASGOW -- Rangers opened up a four-point gap over Celtic at the top of the Scottish premier league after a 3-0 home win over 10-man Motherwell.
Lorenzo Amoruso put Rangers ahead in the second minute and Peter Lovenkrands doubled their advantage midway through the second
half. Ronald de Boer added a third in stoppage time.
Third-placed Dunfermline missed the chance to close the gap on Celtic, which plays fourth-place Hearts on Sunday, when they drew 2-2 at Kilmarnock after twice leading.
Livingston moved off the bottom thanks to a stirring comeback against fellow strugglers Dundee United. Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Livingston banged in three second-half goals to clinch an unlikely 3-2 victory on Saturday.
Rangers manager Alex McLeish was satisfied with his side's performance.
"Motherwell played and competed extremely hard so we're pleased with the result," he said. "Once we got the second goal we managed to break Motherwell's hearts a bit, but I knew something had to give when we won a succession of corners."
Hibernian moved up to fifth place after two goals from Garry O'Connor and Mixu Paatelainen handed the Edinburgh side an impressive 3-0 win at Partick Thistle. Hibs have now won five successive games.
Aberdeen and Dundee fought out a dull, goalless draw.
Finland: HJK Helsinki clinches title
HELSINKI -- HJK Helsinki clinched its 20th
Finnish league championship on Saturday, beating FC Allianssi
1-0 thanks to a goal from Mika Kottila.
The strike in the 68th minute was all HJK needed to give the
team its first league title since 1997 and capping a successful
inaugural year in charge for coach Keith Armstrong.
Armstrong had previously won three straight championships
with Haka Valkeakoski in 1998-2000 before moving to HJK at the
start of this year.
MyPa sealed second spot with a 5-3 come-from-behind win over
Haka, which meant the Valkeakoski side will finish third in the
league. There are still two matches to play.
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