FC Twente extended their winning streak in the Dutch Eredivisie to nine games with Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Vitesse. The only goal of the match was scored with just six minutes to go, and came from Costa Rican striker Bryan Ruiz. As a result, the gap between Steve McClaren’s Twente and second-placed PSV grows to five points, although the latter still have Sunday’s game with Heracles ahead. AZ Alkmaar earned a vital 2-4 win at Roda JC. Jeremain Lens put AZ ahead after jus... Read Full Story

Club Brugge suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Belgian Pro League, 1-2 against Germinal Beerschot, allowing RSC Anderlecht to extend their lead after a 3-1 win over Roeselare. Sherjill MacDonald put Germinal ahead in the first minute after the break at Club Brugge. Mohamed Dahmane then equalized in minute 76 but a very late goal from Tosin Dosunmu silenced the home crowd once again, 1-2. ‘Club’ were a man down for much of the second half, as Antolin Alcaraz was sent ... Read Full Story

Defending Turkish champions Besiktas remain near the top of the Super Lig following Saturday’s 3-0 victory over local rivals Fenerbahce. The Istanbul classic remained goalless until the 54th minute, when Michael Fink put home side Besiktas ahead with what turned out to be the start of much more to come. Fans at BJK Inonu Stadium again celebrated when Bobo made it 2-0 just three minutes later, and Ugur Inceman added a third with seven minutes left in regular time. Fenerbahce played the ... Read Full Story

Olympiakos Piraeus risk losing terrain on Greek leaders Panathinaikos after a 2-2 draw at PAS Giannina on Saturday. Things started well for the defending champions, with Michal Zewlakow scoring the opener after 24 minutes. When Kostas Mitroglou added a second with ten minutes to go, the match seemed all but decided. But PAS, who began the day in the relegation zone, pulled one back through Christos Tzanis in the 83rd minute and Ibrahima Bakayoko leveled the score in the dying minutes for a s... Read Full Story

Chelsea tightened their grip at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 thrashing of beleaguered Wolves on Saturday. The west Londoners produced a display of consummate authority at a soggy Stamford Bridge, capped by goals from Florent Malouda, two from Michael Essien and a welcome fourth from Joe Cole, his first since October 2008. Statistics can never be the sole measure of a side’s calibre, but Chelsea’s numbers make for impressive reading. This victory was their 12th in succ... Read Full Story

Liverpool’s stuttering season continued as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Manchester City that did little for either club’s hopes of finishing the season in the top four. Martin Skrtel’s first goal for the club gave Rafa Benitez’s side a 50th-minute lead before two goals in the space of seven minutes put City in the driving seat. Emmanuel Adebayor levelled for City before Stephen Ireland put the visitors within sight of their first win at the venue for six years. But... Read Full Story

Arsenal failed to score for the first time this season as Darren Bent maintained his impressive record against the top teams in the Premier League to earn Sunderland a 1-0 victory. Bent has already opened the scoring for Sunderland this season in matches against the rest of the so-called elite – Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. Here, his 71st minute header earned Steve Bruce’s team their first victory in five matches and showed his goalpoaching qualities. It had been a f... Read Full Story

Inter Milan got back to winning ways in Serie A on Saturday with a convincing 3-1 win over Bologna at the Dall’Ara stadium extending their lead at the top to eight points ahead of Sunday’s games. In the late match, Parma beat Fiorentina 3-2 to move temporarily up to third spot. The 10th win from 13 games this season for Italian champions Inter will undoubtedly instill confidence ahead of Inter’s Champions League match at Barcelona on Tuesday. However Inter coach Jose Mourin... Read Full Story

Real Madrid warmed up for next Sunday’s ‘El Clasico’ with a 1-0 home win over Racing Santander on Saturday to move top of the table, two points clear of champions and arch rivals Barcelona. Argentine Gonzalo Higuain’s goal after 22 minutes sealed a nervy Real victory that hardly appeased a Santiago Bernabeu crowd seething at the embarrassing Kings Cup exit to third division Alcorcon in the last home match. Barcelona can reclaim top spot with vicory at Athletic Bilbao ... Read Full Story

Emile Heskey’s 86th-minute equaliser denied Burnley another home win and lifted Aston Villa back into the Premier League’s top four with a 1-1 draw here Saturday. Burnley skipper Steven Caldwell had headed in Robbie Blake’s free-kick to give his side a 9th-minute lead that looked destined to settle the match until Heskey got on the end of a James Milner cross. Villa were visiting Burnley for a league clash for the first time since 1936 but it was the home side who appeared ... Read Full Story