The Hindu : Real Madrid holds on to top spot

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Real Madrid holds on to top spot

LONDON, MARCH 29. Arsenal's draw was record-breaking, AC Milan's draw was nearly as good as a win and Werder Bremen's draw was lifesaving.

But it was Real Madrid, the team that needed it the most, which was the only major European league leader to come away with a win on Sunday.

The defending Spanish champion held on to first place by crushing Sevilla 5-1 as Ronaldo scored two goals in his return to league play.

Santiago Solari, Zinedine Zidane and Michel Salgado also scored for Madrid, which topped Monaco 4-2 in the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday but had not won in its previous three league matches.

Arsenal increased its unbeaten run to 30 in the Premier League this season after holding defending champion Manchester United to a 1-1 draw. Thierry Henry gave the Gunners the lead, but Louis Saha equalised for Man United.

European champion AC Milan came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Chievo in the Serie A. Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko, the league's leading scorer with 20 goals, netted one each in the last 10 minutes for Milan.

Bremen earned a wild 4-4 draw against Stuttgart as Ailton scored a pair of goals. The Bundesliga leaders came back from a goal down three times to get the point.

Chelsea stayed in second place in the English Premier League by pounding Wolves 5-2 as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored a hat-trick on his 32nd birthday. Mario Melchiot and Frank Lampard also scored for Chelsea.

The battle for fourth place and the final Champions League spot heated up as Liverpool was held to a 0-0 draw at Leicester, while Bolton edged Newcastle 1-0.

Arsenal is first in the standings with 74 points, followed by Chelsea with 67 and Man United with 62. Liverpool is fourth with 46 points, followed by Newcastle and Birmingham, which crushed Leeds 4-1, with 45 each.

At Spain

Valencia remained one point behind Real Madrid in the Spanish league after blanking Racing de Santander 3-0 as Vicente Rodriguez scored two goals and forced another.

FC Barcelona may have to wait until April 14 to see if it can reclaim third place from Deportivo de La Coruna, which beat Real Sociedad 2-1. Barca's match against Real Betis was called off due to a waterlogged field.

Madrid leads the league with 64 points, followed by Valencia with 63 and Deportivo with 56. Barcelona is fourth with 55 points and a game in hand.

At Italy

David Trezeguet scored a pair of goals as defending Serie A champion Juventus gained two points on leader AC Milan after beating Modena 3-1. Enzo Maresca also scored for Juve.

Third-place AS Roma faltered, losing to Bologna 2-1. Fabio Pecchia and Igli Tare scored for Bologna while Antonio Cassano had levelled for Roma.

Milan remains firmly in first place with 68 points, while Juventus trails with 59. Roma is next with 57 points and match in hand.

At Germany

Bayern Munich barely stayed in the Bundesliga title race by beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 5-2. Owen Hargreaves and Michael Ballack scored late goals to ensure the win, while Sammy Kuffour, Roque Santa Cruz and Roy Makaay also scored for the defending champion.

Bremen leads the league with 62 points, nine more than Bayern with 53. Stuttgart is third with 58 points.

At Netherlands

Ajax increased its lead in the Dutch league by one point despite being held to a 1-1 draw by AZ Alkmaar. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored for Ajax but Olaf Lindenbergh pulled one back.

PSV Eindhoven stayed in second place, but missed a chance to make up ground on Ajax by losing to Willem II Tilburg 3-1.

Ajax is on top with 65 points, followed by PSV with 53 and Feyenoord, which downed Roda JC Kerkrade 3-0, with 52.

At France

Both Lyon and Monaco managed to stay at the top of the French league with 1-0 wins.

Defending champion Lyon got a goal from Giovane Elber in the first minute to edge Nice 1-0, while Dado Prso scored to lift Monaco over Le Mans 1-0.

Paris Saint-Germain missed a chance to close within three points of the leaders, losing to Lens 1-0.

Lyon and Monaco have 63 points each, with Lyon leading on goal difference. PSG is next with 57 points. — AP

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