Our world tour starts in Russia, where Zenit St. Petersburg have given the Premier League title a rare trip away from Moscow.

RUSSIA

Zenit St. Petersburg won their first league title since 1984 after a deflected shot from defender Radek Sirl gave them a 1-0 win at Saturn Ramenskoye on the final day of the season, keeping them two points ahead of Spartak Moscow.

Spartak beat city rivals Dynamo 2-1 at home while last year's champions CSKA finished third and claimed a UEFA Cup.

FC Moscow came fourth for their best ever finish with a 3-1 home defeat of Luch Energiya Vladivostok, who narrowly avoided the drop as Kuban Kranodar and Rostov were relegated.

PORTUGAL

Benfica closed the gap at the top with a crushing 6-1 victory over Boavista as leaders Porto were held to a 2-2 draw at Estrela Amadora on Sunday.

Champions Porto lead the standings with 26 points from 10 matches, four ahead of Benfica. Sporting lost ground in the title race with a 3-0 defeat at Braga.

Vitoria Guimaraes drew 0-0 with Pacos Ferreira on Friday to stay third, ahead of Sporting and Vitoria Setubal, who beat Academica 3-1.

Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez put Porto ahead with a shot midway through the first half and midfielder Raul Meireles doubled the lead just after the interval following a pass by Ricardo Quaresma.

The northern team looked to be easing to their ninth victory of the campaign but Amadora struck twice in the last four minutes, Brazilian defender Mauricio heading in a free kick and his compatriot Mateus converting a penalty.

Striker Nuno Gomes scored twice in Benfica's record win in their new Luz stadium.

The home side went in front when Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo tapped in a cross by playmaker Rui Costa after 18 minutes.

Boavista, forced to play from the 55th minute with 10 men following the sending-off of midfielder Ze Katanga, equalised when defender Jorge Ribeiro finished off a counter-attack.

Uruguayan midfielders Maxi Pereira Pereira and Cristian Rodriguez put Benfica 3-1 ahead with two goals in four minutes.

Ricardo Silva conceded an own goal before Nuno Gomes struck twice, once from the penalty spot, to complete the rout.

NETHERLANDS

Ajax stayed top of the Dutch league on Sunday after they drew 2-2 at archrivals Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven were held 1-1 by AZ Alkmaar.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst opened the scoring for a dominant Feyenoord after 28 minutes but Dennis Rommedahl and Siem de Jong turned the game around for Ajax early in the second half.

Jonathan de Guzman Salvaged a point for Feyenoord, following up to score after goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg had parried a penalty from Theo Lucius.

Brazilian Ari put Alkmaar ahead in Eindhoven but Peruvian Jefferson Farfan curled a free kick around the wall for PSV's equaliser in the 59th minute.

Ajax are top on 25 points, ahead of Feyenoord on goal difference and PSV by one point.

BRAZIL

Corinthians moved closer to safety after holding on for a dramatic 1-1 draw away to fellow strugglers Goias in a key relegation match.

Goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni converted a penalty as Sao Paulo, who have already won the championship, beat Gremio 1-0 while Vasco da Gama squandered a 3-0 lead in a 3-3 draw with Figueirense.

Corinthians, one of Brazil's most popular clubs and champions two years ago, stayed one point clear of Goias and the danger zone after the hosts missed a late penalty.

In a tense match, Goias went ahead on the half hour when captain Paulo Baier reacted quickly to hook the ball in after a free kick rebounded off a defender.

Fabio Ferreira equalised six minutes later with a header. Goias were awarded a penalty in the 76th minute for a foul by Iran but Paulo Baier turned villain when his effort was saved by goalkeeper Felipe.

Figueirense produced one of the season's most impressive fightbacks as they scored three times in 13 minutes to draw with Vasco.

Flamengo moved into third place by beating second-placed Santos 1-0 with a headed goal by Souza in front of an 87,000 crowd at the Maracana.

Santos fell 17 points behind Sao Paulo, who beat Gremio with Rogerio Ceni's seventh goal of the championship.

ARGENTINA

Boca Juniors stayed hot on the heels of leaders Lanus by thumping Velez Sarsfield 4-0 at the Bombonera on an unhappy afternoon for visiting coach Ricardo La Volpe.

With three matches each to play, the win kept Boca three points behind surprise leaders Lanus, who moved closer to their first domestic title by winning 4-1 at Rosario Central on Friday.

Velez coach La Volpe was given a hostile reception by the Boca crowd on his return to the club where he was coach for four months last year.

Boca fans have still not forgiven La Volpe after their team, needing one point from their last two games to win last year's Apertura championship, lost both and were beaten by Estudiantes in a title playoff.

La Volpe resigned immediately afterwards.

Boca striker Martin Palermo compounded La Volpe's misery by heading two trademark goals, both from Hugo Ibarra crosses, before halftime.

Rodrigo Palacio tapped in the third in the 77th minute from a pass by Uruguayan Alvaro Gonzalez, who completed the scoring himself one minute later.

Promoted Tigre moved into third place, two points behind Boca, with a comfortable 3-0 win over San Martin.

Independiente's title hopes were effectively ended when they lost 2-1 at home to Estudiantes, who continued an impressive revival.

Huracan continued their improved form under coach Osvaldo Ardiles, beating River Plate 2-1 to climb to 11th. River, semi-finalists in the Copa Sudamericana, rested several key players.

URUGUAY

Cerro Porteno's hopes of winning the Paraguayan title effectively ended as they drew 3-3 with Tacuary after having a goal controversially disallowed.

Cerro goalkeeper Rodrigo Munoz became the latest South American goalkeeper to double as a penalty taker with his brace in the 2-1 win over Danubio.

Munoz opened his account in the 51st minute and struck again five minutes from time as midtable Cerro severely dented Danubio's title chances. Danubio replied with a late goal from Ignacio Gonzalez.

Leaders Defensor Sporting crashed to a 5-1 defeat at River Plate, where in-form Porta scored four of the goals for the hosts.

Porta opened his account in the 14th minute, converted a penalty three minutes later, completed his hat-trick before halftime and added a fourth in the 76th minute.

An own goal by Williams Martinez completed River's tally while Mauro Villa notched a late consolation for the visitors.

Defensor, who have 26 points from 12 games in the Apertura championship, stayed top on goal difference from Rampla Juniors, who beat Liverpool 1-0 with a Martin Peula goal. Danubio are four points behind.

River, led by eccentric former Uruguay coach Juan Ramon Carrasco, are a further two points behind.

PARAGUAY

Libertad, leaders of the Clausura championship, stretched their advantage over second-placed Cerro Porteno to six points with three matches each to play after their 3-0 win at 12 de Octubre.

Cerro squandered a 3-1 halftime lead as they were held 3-3 at Tacuary and also had a goal disallowed when they were 3-2 ahead. The referee ruled that the ball had not crossed the line after Ernesto Cristaldo's shot bounced down off the crossbar.

COLOMBIA

Independiente Medellin missed out on a place in the semi-final group stage of the Finalizacion championship after losing 4-3 at home to Quindio.

Jaime Castrillon and Diego Alvarez, from a penalty, scored for Medellin in the first half but Ivan Velasquez equalised on each occasion for already-eliminated Quindio.

Luis Fernando Mosquera put Quindio 3-2 ahead after halftime, Ivan Corredor equalised in the 81st minute but Mosquera struck again three minutes later.

Medellin's defeat allowed La Equidad to take the final spot despite losing 2-1 at home to Atletico Nacional.

Atletico Nacional, La Equidad, America, Tolima, Cucuta, Pasto and Once Caldas had already qualified.

CHILE

Marcelo Salas converted two penalties as Universidad de Chile won 3-1 at Everton, who slumped to their sixth successive defeat.

Universidad, already qualified for the quarter-finals, stayed second in Group Three, two points behind Audax Italiano who drew 1-1 with Puerto Montt.

Group One leaders Colo Colo hammered Huachipato 4-0 with two goals each from Eduardo Rubio and Rodolfo Moya. Universidad de Concepcion and O'Higgins lead the other groups.

ECUADOR

A second half goal from Luis Bolanos gave LDU a 1-0 win over Deportivo Azogues as they stayed six points clear at the top of the championship's final stage.

LDU have 17 points from five games, including four bonus points carried through from earlier stages of the competition.

PERU

Cienciano, 3-0 winners over Alianza Lima, went top of the championship's second stage, overhauling previous leaders Coronel Bolognesi, who were beaten 1-0 at Sporting Cristal as they lost their third game in a row.

Cienciano lead on goal difference.

VENEZUELA

Leaders Caracas FC lost 1-0 at Monagas, where Armando Maita scored the only goal in the 56th minute.

Second-placed Deportivo Anzoategui won 3-1 at Estrella Roja to cut the gap to two points.

SERBIA

Partizan Belgrade needed an injury time penalty by Brazilian midfielder Juca to salvage a 1-1 home draw with neighbours Cukaricki, which saw their lead reduced to three points.

Second-placed Vojvodina gained ground with a 1-0 home win over Banat Zrenjanin while champions Red Star Belgrade in third are five points behind the leaders with a game in hand after a 5-2 success at Smederevo.

POLAND

Wisla Krakow scored a 3-0 home win over Groclin Grodzisk that kept their unbeaten record intact and left them seven points ahead of closest rivals Kolporter Korona Kielce, who were 2-0 winners at Widzew Lodz.

UKRAINE

Champions Dynamo Kiev beat leaders Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 at home to open up the title race. Second-placed Dnipro Dnipropterovsk closed in with a 2-1 win at at Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih.

Shakhtar have 40 points, Dnipro 37 and Dynamo 33.

BOSNIA

Eight people, including seven policemen, were injured when rival fans in Mostar clashed before the local derby between Zrinjski and Velez.

Zrinjski won the derby to move up to fourth while leaders Modrica suffered a 3-0 setback at Sloboda Tuzla.

CROATIA

Champions Dinamo Zagreb beat Osijek 1-0 to stay 12 points clear at the top after second-placed Rijeka came from behind to beat NK Zagreb 2-1.

SLOVAKIA

Champions Zilina stayed in the driving seat after midfielder Mario Breska's hat-trick inspired them to a 4-0 home rout of Kosice, closest rivals Artmedia Bratislava keeping up the pressure with a 3-0 win over Ruzomberok to stay a point behind.

BULGARIA

CSKA Sofia beat Botev Plovdiv 2-0 to go seven points clear at the top after city rivals Levski had their home match against Chernomorets Burgas postponed over heavy snowfall.

Lokomotiv Sofia leapfrogged Levski into second after two goals from Marcho Dafchev helped them to a 3-1 win at Pirin Blagoevgrad.

Reuters