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Our weekly whizz around the globe begins in Argentina, where fierce rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate clashed in the 'Superclasico'.

ARGENTINA

Boca Juniors ended 10 days of internal squabbling by beating arch-rivals River Plate 1-0 away in the biggest fixture of the Argentine season despite playing most of the second half with 10 men.

Lucas Viatri headed the only goal following a Juan Roman Riquelme free kick in the 61st minute, nine minutes after Hugo Ibarra was sent off for insulting a linesman over the award of a throw-in.

Defending champions River, who have won only once in 10 games, were spared the indignity of going bottom of the 20-team Apertura championship when Rosario Central lost 1-0 at home to Gimnasia-La Plata.

Central, one of the country's most successful provincial clubs, were left bottom after Walter Ribonetto put through his own goal to give new coach Gustavo Alfaro a losing start.

River stayed above Central on goal difference with both teams on eight points.

Boca also went into the game under pressure. Having lost three of their previous four matches they were then hit by a public row after defender Julio Cesar Caceres gave a radio interview criticising Riquelme, who immediately hit back.

A peace agreement was reached on Friday after the Paraguay defender apologised and the two hugged each other after the final whistle.

The mercurial Riquelme (pictured, left) answered his critics with an excellent performance as he controlled the Boca midfield.

River edged the first half, striker Radamel Falcao Garcia hitting the post with a shot which slipped through goalkeeper Javier Garcia's hands.

Boca dominated the second, squandering two chances on the break before Riquelme fired narrowly wide from the edge of the area.

Boca moved up to fourth place with 17 points, still eight behind leaders San Lorenzo who beat San Martin-Tucuman on Saturday.

San Lorenzo won their sixth match in a row when they beat promoted San Martin-Tucuman 1-0 to stay top.

Forward Andres Silvera scored the winner in the 25th minute after a mistake by defender Juan Monge, who had been close to giving the visitors the lead three minutes earlier.

San Lorenzo, whose coach Miguel Angel Russo is among the favourites to take over the Argentina national team following Alfio Basile's resignation on Thursday, have 25 points from 10 games.

Tigre stayed five points behind in second place with a 3-0 win over Lanus, Martin Morel scoring twice after Leonel Altobelli had put them ahead.

Independiente gave Miguel Angel Santoro a winning start to his sixth stint in charge by winning 2-1 at Colon with two first-half goals from Leonel Nunez.

Santoro's previous five spells were as caretaker but this time he has been given the job on a full-time basis after replacing Claudio Borghi.

BRAZIL

Three players were sent off as Palmeiras came from two goals down to hold Sao Paulo 2-2 in a Brazilian championship match between two bitter rivals.

The draw moved Palmeiras within one point of leaders Gremio, who lost 2-0 at struggling Portuguesa, although they dropped from second to third after Cruzeiro beat Atletico Mineiro 2-0 to overtake them on games won.

Sao Paulo, two points behind Palmeiras in fourth, were making their first visit to the Palestra Italia stadium since April when they were forced to flee their dressing-room after it filled with a mysterious gas.

The game got off to an explosive start with a goal and two red cards in the first seven minutes.

Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni converted a fifth-minute penalty for his fourth goal of the championship to put the defending champions ahead.

Palmeiras tried to kick off quickly with Ceni still scuttling back to his goal and their opponents blocked them, leading to a scuffle which ended with red cards for Borges (Sao Paulo) and Diego Souza (Palmeiras)

Dagoberto fired the visitors further ahead with a shot from the edge of the area one minute before half-time.

But Palmeiras replied with two goals in three minutes late in the game as striker Kleber turned in Denilson's cross and Leandro scored with a deflected free kick.

The equaliser prompted wild celebrations with the entire Palmeiras bench running on to the pitch to celebrate.

The hosts finished with nine players after Roque Junior was sent off for a second bookable offence.

With eight rounds of matches to play, only four points separate leaders Gremio, who have 56 points, from fifth-placed Flamengo.

Gremio fell behind in the 55th minute at Portuguesa when Edigle headed in from a corner and Edno rounded the goalkeeper to add the second in stoppage-time.

Cruzeiro, who have 55 points, moved into second place after extending their unbeaten run against local rivals Atletico Mineiro to eight games.

Johnathan opened the scoring in the Belo Horizonte derby with an angled shot in the 42nd minute and Guilherme added a stoppage- time penalty for the Foxes.

Flamengo kept their chances alive by beating Vasco da Gama 1-0 in a Rio de Janeiro derby with an own goal by Jorge Luiz in the 43rd minute.

Flamengo are fifth on 52 points and Vasco stayed bottom.

PERU

Peruvian champions Deportivo San Martin won 1-0 away to Sport Ancash at the weekend despite turning up half an hour late for the match, prompting the hosts to say they would appeal against the result.

San Martin stayed top of the championship's second stage despite their problems in reaching the Andean city of Huaraz for the game with Sport Ancash.

The match kicked off 30 minutes late because of a delay to San Martin's flight from Lima. The visitors said Huaraz's airport was temporarily shut but Ancash president Jose Mallqui was not sympathetic and said his club wanted the three points.

"The rules say the clubs have to arrive earlier and if they travel on the day of the match, it's a risk they have decided to take. It was a clear walkover," he said.

"Under the circumstances, it's obvious that Ancash will complain to the ADFP (Peruvian league) asking for three points."

San Martin's 17-year-old Christian Cueva scored the 86th minute winner, which Ancash claimed to be offside.

San Martin have 33 points from 15 games, four ahead of Sporting Cristal who were held 1-1 by Cesar Vallejo.

PARAGUAY

Tacuary's match with Silvio Pettirossi pulled in only 76 fans at the Roberto Bettega stadium and produced four red cards.

The hosts, who won with a 20th-minute goal from Daniel Fereira, had Nery Bareiro sent off after half an hour for a bad tackle and Riki Kitawaki dismissed in the 64th minute.

Pettirossi's Oscar Bareira was sent off in the 70th minute followed by by Matias Ortiz in the last minute.

Libertad, winners of the last three tournaments, lead the Clausura championship with 26 points from 13 games after drawing 0-0 at home to 3 de Febrero. Second-placed Guarani lost 1-0 to a 90th-minute strike from Jorge Sanabria at Sportivo Luqueno.

BOLIVIA

Aurora survived an overnight bus journey over mountain roads to hold on for a 1-1 draw away to Real Potosi, one of the world's highest first division grounds at nearly 4,000 metres above sea level, in the first leg of their Clausura championship semi-final.

Gonzalo Galindo gave Potosi an early lead but Vladimir Castellon equalised for the Cochabamba-based team in the 57th minute.

Aurora had planed to fly from their base to Sucre, near Potosi, but their plane was diverted to La Paz, from where the team faced an eight-hour road trip.

Brazilian Regis de Souza scored twice as La Paz FC beat Blooming 2-1 at home in the other game, Joselito Vaca replying.

CHILE

Deportes Melipilla had three players sent off in a 2-0 home defeat by Palestino. Trouble broke out when Jean Paul Pinedo put the visitors 2-0 ahead in the 78th minute after team mate Hector Pericas appeared to handle.

Cesar Diaz and Ivan Alvarez were both dismissed as Melipilla furiously protested the decision.

Pericas had put Palestino ahead in the 33rd minute and the hosts had Hernan Pages sent off early in the second half.

Palestino lead Group Three in the Clausura championship with 30 points from 16 games.

Cobreloa raced to a 4-0 lead in 40 minutes at home to Colo Colo, Gustavo Savoia scoring twice, but then had to hang on after the visitors replied three times, twice through Lucas Barrios.

COLOMBIA

Titleholders Boyaca Chico managed only their fourth win of the Clausura championship when they came from behind to beat Millonarios 2-1.

Yedinson Palacios and Leonardo Fabio Moreno scored twice in two minutes early in the second half after Jose Mera had given Millonarios the lead.

Boyaca remained 17th in the 18-team table with 14 points although they are only five behind fifth-placed Millonarios. The top eight qualify for the semi-final group stage.

Striker Sergio Herrera scored a hat-trick to help Deportivo Cali win 4-1 at Once Caldas and go second, four points behind Tolima who lost 3-2 to Atletico Huila.

ECUADOR

Barcelona completed their seventh game without conceding a goal as they held El Nacional to a goalless draw at the start of the final stage of the 2008 championship.

South American champions LDU beat Macara 1-0 and Deportivo Quito beat Deportivo Cuenca by the same score.

Deportivo Quito lead the table with six points, having carried three bonus points through from the earlier stages of the complex tournament. LDU have five, including two bonuses, and Barcelona two.

MEXICO

Monterrey coach Ricardo La Volpe was sent off as his side were embarrassingly beaten 4-1 at home in their derby by a Tigres UANL team he had described as boring during the week.

The former Mexico coach, ordered from the touchline in the 38th minute for dissent, had said that he would rather go shopping or take up baseball than watch Tigres play.

The goals all came in a remarkable last 20 minutes with Monterrey, who extended their winless run to six games, going ahead through Carlos Ochoa in the 73rd minute of Saturday's game.

Jose Arturo Rivas levelled in the 78th minute before Lucas Lobos scored from a penalty and free kick in a three-minute spell while Ochoa was sent off for a bad tackle.

Francisco Acuna completed La Volpe's humiliation with a fourth goal in injury-time.

Monterrey are fourth in Group One of the Apertura championship with 13 points from as many games while Tigres, led by Mexico's 1998 World Cup coach Manuel Lapuente, are second in Group Three with 21 after 12 games.

Guadalajara, Mexico's most popular side, revived their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals by beating Atlante 1-0 with a Sergio Santana goal while America stayed bottom of Group Two after being held 0-0 by Indios Ciudad Juarez.

AFRICA

Egypt's Al Ahli will meet Coton Sport of Cameroon in the African Champions League final after both sides won their semi-final, second leg matches.

A 26th minute goal from Angola international Flavio, from a trademark cross by compatriot Gilberto, handed Al Ahli a 1-0 win over Enyimba in Cairo after a gaolless first leg.

Ahli are only the second team to reach four successive African Champions League finals.

Coton Sport will play in their first Champions League final after a 4-0 win over Dynamos of Zimbabwe in Garoua.

The Cameroon side, the first from the central African country to reach the final since 1980, won 5-0 on aggregate after winning 1-0 in Harare a fortnight ago.

They took just a minute in the return to double the aggregate scoreline through Kana Ndzana.

Zoua Daogari scored the second goal in the 50th minute followed by Kamliou Daouda with his seventh of the campaign 15 minutes later before Baba Ousmaila added a fourth.

The first leg of the final will be in Cairo on the weekend of November 1-2 with the return in Cameroon two weeks later.

Al Ahli are seeking to become the first team to win six Champions League titles.

NETHERLANDS

NAC Breda registered a stunning 2-1 home win over champions PSV Eindhoven to go top of the table for the first time since the league went professional in 1956 as leaders Groningen suffered their first loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat at Ajax.

Mounir El Hamdaoui struck twice to earn AZ Alkmaar a 2-0 win at Graafschap Doetinchem and steer them to third place, while PSV slipped to fourth.

Feyenoord's league woes continued after their third defeat in a row, a 1-0 reverse against Willem II Tilburg, left the Rotterdam side 15th with four points.

GREECE

A second-half double from Argentine winger Luciano Galletti steered Oympiacos to a 2-0 win over Panthrakikos and extended their lead after their main rivals lost ground on a weekend in which five of the eight games ended level, four of them scoreless.

PAOK Salonika, who provided one of those stalemates at home to Panathinaikos, fell four points adrift in second. Xanthi and Larissa lie a further point back after away draws.

Reuters