Eurosport - Mon, 23 Mar 18:25:00 2009
If it is violence, sackings and red cards you want, you have come to the right place. Our global round-up starts here.
BRAZIL
Corinthians striker Ronaldo had to be content with a supporting role as his side beat Santos 1-0 in a Paulista championship match marred by crowd trouble.
There was unrest on the field in Rio de Janeiro where five players were sent off in Vasco da Gama's 2-0 win over arch-rivals Flamengo at the Maracana.
Ronaldo had scored in last previous two outings for Corinthians but this time, strike partner Dentinho stole the show when he lost his marker to meet Douglas's long cross with a powerful header in the 15th minute.
The match had been billed as a clash between former Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan striker Ronaldo and Santos' 17-year-old prodigy Neymar, but neither had an outstanding game.
Neymar, who had scored in two of his four appearances and is already being compared to former Santos forward Robinho, was taken off midway through the second half.
"It's very good to win," said Ronaldo. "It was his (Dentinho's) time to score a goal. It was an important and decisive one."
At the end of the game, Santos supporters fought with police who tried to stop them throwing missiles at Corinthians fans on the other side of a fence.
Television pictures showed police lashing out with truncheons while groups of fans attempted to attack individual officers.
The fans were driven back into a corner of the terraces after reinforcements arrived. Media reports said there was also trouble involving Santos directors in the VIP box.
"Objects were thrown at us. Somebody threw some back, I didn't see who it was, it wasn't me," said Santos president Marcelo Teixeira.
Corinthians, unbeaten in the tournament, are second with 33 points from 15 games, four behind leaders Palmeiras. The top four qualify for the semi-finals. Santos are fifth.
Elton and Jefferson scored early in each half as Vasco beat Flamengo in the Carioca championship, where the goals were outnumbered by red cards.
Flamengo midfielder Willians was sent off in the 16th minute after being booked twice in as many minutes and Vasco's Carlos Alberto followed moments after the half hour mark when he was given a second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
Flamengo's Leo Moura was given a straight red for a foul in the 53rd minute and Vasco's Ramon followed before the hour for a second bookable offence.
Vasco finished with eight men when defender Titi was dismissed in stoppage time. Flamengo coach Cuca was also dismissed.
ARGENTINA
San Lorenzo's problems continued when they had three players sent off in a six-minute spell in their 3-0 loss to Colon.
Leaders Lanus were hammered 3-0 by Huracan while a stoppage time penalty gave inconsistent River Plate a 2-1 win over San Martin-Tucuman.
San Lorenzo, who on Thursday slumped to their third straight defeat in the Libertadores Cup when they lost 1-0 at home to Paraguayan champions Libertad, held their own until 10 minutes into the second half.
Their troubles began when Jonathan Santana was sent off for a second bookable offence and Esteban Fuertes fired Colon ahead one minute later.
Gonzalo Bergessio and Jonathan Bottinelli were given straight red cards in quick succession for bad tackles before San Lorenzo defender Gaston Aguirre gave the ball away in defence and Fuertes pounced to score again
Nicolas Torres headed the third in the 84th minute.
Colon, who have 14 points from seven games, moved up to second, ahead of River Plate on goal difference and one behind Lanus.
Lanus fell behind to a sixth minute header from Gaston Esmerada at Huracan before Javier Pastore added two more in the second half.
The third goal was set up by a 60-metre run by Matias De Federico, who beat five opponents before his shot was parried by Carlos Bossio and fell to Pastore.
Colombian Radamel Falcao Garcia converted a penalty in the third minute of stoppage time to give River a 2-1 win over San Martin.
The visitors went ahead when Facundo Quiroga headed into his own goal in the second minute before Gustavo Cabral headed River level from Marcelo Gallardo's cross on the hour.
San Martin's Pablo de Muner was sent off in the 90th minute and tried to provoke the River players by pulling Gallardo's hair before he left the field.
Defending champions Boca Juniors draw 0-0 at Tigre in a match played in scorching heat.
The kickoff was brought forward for security reasons after Boca fans fought among themselves before their previous two matches.
World Cup winner Jorge Burruchaga quit as coach first division Banfield, the second coach to resign in less than 48 hours.
Burruchaga, who scored the winning goal when Argentina beat West Germany 3-2 in the 1986 World Cup final, followed Miguel Santoro, who left Independiente on Friday night.
Both coaches resigned despite wins for their respective sides. Banfield beat Arsenal 2-0 on Friday and Independiente thrashed Newell's Old Boys 4-1 the same evening.
Banfield president Carlos Portell said in a radio interview that he had been taken by surprise by Burruchaga's decision, announced at a meeting on Sunday.
"We told him he was making a mistake but he said he had already made up his mind," Portell said.
Burruchanga, 46, who has previously coached local sides Arsenal and Independiente, had been in charge since June. He becomes the sixth coach to lose his job since the mid-season break ended in February.
The others were Gustavo Alfaro at Rosario Central, Juan Manuel Llop at Racing Club, Leonardo Astrada at Estudiantes and Omar Labruna at Gimnasia-Jujuy.
MEXICO
Defending champions Toluca continued their unbeaten run in the Clausura championship with a 3-1 win over struggling Cruz Azul.
Nestor Calderon opened the scoring for the Red Devils on the stroke of halftime when he beat Yosgart Gutierrez with a shot from outside the area.
Chilean Hector Mancilla added the second in the 58th minute with his eighth goal of the competition, making him joint top scorer with his compatriot Humberto Suazo of Monterrey.
Luis Angel Landin pulled one back for the Blue Machine one minute later but Edgar Duenas added Toluca's third in the 76th minute after running onto Antonio Naelson's pass and placing his shot past Gutierrez from the edge of the area.
Toluca, unbeaten after 11 games, top Group Three with 23 points while Cruz Azul are bottom of Group Two with 11.
America and Pumas UNAM disappointed a 70,000 crowd at the Azteca by drawing their derby 0-0, a result which kept Pumas top of Group Two.
Guadalajara, Mexico's most popular club, dropped to fifth in Group Two with 12 points after losing 1-0 at Tigres UANL, who ended a five-match winless run.
Tigres, under Argentina's 2006 World Cup coach Jose Pekerman, stayed fifth in Group Three with 10 points after Paraguay defender Pedro Benitez scored in the 39th minute.
Argentine Christian Gimenez scored a hat-trick to give Group One leaders Pachuca a 3-0 win over Necaxa and keep them on course for a quarter-final place.
The 18 teams meet each other once in the qualifying stage but are divided into three groups.
NETHERLANDS
Steve McClaren's Twente Enschede registered a 2-1 home win over Groningen to stretch their unbeaten run to 18 matches and reduce the gap on leaders AZ Alkmaar to nine points with six matches remaining.
Alkmaar failed to score for the first time in 26 matches as they were held to a goalless draw by Feyenoord.
Defenders Thomas Vermaelen and Gregory van der Wiel scored for third-placed Ajax Amsterdam in a 3-0 win at NAC Breda to keep them three points behind Twente.
Fifth-placed PSV Eindhoven beat Vitesse Arnhem 2-0 for their first win in a month, while Graafschap Doetinchem stunned Heerenveen with a 2-0 home win to move one place off the bottom.
GREECE
Olympiakos Piraeus secured their 12th Greek championship in 13 years when they came from behind to beat Panionios 3-2.
With closest rivals Panathinaikos held to a 1-1 draw at Asteras Tripolis, Olympiakos hold an unassailable 11-point lead with three rounds remaining. It is their fifth consecutive title.
AEK Athens' 3-1 win over Levadiakos was overshadowed by crowd trouble, with police saying they had fired tear gas after clashing with around 60 fans inside the Olympic stadium in the Greek capital.
RUSSIA
Dynamo Moscow and Krylya Sovietov Samara are the only teams to have won both their opening matches after champions Rubin Kazan were held to a 0-0 draw at Spartak Nalchik.
Alexander Dimidko headed home an Alexander Kerzhakov cross on the hour to give Dynamo a 3-2 home win over Khimki, while Czech striker Jan Koller scored his first goal for Samara in a 1-0 home defeat of Amkar Perm.
Zenit St Petersburg beat Saturn Ramenskoye 2-1 thanks to a Fatih Tekke header midway through the second half and promoted Kuban Krasnodar earned a 1-0 home win over Spartak Moscow after missing two penalties.
ROMANIA
Dinamo Bucharest, looking for their third league title in the last five years, thumped bottom team Gloria Buzau 3-1 away and stretched their lead at the top to four points after Unirea Urziceni were beaten 1-0 at Gaz Metan Medias.
Rapid Bucharest moved into third, five points off the pace, with a 4-0 home rout of Otelul Galati while former European Cup winners Steaua Bucharest trail the leaders by nine points after a 2-2 draw at mid-table Arges Pitesti.
UKRAINE
Champions Shakhtar Donetsk closed the gap on leaders Dynamo Kiev to nine points after Croatia midfielder Darijo Srna curled in a superb free kick to give them a 1-0 home victory over Vorskla Poltava.
Dynamo, who qualified for the UEFA Cup last eight along with Shakhtar, can restore a 12-point lead over their traditional foes when they entertain Arsenal on Monday.
POLAND
Third-placed champions Wisla Krakow came from behind to register a 4-1 home drubbing of city foes Cracovia and close in on the leaders after the top two slipped up.
Wisla are three points behind front-runners Lech Poznan, who were held to a 0-0 draw at home to mid-table Arka Gdynia, and level with old enemies Legia Warsaw who laboured to a goalless home stalemate against bottom team Gornik Zabrze.
SERBIA
Champions Partizan Belgrade went 11 points clear at the top after two goals from the league's top scorer Lamine Diarra and a third by Almami Moreira handed them a 3-0 win over Hajduk Kula.
Red Star stayed second after scraping a 0-0 draw at city rivals Rad, while third-placed Vojvodina Novi Sad went level on points with them following a 1-0 success at Banat Zrenjanin.
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