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We start our round-up of action from around the world in Argentina, where Boca Juniors stole a march on River Plate.

ARGENTINA

Boca Juniors won 2-1 at San Martin-Tucuman to go two points clear at the top of the Argentine championship as their rivals slipped up.

Boca, who began the weekend one point behind San Lorenzo and Tigre, took full advantage after the two teams lost 3-1 to Lanus and Estudiantes respectively.

Lucas Viatri put Boca ahead in the 36th minute when he tapped in an easy chance after Alvaro Gonzalez pulled the ball back from the byline.

Raul Saavedra equalised for promoted Tucuman with a long-range shot in the 59th minute but Boca regained the lead three minutes later when Luciano Figueroa volleyed in from Juan Roman Riquelme's free-kick.

Boca had Jesus Datolo sent off for a sec ond bookable offence in the 89th minute and San Martin's Facundo Perez followed in stoppage-time when he picked up a second yellow card for diving.

Former Manchester United and Lazio midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron gave Estudiantes an eighth-minute lead from a free kick against Tigre.

Veron also set up the second for Ivan Moreno y Fabianesi on the half hour before Leandro Benitez added a third in the 90th minute.

Carlos Luna headed one back in stoppage-time for Tigre.

With three matches to play, Boca lead with 32 points followed by San Lorenzo and Tigre on 30 and Lanus on 28.

Titleholders River Plate dropped back to the bottom after losing 2-1 at home to Argentinos Juniors. However, they are in no danger of relegation which is decided over three full seasons.

BRAZIL

Sao Paulo survived a hostile reception at Vasco da Gama to win 2-1 on Sunday and move closer to their third successive Brazilian championship title.

Vasco fans attempted to stone the Sao Paulo bus as it arrive at their Sao Januario stadium and there was also a row between officials when the visitors were initially banned from warming up on the pitch.

Brazilian media also said the visitors found their dressing-room door locked when they arrived and had to force it open.

"We just want to give Sao Paulo the same treatment that everyone receives in all the stadiums," said Vasco president Roberto Dinamite.

Midfielder Jorge Wagner gave Sao Paulo the lead in the 21st minute when he found the top corner with a free kick from the edge of the area.

Madson rifled in a long-range shot to equalise nine minutes later but Sao Paulo regained the lead at the start of the second half when Hugo scored following a corner.

The defeat left former South American champions Vasco da Gama rooted in the relegation zone with two matches to play.

Sao Paulo increased their lead at the top to five points over Gremio, who lost 4-2 at Vitoria, and need only one more win to clinch the title.

Cruzeiro went third with a controversial 3-2 win over Flamengo.

Fernandinho and Thiago Ribeiro twice put Cruzeiro ahead but Ibson and Obina replied each time to set up a stormy finale.

Ramires fired the winner from the edge of the area in the 84th minute while the visitors were furious after having a penalty appeal turned down in the last minute.

Diego Tardelli was sent off for dissent and captain Fabio Luciano followed after the final whistle as the protests continued.

COLOMBIA

America kicked off the semi-final group stage of the Clausura championship with a 3-0 win over Pereira on a miserable afternoon for Higuita, who has made the latest comeback of his career with the provincial side.

Harrison Otalvaro gave America a 16th minute lead from a penalty which Higuita just failed to reach and Victor Cortes doubled their lead in the 56th minute after rounding the keeper to score.

Higuita's worst moment came in the last minute when he rushed out of his penalty area towards the halfway line, tried to head the ball away, missed and allowed Paulo Cesar Arango to score into an empty net.

Higuita, who has made a trademark out of his forays upfield as well as his scorpion kick, has suffered several similar mishaps throughout his career, most glaringly at the 1990 World Cup against Cameroon.

America's Pablo Armero and Pereira's Julian Barahona were sent off for fighting in the 87th minute of the Group B match. Atletico Junior beat Deportivo Cali 2-0 in the group's other match.

Independiente Medellin went top of Group A with a 2-1 win over Deportes Tolima while La Equidad and Atletico Nacional played out a goalless draw.

CHILE

Rangers coach Oscar del Solar announced his resignation immediately after his team beat Universidad Catolica on away goals to reach the semi-finals of the Clausura championship.

"I think my stay at the club has come to an end," said Del Solar, who had become embroiled in a row with club directors over bonuses.

Rangers were held 1-1 at home on Sunday but qualified thanks to their 2-2 draw away in the first leg.

Alvaro Sarabia gave them a 57th minute lead but they had Marco Villaseca sent off seven minutes later. Marcos Gonzalez headed an 87th minute equaliser for the visitors, who were unable to find a winner.

Universidad de Chile also went out despite beating Cobreloa 3-2, helped by two goals from former Lazio striker Marcelo Salas. The Desert Foxes progressed thanks to their 3-0 win in the first leg.

In the other ties, Colo Colo beat Huachipato 4-2 to complete a 5-3 aggregate win and Palestino beat O'Higgins 2-1 to win 4-3.

ECUADOR

Deportivo Quito moved another step closer to the title with a 1-0 win over local rivals El Nacional, Luis Saritama scoring the winner in the 50th minute.

The win kept Deportivo three points clear at the top of the 2008 championship's six-team final stage with three matches to play.

South American champions LDU stayed in touch by beating Barcelona 2-1 after the visitors had Omar de Jesus sent off for a second bookable offence in the 37th minute.

Neicer Reasco and Claudio Bieler scored twice in two minutes before half-time for LDU and Pablo Palacios pulled one back in the second half.

Barcelona dropped six points behind the leaders.

PARAGUAY

Libertad stayed on course for their fourth successive title by beating 2 de Mayo 3-0. Vladimir Marin opened the scoring and Juan Samudio added two more in the second half.

Libertad lead the Clausura championship by three points from Guarani, who beat Silvio Pettirossi 3-1.

PORTUGAL

Unbeaten Benfica won 2-0 at Academica to close the gap on surprise leaders Leixoes, who beat Rio Ave 2-1, to one point.

Nacional Madeira are third and Sporting, who won 1-0 at Naval despite playing from the 67th minute with nine men, fourth.

Academica's Senegalese striker Modou Sougou hit the post in the 17th minute before Benfica went ahead through midfielder Ruben Amorin with an close range shot after being set up by captain Nuno Gomes on the half hour.

Benfica, unbeaten at Academica's ground for 35 years, made sure with a penalty by Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo.

GREECE

Olympiakos Piraeus maintained their four-point lead in the with a 3-0 win at Iraklis despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men.

Captain Predrag Djordjevic and Argentine Fernando Belluschi scored in the first half but defender Christos Patsatzoglou was shown a second yellow card a minute before halftime for a high challenge on Tassos Katsabis.

Iraklis were unable to take advantage of their extra man and Brazilian Dudu wrapped up the points in the 83rd minute.

Asteras Tripolis gave new coach Nikos Costenoglou a winning start when a first-half hat-trick from Daniel Cezarek gave them a 3-1 win over Ergotelis.

HOLLAND

AZ Alkmaar leapfrogged Ajax Amsterdam after beating them 2-0 with Demy de Zeeuw and Ari on target either side of the interval to move on top with 26 points after 12 matches.

NAC Breda were held to a 1-1 draw by NEC Nijmegen and are second on goal difference, while fourth-placed Groningen suffered a 3-0 defeat at Willem II Tilburg.

Champions PSV Eindhoven scored four first-half goals to brush aside Heracles Almelo and recover from three defeats in a row. They are fifth five points behind the leaders.

USA

Argentine midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto set up all three goals as the Columbus Crew outclassed the New York Red Bulls 3-1 to win the MLS Cup.

Major League Soccer's most valuable player of the year, Barros Schelotto masterminded a spirited display by the Crew after they survived an early onslaught by New York at the Home Depot Center.

The 35-year-old former Boca Juniors favourite set up Venezuelan forward Alejandro Moreno for the first goal in the 31st minute before creating the openings for second-half strikes by Chad Marshall and Frankie Hejduk.

New York, who were unfortunate not to score before half-time, had equalised through forward John Wolyniec in the 51st minute.

A 27,000 crowd watched in bright sunshine as the Red Bulls dominated the early exchanges, with Dutchman Dave van den Bergh a continual threat down the left with his probing crosses.

Van den Burgh set up defender Kevin Goldthwaite after 19 minutes but he glanced his header wide and in the 28th he found the unmarked Dane Richards whose shot flew over the bar.

Columbus opened the scoring against the run of play just after the half-hour mark when Barros Schelotto put the bearded Moreno through on the right.

Moreno weaved past Columbus defender Diego Jimenez on the edge of the penalty area before threading a shot under goalkeeper Danny Cepero's desperate dive.

A long-range attempt by Van den Bergh in the 41st minute sailed over leaving Columbus 1-0 ahead at half-time.

The game came alive shortly after the break with two goals in two minutes.

Wolyniec levelled for New York in the 51st after being set up by Richards' darting run but Columbus regained the lead when defender Marshall headed home Barros Schelotto's corner.

The Argentine came agonisingly close to scoring himself in the 77th minute after a superb pass from Moreno but his shot struck the woodwork.

Five minutes later, Barros Schelotto was the architect of the Crew's third goal with a delicate chip over the Red Bull defence that gave United States World Cup veteran Hejduk the chance to score with a spectacular diving header.

Reuters