It's time for our weekly whizz around the globe to see what's happening in the wide world of football.

NETHERLANDS

PSV Eindhoven came from behind to beat 10-men Graafschap Doetinchem 4-1 and stay nine points clear at the top of the Dutch league.

Lasse Schoene opened the scoring for Graafschap after seven minutes but Danko Lazovic equalised less than one minute later after being set up by Ibrahim Afellay (pictured).

Otman Bakkal put PSV ahead early in the second half before Timmy Simons converted a penalty and Lazovic notched his second in the last 10 minutes while Graafschap had Leon Hese sent off for a professional foul.

With eight matches remaining, PSV have 59 points, nine more than Ajax who beat NAC Breda 3-2 with an 82nd minute winner from Dutch international John Heitinga.

Ajax took the lead in a seesaw game when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored from Edgar Davids's cross in the 20th minute.

Breda, who had won their previous seven games, turned the match around when Matthew Amoah and Rob Penders scored in an eight-minute spell after the break.

The hosts led until the 76th minute when Urby Emanuelson equalized for Ajax.

Feyenoord remain third with 48 points following a 3-3 draw at Heracles Almelo on Saturday while Breda slipped to fifth with 47 points on goal difference behind Groningen, who won 5-2 at VVV Venlo .

Goran Lovre, Marcus Berg and Berry Powel gave Groningen a 3-0 lead before Ken Leemans and Jason Oost brought VVV back in the match.

In the last five minutes, Berg scored his second and Stefan Nijland added a fifth to seal Groningen's victory.

NEJ Nijmegen produced the weekend's best fightback as they scored three times in the last half hour to win 3-2 at Heerenveen , who lead 2-0 at halftime but had goalkeeper Brian Vandenbussche sent off for handball.

Youssef El Akchaoui scored the winner with an injury-time free kick.

PORTUGAL

Two goals by Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez and one from compatriot Mariano Gonzalez gave Porto a 3-0 home win over struggling Pacos Ferreira and cemented their Portuguese Premier League lead.

The victory means the reigning champions top the standings with 50 points from 20 matches, 12 more than Benfica, who could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Braga.

Vitoria Guimaraes, who beat Naval 1-0 at home on Friday, are third on 34.

Lopez broke the deadlock for Porto on the stroke of halftime when he drilled the ball under Pacos goalkeeper Pecanha from a neat pass by his countryman Lucho Gonzalez.

He doubled Porto's lead by tapping home a cross from the right by Argentine midfielder Ernesto Farias after 53 minutes to increase his tally this season to a league-leading 18 goals.

Substitute Mariano Gonzalez wrapped up an Argentine-inspired victory with the third goal in stoppage time.

Benfica had gone behind in their match after only five minutes, when Jose Manuel put the visitors ahead, but Luisao equalised midway through the first half.

GREECE

Panathinaikos returned to the top of the Greek Super League with a 1-0 win over Levadiakos while Asteras Tripolis parted company with their Brazilian coach Paulo Campos.

Panathinaikos, who were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Rangers in midweek, made heavy weather of securing the points.

The only goal of the game came after just 12 minutes when Ioannis Goumas, who scored with a superb half-volley against Rangers, added to his tally with a more trademark header from close range.

The Greens had numerous other chances but, as has been their habit this season, were wasteful in sight of goal.

Panathinaikos now head the table with 49 points, one more that Olympiacos. Three points further back are AEK Athens who managed a 1-0 win over Iraklis in Thessaloniki.

Veteran striker Nikos Liberopoulos proved to be the match-winner with a 46th minute goal scored on the rebound after his first shot came back off a defender.

The main news off the field came in the Peleponnese where Asteras Tripolis announced the split with Campos.

The Brazilian led them to the second division title last season and has taken them as high as fourth in the Super League, scoring notable wins over Panathinaikos, Olympiacos and AEK in the first half of the season.

The team remain in fifth and in sight of a UEFA Cup slot but have now gone six games without a win.

Saturday's 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Apollon Kalamaria added to the decision, which may also have been prompted by speculation that Campos is being sounded out by AEK.

The Athens club have yet to name a permanent replacement for Lorenzo Serra Ferrer who was sacked 10 days ago.

At the foot of the table, Crete club Ergotelis moved a step closer to relegation as they went down 2-1 to Panionios while Atromitos got the better of the island's other team OFI Crete, Emanuel Perone getting the only goal of the game. Xanthi and Larissa drew 1-1.

ARGENTINA

Colombian striker Radamel Falcao scored his first goal of the season to send River Plate on the way to a 2-0 victory over San Lorenzo in the third round of the Argentina Clausura championship.

The match also marked an unhappy return to Buenos Aires for San Lorenzo midfielder Andres D'Alessandro, who was substituted after picking up a muscle strain in the first game against his former club since completing a loan move from Real Zaragoza.

Falcao opened the scoring with a diving header in the 28th minute and was unlucky not to double the advantage after linking effectively with Ariel Ortega.

Matias Abelairas put the game out of reach for the hosts nine minutes into the second half when he finished off an excellent passing move.

The victory moved River up to fourth place in the standings, level on points with arch rivals Boca Juniors, who beat San Martin 2-0 by virtue of a brace of goals from veteran striker Martin Palermo.

Estudiantes-La Plata and Velez Sarsfield remain locked together at the top of the table after picking up their third wins in as many matches.

Estudiantes crushed Newell's Old Boys 5-2 and Velez coasted to a 3-0 win at Banfield. Both teams have identical records and goal differences.

Apertura champions Lanus crushed Colon-Santa Fe 5-1 to move up to fifth place, three points behind the leaders.

BRAZIL

Substitute Diego Tardelli scored in stoppage time to give Flamengo a 2-1 victory over Botafogo in a bad-tempered Guanabara Cup final.

In-form Botafogo were narrow favourites to win and took the lead when lone striker Wellington Paulista burst through the Flamengo defence to score.

Flamengo seemed to be running out of ideas when referee Marcelo de Lima Henrique spotted some shirt-pulling and awarded a controversial second-half penalty, which Ibson successfully converted after heated protests by the Botafogo players.

The game was delayed when players from both sides and several team staff were embroiled in an ugly melee, which resulted in red cards for Flamengo striker Souza and Botafogo playmaker Ze Roberto.

Botafogo were reduced to nine men when Lucio Flavio was dismissed for a professional foul.

Flamengo Tardelli curled the winner with the last kick of the game. Flamengo will now play the winners of the Rio Trophy to determine the Rio de Janeiro state championship.

Botafogo's protests continued after the game and coach Cuca claimed referee de Lima Henrique had favoured Flamengo with this decisions.

Botafogo club president Bebeto de Freitas went even further, claiming that he would stand down in protest.

"I cannot tolerate the things that happen in Rio de Janeiro football any longer," he said.

In the Sao Paulo state championship, Corinthians and Santos continued to improve after making poor starts.

A goal by Uruguayan Alberto Costa gave Corinthians a 1-0 win at Ponte Preta, knocking the Campinas club off top spot.

The win moved Corinthians into fourth place, level on points with Sao Paulo, who were held 2-2 by Noroeste after letting a two-goal lead slip.

Mauricio Molina was in sparkling form for Santos and the reigning state champions beat Ituano 4-1 to move away from the relegation zone.

The Colombian opened the scoring on eight minutes, then set up goals for Kleber Pereira and Betao.

Molina injected pace and vibrancy into a Santos team that hardly seemed to notice when defender Evaldo was sent off for a clumsy foul in the first half.

"I am very pleased to make a start like this...and I did not expect it to happen so quickly," said Molina. "I'll be working hard to make sure I keep adapting and improving."

The result took some of the pressure off Santos coach Emerson Leao, who had given Molina a cool reception when the club's directors announced the signing recently.

Guaratingueta moved back into top slot in the state championship table by beating Juventus 1-0.

The small club from the rural backwaters of Sao Paulo state are on 24 points, two ahead of Ponte Preta.

AUSTRALIA

Central Coast goalkeeper Danny Vukovic has been banned for 15 months for manhandling referee Mark Shield in Sunday's Australian A-League grand final loss to Newcastle.

The Football Federation of Australia (FFA) disciplinary committee found Vukovic guilty of violent conduct after he appeared to slap Shield's hand in the final minute of the match.

The suspension was reduced to nine months with the remaining six months to be served under probation, meaning Vukovic will be eligible to resume playing in the A-League in November.

"If Vukovic re-offends in the 12 month period after 24 November 2008, he will be required to serve the remaining six months of his 15 month suspension (in addition to any new sanction)," the FFA said in a statement.

The ban only relates to the A-League but the FFA are considering extending it to all matches, ruling Vukovic out of this year's Beijing Olympics, where he was expected to represent Australia.

The incident occurred as Central Coast players began remonstrating with Shield when he failed to award them a penalty for a blatant handball by Newcastle midfielder James Holland.

A penalty would have given Central Coast the chance of an equaliser that would have forced the championship decider into extra-time but Shield waved away their pleas.

Reuters