We begin our whistle-stop tour of the weekend's action from around the globe in Brazil, home of madcap goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni.

BRAZIL

Goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni scored from a free kick and missed a penalty as Brazilian championship leaders Sao Paulo won 2-1 at Sport Recife.

Sao Paulo stretched their lead over Santos and Palmeiras to 15 points with five matches to play and need one more point to clinch their second successive title.

The visitors went ahead in the 28th minute when Rogerio curled the ball around the wall to score one of his trademark free kicks.

Sao Paulo were later awarded a penalty but Rogerio's kick was saved by his opposite number Magrao.

Forward Aloisio increased Sao Paulo's lead in the 62nd minute, Da Silva pulled one back from a penalty three minutes later before Rogerio produced an excellent save to deny Sport a point.

Vanderlei Luxemburgo's Santos, with 55 points from 32 games, went second after beating Goias 3-0 with second half goals from Pedrinho, Rodrigo Tabata and Victor Junior on Saturday.

Palmeiras, who trail Santos on goal difference, drew 2-2 at Vasco da Gama, where Valdir Espinosa was making his debut as coach.

Espinosa's appointment meant that 41-year-old striker Romario's spell as interim player-coach lasted only one game.

Corinthians stayed in the relegation zone despite coming from behind to beat Figueirense 2-1.

PORTUGAL

A goal by American teenager Freddy Adu three minutes from the time gave 10-men Benfica a 2-1 win over Maritimo lifting them to second place in the Portuguese Premier League.

Leaders Porto, who have 21 points, are at home to Leixoes on Monday, with Benfica on 16 after eight games.

Vitoria Guimaraes, who beat Uniao Leiria 2-1 on Friday, and Sporting, who drew 0-0 at Nacional Madeira on Saturday, share third spot one point behind the Lisbon club.

Maritimo went ahead after eight minutes when Brazilian winger Kanu beat goalkeeper Quim with a shot into the top of the net from inside the box.

Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo fired the equaliser with a penalty 10 minutes later. On the half hour, Quim was dismissed for a foul on Kanu but his German substitute Hans-Jorg Butt saved the penalty taken by Portuguese international Ariza Makukula.

Ghanaian-born Adu grabbed the victory for Benfica, seven minutes after replacing Maxi Pereira, when he tapped in a cross from the right by Brazilian defender Leo.

NETHERLANDS

PSV Eindhoven went top with a 4-1 win at Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday following former leaders Feyenoord's 2-0 defeat at Twente Enschede the day before.

Kenneth Perez set up Danko Lazovic for PSV's first goal after 37 seconds, Mike Zonneveld and Jefferson Farfan hit the back of the net with long-distance strikes before the break and Perez added a fourth in the second half.

PSV have 23 points after nine matches, two more points than Ajax Amsterdam, who won 1-0 at Utrecht, and Feyenoord.

ROMANIA

Bottom team Universitatea Cluj beat crisis-hit champions Steaua Bucharest 2-1 to register their first league win of the season thanks to a superb overhead kick from Nemanja Jovanovic.

The result left Steaua in seventh position, 12 points off the pace and forced coach Massimo Pedrazini to step down and make way for former Romania forward Marius Lacatus.

Goals from Eugen Trica and Cristian Fabiani gave leaders Cluj a 2-1 success at Rapid Bucharest that kept them four points in front of Unirea Urziceni, who were 1-0 winners over Panurii Tirgu Jiu.

Third-placed Politehnica Stiinta Timisoara salvaged a 1-1 draw at fourth-placed Dinamo Bucharest to end a 17-year losing streak at Dinamo, with Gabriel Canu cancelling out an Adrian Cristea thunderbolt from 30 metres for the home side.

BULGARIA

Unbeaten front-runners CSKA Sofia registered their ninth win in 10 matches after a spectacular volley by Nigerian striker Kevin Amuneke handed them a 1-0 home win over Cherno More Varna.

CSKA stayed three points ahead of champions and city foes Levski, who came from behind to crush Botev Plovdiv 6-2 at home after scoring five goals in a frantic 17-minute spell in the first half.

SERBIA

Headers from Djordje Lazic and Brazilian midfielder Juca lifted Partizan Belgrade to a 2-0 win at basement team Bezanija to leave them in the driving seat five points ahead of Vojvodina Novi Sad, who were 4-2 winners at Borac Cacak.

Third-placed champions Red Star Belgrade are nine points behind the leaders with a game in hand after a 1-1 home draw with second bottom club Napredak Krusevac.

CROATIA

Champions Dinamo Zagreb stretched their advantage at the top to 10 points after two close-range goals from Tomo Sokota gave them a 2-1 win at fifth-placed Zadar.

Closest rivals Rijeka slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Cibalia Vinkovci while Hajduk Split moved two places up to third with a 1-0 win at Inter Zapresic, courtesy of an early goal by the league's top scorer Nikola Kalinic.

RUSSIA

Zenit St. Petersburg made a big step towards their second league title with a 3-0 win at Spartak Nalchik that left them two points ahead of Spartak Moscow with two matches remaining.

Spartak lost ground with a 0-0 draw at Saturn Ramenskoye and Zenit took full advantage to come within touching distance of their first league title since 1984, thanks to goals from Nicolas Lombaerts, Alejandro Dominguez and Fatih Tekke.

FC Moscow stayed third, six points behind Zenit, with a 3-1 victory against Amkar Perm. Champions CSKA Moscow are a further two points adrift after a 4-2 home win over Krylya Sovietov Samara.

POLAND

A crisp shot by top scorer Marek Zienczuk from 16 metres gave leaders Wisla Krakow a 1-0 home win over third-placed champions and traditional rivas Legia Warsaw.

The win left Wisla eight points ahead of Legia and four in front of second-placed Korona Kolporter Kielce, who beat Gornik Zabrze 3-2 after their midfielder Mariusz Zganiacz scored one, set up another before getting sent off for two bookable offences.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Second-placed Teplice cruised to a 4-1 home rout of second -bottom Viktoria Zizkov to close the gap to two points on leaders Slavia Prague, who were due to play Slovan Liberec later on Monday.

Third-placed Banik Ostrava were held to a 3-3 home draw by Mlada Boleslav and champions Sparta Prague in fourth went level on points with them after coming from behind to beat Kladno 4-1.

Reuters