Pro Eleven Headlines
Anelka double lifts Chelsea back on top
Chelsea regained the English Premier League top spot on Sunday after they beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 through Nicolas Anelka's double at a rain-soaked Ewood Park.
Anelka struck before the break and midway through the second half to celebrate manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's 60th birthday.
Chelsea overtook Liverpool, who spent less than 24 hours at the summit with Saturday's 3-0 win over West Brom, on goal difference. Arsenal is third with 23 points, six behind the leaders.
Aston Villa could have moved above Manchester United into fourth but lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough after Tuncay Sanli scored an 88th-minute winner.
Tottenham Hotspur continued their revival under new boss Harry Redknapp as Darren Bent scored twice for a 2-1 victory at nine-manManchesterCity, which extended their unbeaten run to five matches.
Danny Murphy scored the winner from the penalty spot for his 100th club career goal to earn Fulham a 2-1 win over Newcastle, who are back into the relegation zone.
Winning at Blackburn maintained Chelsea's their 100 percent away league record this season and is the ideal response from Scolari's men following victories of title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal on Saturday.
The torrential downpour in the first half made conditions very difficult but Chelsea made the breakthrough five minutes before halftime when Anelka deflected in Jose Bosingwa's drive.
"The pitch was dangerous in the first half because it was raining and it was very difficult for us," said Scolari.
"But we finished the half 1-0 and we knew if we made a second goal we would kill this team."
Chelsea could have opened scoring earlier but keeper Paul Robinson saved well from Anelka and Jon Obi Mikel.
Rovers rallied after the break with Carlos Villanueva and Jason Roberts making Petr Cech busy. But Anelka put the game beyond them as he clipped the ball over the advancing Robinson on 68 minutes.
The French striker missed a hat-trick chance late in the closing stages but already took his league tally to 10 goals this season.
"Anelka is trying every day in training to make (more goals) than he has and now he has more opportunities and scores more goals and that's good for us - and for Anelka," Scolari said. Zheng E
Last gasp goals put Inter clear of Milan at top
Two injury time goals from Inter Milan's Julio Cruz and Lecce defender Andrea Esposito sent champions Inter top of Serie A at the expense of city rivals AC Milan.
Argentine substitute Cruz's goal gave Inter a 1-0 victory over plucky Udinese while Esposito denied AC Milan a win in a 1-1 draw on the south coast.
AC Milan are joint second with Napoli, just one point back from Inter, after Diego Maradona's former team beat Sampdoria 2-0.
The result in Milan was tough on Udinese, who were on the brink of holding out for a deserved point until they lost concentration at a corner.
Inter boss Jose Mourinho preferred to focus on his own team's strength of character in battling to the end.
"One day our opponents will score in the last minute but right now my team has the character that even when things are tough they never give up," he said.
"Today's match was difficult and it was even in the first half but after the break Julio Cesar didn't have any problems. The goal came in the 91st minute but it could have come in the 89th or when Zanetti hit the post.
"And maybe there should have been a penalty when a shot from Ibra hit a defender's hand."
The first half was notable only for being completely forgettable without a single chance of any significance.
After the break Udinese had good chances for Antonio Floro Flores and Fabio Quagliarella before Inter took control.
The hosts' captain Javier Zanetti almost won it two minutes from time with a skidding long-range strike but that cannoned back off the post with Handanovic beaten.
But then deep into injury time Udinese's defenders to a man got drawn to the near post at a corner, which was flicked on leaving Cruz free to head home in the middle of the six yard box.
Ronaldinho looked to have won the match for Milan for the third game running when he converted Pato's cross from the right just 11 minutes remaining.
But Esposito came up deep into injury time to head home a free-kick and spark wild home celebrations.
Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti blamed the referee, claiming the free-kick should never have been awarded.
"The game was won, the lack of concentration at the end was more on the referee's part than our own," he said. "It was a foul that only gets blown up in Italy, referees in Italy blow their whistles too much.
"That was our best performance of the season at home or away. We had many chances."
Napoli opened the scoring in the first half through Daniele Mannini, who tapped home at the far post after a cross from Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Antonio Cassano had a goal harshly ruled out for offside before Mannini twice within a few seconds cleared off the Napoli line.
Uruguay forward Marcelo Zalayeta came off the bench to add the second, finishing off into the empty net after a shot from the excellent Lavezzi was deflected, wrong-footing goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi.
Lazio are up to fourth after a 3-0 win over Siena with captain Tommaso Rocchi scoring twice in the last four minutes following an opener from Argentine Mauro Zarate.
Juventus are up to sixth after their fourth win in a row as they triumphed 2-0 at second from bottom Chievo.
Evergreen forward Alessandro Del Piero proved he's lost none of his brilliance with yet another stunning free-kick five minutes before the break.
Del Piero has already hit the net with sumptuous free-kicks in victories over Real Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg and AS Roma this season and once again he demonstrated his unerring ability to find the top corner with a dead ball.
"The key to our success last season and these last few games is Alessandro Del Piero," beamed Juve boss Claudio Ranieri.
"Our team wants to fight and get back to its best. Then there is the impact of our stars that comes to the fore such as that of Del Piero, who in this moment is absolute magic.
"He's always been the leader, he carries Juventus and everyone else is right behind him. Given half a chance, he scores and that's good for us and our morale."
Vincenzo Iaquinta secured the three points by adding a second after the restart as Juve moved onto 21 points, just one win off top.
Fiorentina are also still in the mix, just one point behind Juve, as they won 2-1 at home to Atalanta.
Day of the Fantastic four as Eto'o fires Barca top
Samuel Eto'o and Gonzalo Higuain both scored four goals in an incredible Saturday night of football as Barcelona thrashed Valladolid 6-0 while Real Madrid laboured to a 4-3 triumph over Malaga.
Barca romped to their eighth successive Spanish league victory to stay two points clear of defending champions Real at the summit.
With the help of the unstoppable Lionel Messi, Cameroon international Eto'o scored four times -- in the 12th, 30th, 42nd and 44th minutes -- in an unforgettable first half at Camp Nou before Eidur Gudjohnsen and Thierry Henry got on the scoresheet in the second period.
Eto'o seems to love the first 45 minutes having scored a 23-minute hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of Almeria at the end of October and his quadruple against Valladolid means he leads the goalscoring charts with 13 goals in 10 games.
"The victory was the most important thing not how many goals we score," said Eto'o. "We produced a great performance tonight and are doing well.
"It wasn't easy as Valladolid are a good team and brave opponents."
Asked on how he would celebrate his four-goal haul Eto'o replied: "I will celebrate at home."
The African came off 15 minutes from time to a standing ovation as the home fans did Mexican waves to celebrate a thrilling win that could have been in two figures had Henry taken a glut of chances.
Barca are averaging more than three goals a game this season having scored 34 goals in their first 10 matches.
Earlier Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain had fired Real to the summit with his own quadruple, including two penalties.
Real looked to be heading for an embarrassing home defeat to promoted Malaga after Sergio Ramos had been sent off for stamping close to half-time and Antonio Apono had fired Malaga into a 3-2 lead with a 70th-minute penalty.
But the 20-year-old Higuain, out to impress new Argentina coach Diego Maradona, rescued Real scoring the equaliser straight from the kick off and then a dramatic penalty winner on 78 minutes after his initial spot-kick had been saved.
"He (Higuain) is clearly playing in his favoured position (centre-forward) where he can use his speed and dribbling ability," lauded Real coach Bernd Schuster.
"I am delighted how things are going for him at the moment although I told him that he could change his penalty-taking style a little."
Higuain now has nine goals for the season and is set for a run in the team with Ruud van Nistelrooy sidelined with a knee injury.
Schuster showed his faith in Higuain, playing him ahead of captain Raul Gonzalez, who was dropped for the Malaga match after a poor display against Juventus.
Going behind three times will concern Schuster but the German preferred to focus on the spirit shown by his ten men.
"Despite having a man less we still went in search of the win," added the former Getafe coach. "Of course I would prefer to win in a different way but this victory is a great morale boost for the team."
Asked on Ramos's red card for stamping Schuster replied: "The red card surprised me and I don't want to say anything else."
After losing 2-0 to Juventus in their midweek Champions League home match, the Santiago Bernabeu public wanted a convincing display from their team.
They didn't quite get that but the three points will do for Real.
Schuster has been criticising referees throughout this season but Real certainly had their slice of fortune against poor Malaga with question marks over both of their penalties.
Scoring three times at Real's ground and having nothing to show for it was heartbreaking for Malaga, who attacked from the first whistle.
"I am disappointed not to have won," said Malaga coach Antonio Tapia. "We produced a magnificent display from start to finish. We played good football, scored three goals and deserved to win."
