Round up of the weekend action in Eastern Europe: RUSSIA
Torpedo Moscow stayed top on goal difference with an emphatic 5-2 win at Kryliya Sovetov Samara while second-placed Zenit St. Petersburg kept up the pressure with a 1-0 win over Shinnik Yaroslavl.
Torpedo's Sergei Budylin slotted home two penalties, both given away by Denis Kolodin who was sent off after just 30 minutes when he handled the ball on the goal line.
Andrei Arshavin was on target in the 42nd minute to give Zenit a home win against Shinnik.
Spartak Moscow kept up the pressure on the league leaders with an Alexander Samedov hat-trick helping them to a 6-0 demolition of Amkar Perm.
Spartak are a point behind the leaders and two ahead of Lokomotiv Moscow, who beat champions and city rivals CSKA thanks to a 56th-minute goal from Dmitri Khokhlov.
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UKRAINE
Leaders Dynamo Kiev edged closer to the title with a 2-0 win against Obolon while second-placed Shakhtar Donetsk were held to a goalless draw at Arsenal Kiev.
Sergei Kornilenko and Brazilian striker Kleber scored first-half goals to give Dynamo a six-point lead over Shakhtar, whose title hopes faded with a lacklustre performance at Arsenal.
Third-placed Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk settled for a 2-2 draw at Volyn Lutsk after Andriy Rusol was sent off for deliberate hand ball and Volyn's Boris Chebotariu missed the resulting penalty.
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SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Red Star Belgrade stayed three points ahead of champions Partizan after their lacklustre 0-0 draw.
Partizan's Ivica Iliev had a seventh-minute goal disallowed for offside while Dragan Mladenovic and Nikola Zigic came close for Red Star in a match watched by a capacity 32,000 crowd.
Zoran Djuraskovic grabbed a hat-trick for third-placed Zeleznik Belgrade in a 5-1 win over Buducnost Banatski Dvor to keep them on course for a place in next season's UEFA Cup.
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CROATIA
Vlatko Djolonga and Natko Racki scored either side of halftime for Hajduk Split as they maintained a five-point lead over champions Dinamo Zagreb with a 2-0 victory against Osijek.
Dinamo striker Dario Zahor scored four goals in a 5-0 rout of Rijeka.
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BULGARIA
The league's top scorer Martin Kamburov and Serb striker Darko Spalevic gave front runners Lokomotiv Plovdiv an important 2-1 win at Belasitsa Petrich to keep their side four points clear of champions CSKA Sofia and Litex Lovech, who also had away wins.
CSKA beat city rivals Lokomotiv 1-0 with a spectacular 19th-minute volley from Stoyko Sakaliev while Romanian striker Eugen Trika scored twice to give Litex a 2-1 win at Cherno More Varna.
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SLOVAKIA
Dukla Banska Bystrica beat Ruzemberok 2-1 in a top-of-the-table clash to go six points clear of their rivals.
Third-placed Spartak Trnava suffered a surprise 3-1 home defeat against Inter Bratislava.
Miroslav Sovic provided both goals for Dukla, the second turned in by Robert Semenik a minute from time after Ruzomberok's Radoslav Skolnik had cancelled out Peter Penov's opener.
Champions Zilina stayed seven points adrift of the leaders in fourth and kept alive their slim hopes of winning a third successive title with a 3-2 win at Slovan Bratislava.
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CZECH REPUBLIC
Banik Ostrava strolled to a 3-0 win at Pribram to maintain their five-point advantage over Sigma Olomouc, who beat Synot 1-0 thanks to a 90th-minute goal from substitute Michal Hubnik.
Marek Heinz netted twice for Banik, his opener coming moments after the hosts missed a sitter, and Miroslav Matusovic added a third.
Third-placed Slavia Prague slipped up with a goalless draw at Opava and champions Sparta Prague can leapfrog over them when they entertain Viktoria Zizkov on Monday.
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HUNGARY
Ferencvaros goalkeeper Lajos Szucs set a new Hungarian record by keeping a clean sheet for 767 minutes, only to concede a soft goal giving MTK Budapest a 1-0 win over the leaders.
Szucs was beaten by a weak shot from the edge of the area from Istvan Pisont and the ball trickled over the line to keep champions MTK in fourth place with an outside chance of retaining the title.
Second-placed Debrecen closed the gap against Ferencvaros to two points with a 3-2 win at Sopron while Balaton stayed third after a 1-1 draw at Ujpest.
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POLAND
Tomasz Frankowski struck just before halftime to give champions Wisla Krakow a 1-0 win over closest rivals Legia Warsaw, stretching their league lead to five points.
Frankowski grabbed the winner with a neat finish and the home team hung on for a valuable win thanks to keeper Radoslav Majdan, who produced two superb saves in the closing stages.
Third-placed Amica Wronki's title hopes suffered a setback in a 2-2 home draw with bottom team Swit Nowy Dwor, who had their goalkeeper Boris Peskovic dismissed in the 43rd minute for a professional foul.
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ROMANIA
Dinamo Bucharest opened up a two-point lead over bitter city rivals Steaua with a 2-1 home win against Universitatea Craiova thanks to a lively performance by substitute Vlad Munteanu.
The midfielder joined the game on the hour and laid on two perfect passes for Ionel Danciulescu and Claudiu Niculescu to give Dinamo a 2-0 lead within a minute. Daniel McBreen pulled one back for the visitors late in the game.
Steaua slipped up with a 1-1 draw at lowly Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt while champions Rapid Bucharest saw their title hopes all but evaporate in a 3-2 home defeat to Farul Constanta. They are now 11 points off the pace.
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SLOVENIA
Leaders Nova Gorica enjoyed a 2-1 win at fourth-placed champions Maribor to edge close to their first league title.
They maintained a four-point advantage over Olimpija Ljubljana, 2-1 winners over Murska Sobota.
Jani Sturm capitalised on a defensive blunder and Mladen Kovacevic rounded off a good team move to give Gorica a 2-0 lead before Dominik Bersnjak netted a last-minute consolation goal for the home side.
Two close-range efforts by Marko Kmetec gave Olimpijathe win over Murska Sobota, who scored the goal of the weekend in Slovenia through Manuel Persic -- a 25-metre scorcher into the top corner.
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BOSNIA
Siroki Brijeg went nine points clear at the top with a 2-0 win over champions Leotar, who slipped from second to third after Sarajevo strolled to a 2-0 success at Brotnjo.
Leotar are now 10 points behind the leaders and only two ahead of UEFA Cup hopefuls Zeljeznicar Sarajevo, 4-1 winners against Modrica.
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MACEDONIA
Second-placed Sileks Kratovo boosted their goal difference with a 9-0 destruction of hapless Delcevo but stayed three points behind Pobeda Prilep, who laboured to a 2-1 success at Baskimi.
Third-placed Sloga Skopje kept up the pressure with a 2-1 win at Tikves Kavadarci while fourth-placed champions Vardar Skopje stayed in touch after a 2-0 defeat of Madzari.
Source: Reuters
20.04.2004