Soccer-East European roundup

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

Red Star Belgrade won their 23rd league title with a 3-0 win against Vojvodina in a match marred by fighting between rival fans, one of whom was rushed to hospital with serious stab wounds.

Marko Perovic sent the champions on their way with a superb 30-metre drive early in the game. Defender Dragan Sarac and the league's top scorer Nikola Zigic sealed victory match to delight the 30,000 home crowd.

Red Star will have a chance to complete the domestic double on Wednesday in the cup final when they meet Buducnost Banatski Dvor, who boosted their chances of staying in the top flight with a 1-0 win against Partizan Belgrade.

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BULGARIA

Lokomotiv Plovdiv beat Slavia Sofia 3-2 with a 77th-minute penalty converted by Nesko Milovanovic to lift their first league title and break the long-standing domination of Sofia rivals CSKA and Levski.

A Martin Kamburov penalty and a tap-in from Boban Jancevski had given Lokomotiv an early 2-0 lead before Kiril Dzhorov and a Chavdar Yankov scorcher put Slavia back on level terms in a thrilling match.

Levski stayed second with a 2-0 win against Spartak Varna while outgoing champions CSKA, in third, fielded their junior team at Cherno More Varna and lost 3-0.

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CROATIA

Hajduk Split beat coastal rivals Rijeka 2-0 to go top, two points ahead of champions Dinamo Zagreb who slipped to a 1-1 draw at Zadar, in the championship playoffs.

Hrvoje Vejic fired Hajduk ahead with a glancing header after Nenad Pralija had missed a penalty and a fantastic volley from Zvonimir Deranja gave the hosts three precious points with two matches remaining.

Niko Kranjcar capitalized on a defensive blunder to give Dinamo a second-minute lead at Zadar, only for Mate Brajkovic to deny them a much-needed win with a curling free kick midway through the first half.

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SLOVAKIA

First division teams had a weekend off as Artmedia Petrzalka beat second division Steel Trans Lichartovce 2-0 to lift the Slovakian Cup.

Marek Krejci beat two defenders and rifled home to give Petrzalka a 51st-minute lead and then turned provider for Martin Mikulic to seal the match in the closing stages.

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CZECH REPUBLIC

Sparta Prague won 2-1 at champions Banik Ostrava to stay second with one match to go and book themselves a berth in the Champions league qualifying round next season.

Midfielder Karel Poborsky set up the opening goal for Tomas Jun in the 31st minute and then converted a 53rd-minute penalty for Sparta before Marek Heinz pulled one back for the hosts from point blank range.

Blsany continued their miraculous escape from the bottom and gave themselves a fighting chance of avoiding relegation after a dramatic 4-3 win against Opava, with two goals apiece from Ludek Zelenka and Radek Selicha.

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HUNGARY

Debrecen overcame nine-man Ferencvaros 3-2 to go three points clear of them and Siofok Balaton, who lost 3-0 at Sopron, in the three-way title race.

Atilla Tokoli gave Ferencvaros an early lead at Debrecen but the hosts turned the match with second-half goals from Flavio Pim, Peter Halmosi and Igor Bogdanovic after Leandro was sent off for two bookable offences.

Tokoli netted again in injury time for Ferencvaros, who had Peter Lipczei dismissed moments later for lashing out at an opponent.

Former Hungarian international striker Robert Waltner scored five goals in Zalaegerszeg's 7-0 demolition of Haladas to keep them well-placed in the battle to avoid relegation.

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POLAND

Champions Wisla Krakow stayed five points clear of closest rivals Legia Warsaw after both sides won their respective matches 2-0.

Goals from Damian Gorawski and Mauro Cantoro gave Wisla a deserved victory at Dospel Katowice while Jacek Magiera netted the first and set up the second for Piotr Wlodarczyk in Legia's home win against Wisla Plock.

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ROMANIA

Leaders Dinamo Bucharest won a closely contested city derby at outgoing champions Rapid 3-2 to stay two points ahead of Steaua Bucharest, 2-0 winners at Gloria Bistrita.

Cosmin Barcauan netted with a fine header for Dinamo and Stefan Grigoria rounded off two swift breaks to cancel out goals from Sabin Ilie and Robert Iliyes for Rapid.

A Sorin Paraschiv header sent Steaua on their way against Bistrita and in-form striker Daniel Rica Neaga added the second after a comedy of errors by the home team.

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RUSSIA

Zenit St Petersburg beat Dynamo Moscow 2-0 with superb long-range efforts from Alexander Kerzhakov and Alexander Gorshkov to go joint top with Torpedo Moscow, who lost 2-1 at Amkar Perm.

Lokomotiv Moscow stayed two points adrift after a 3-0 win against Kuban Krasnodar with three players named Dmitry getting on the scoresheet -- Khokhlov, Sychev and Loskov.

Champions CSKA Moscow stayed level on 19 points with Lokomotiv after a 2-0 defeat of Saturn REN while Andrei Karyaka grabbed a hat-trick in Krylya Sovietov's 4-2 win against Spartak Moscow.

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UKRAINE

Champions Dynamo Kiev saw their lead at the top cut to six points after a 2-0 defeat to Borisfen Borispol as nearest rivals Shakhtar Donetsk cruised to a 3-0 home win against Zirka Kirovohrad.

Borisfen's Yuri Maksimov opened the scoring against Dynamo with an unstoppable shot from 20 metres and sealed the match with a cool finish after a defensive blunder by Jerko Leko.

Nigerian international Julius Agahowa, Mariusz Lewandowski and Antoly Timoscuk gave Shakhtar an easy win over Zirka and kept alive their hopes of snatching the title from Dynamo's grasp.

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SLOVENIA

Front runners Nova Gorica were held to a 1-1 draw at Murska Sobota but stayed three points clear of champions Maribor, who squandered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at fifth-placed Ajdovscina Primorje.

Ales Push's crisp shot gave Gorica a first-minute lead at Murska Sobota but the hosts equalised midway through the first half when Zarko Jelicic drove home a rebound.

An Oliver Bogatinov effort and a screamer from Andrej Rastovac gave Koper a 2-1 win against third-placed Olimpija, whose title hopes faded away with the defeat as they are now four points off the pace.



Source: Reuters