Soccer-Eastern European round-up

SERBIA & MONTENEGRO

A close-range header from midfielder Simon Vukcevic midway through the second half gave leaders Partizan Belgrade a 1-0 win over Vojvodina Novi Sad to keep them four points clear.

Second-placed Zeta Golubovci maintained the pressure with a 1-0 win at Cukaricki Belgrade, courtesy of a last-minute goal from second half substitute Igor Kusljic.

Champions Red Star Belgrade stayed third, six points behind with a game in hand, after a 2-0 win at Smederevo thanks to a glancing header from Nikola Zigic and a fierce Radovan Krivokapic shot from 20 metres.

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BULGARIA

Leaders CSKA Sofia beat fifth-placed Litex Lovech 3-1 to stay two points ahead of city rivals Levski who strolled to a 2-0 win at struggling Naftex Burgas.

Yordan Todorov fired CSKA ahead with a 13th-minute penalty while Marcos Charas and Hristo Yanev netted in the second half to cancel out a deflected 33rd-minute equaliser by Brazilian striker Joasinho.

Veteran midfielder Daniel Borimirov gave Levski a 40th- minute lead at Burgas with a fine header before Atanas Bornosuzov sealed the points late on.

A superb free kick from Martin Kamburov and two headers by Boban Jancevski and substitute Ivan Krizmanic lifted champions Lokomotiv Plovdiv to an easy 3-0 win over Belasitsa Petrich but they remain 10 points off the pace.

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RUSSIA

Champions and leaders CSKA Moscow were held to a 1-1 home draw by Krylya Sovietov Samara, allowing city rivals Lokomotiv to cut the deficit to a point with a 1-0 win at Amkar Perm.

With two rounds remaining in Russia's March-November championship, third-placed Zenit St. Petersburg also stayed in the title race after a 3-1 win at Saturn Ramenskoye left them just three points off the pace.

Brazilian striker Wagner Love beat two defenders and rifled his shot into the far corner to give CSKA an early lead but Samara held their own against the champions and got a deserved 53rd-minute leveller through Karen Dohoyan.

Costa Rica striker Winston Parks scored from a goalmouth scramble to hand Lokomotiv three valuable points at Perm after a Vadim Evseev header rebounded off his foot.

Igor Denisov, Oleg Vlasov and the league's joint top scorer Alexander Kerzhakov gave Zenit an unassilable 3-0 lead at Saturn before the Sergey Rogachev netted a consolation for the hosts.

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HUNGARY

Champions Ferencvaros Budapest stretched their lead at the top to six points with a 3-0 win at Bekescaba as closest rivals Debrecen and Ujpest were both held to unlikely draws.

A 52nd-minute effort from Tamas Sandor salvaged a 1-1 draw for second-placed Debrecen at mid-table Papa Lombard while third-placed Ujpest stayed level on points after a disappointing 1-1 home draw with lowly Pecs.

Ferencvaros cruised to a comfortable win at Bekescaba after a Dusko Grujic goal sent them on their way while Szabolcs Huszti and Adem Kapic struck late in the game to ensure victory.

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ROMANIA

Steaua Bucharest demolished city rivals National 5-1 to knock them off the top and grab pole position on goal difference while third-placed Rapid are four points adrift after a 2-0 defeat at Universitatea Craiova.

Adrian Rica Neaga and Andrei Cristea scored two goals each and Daniel Oprita added a fifth for rampant Steaua before a Gabriel Caramarin effort salvaged some pride for 10-man National who had Gigel Coman sent off for a foul.

A header from Cameroon striker Jeremy N'Jock and a Cristian Ionescu own goal sank Rapid in a bad-tempered match at Craiova marred by three red cards, seven bookings and clashes between away fans and riot police.

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POLAND

A Tomasz Klos header and a Maciej Zurawski penalty either side of the interval lifted champions Wisla Krakow to a 2-0 win over traditional rivals Legia Warsaw and kept them two points ahead of nearest challengers Groclin Grodzisk.

Groclin stayed in touch with a 3-1 win over Gornik Zabrze with goals from Sebastian Milla, Marcin Zajac and Mico Vranjes.

Third-placed Amica Wronki lost ground with a 1-0 defeat at Pogon Sczeczin and are eight points adrift of the leaders after Krzysztof Michalski made them pay for a hatful of missed chances with a 52nd-minute goal.

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SLOVAKIA

Dubnica stayed top one point ahead of champions Zilina after an exciting 2-2 draw while third-placed Artmedia Petrzalka ran riot in a 7-1 destruction of Rimavska Sobota to stay a further two points behind.

Dubnica twice led at Zilina through Matej Izvolt and Andrej Porazik but the champions scraped out a draw with a 41st minute goal from Dusan Sninsky and a Martin Djurica penalty three minutes from time.

A fierce volley and an opportunist tap-in from Stanislav Velicky followed by a calm finish from Csaslav Horvath condemned Ruzomebrok to a 3-0 defeat at Trencin and pegged them behind Artmedia on goal difference.

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CZECH REPUBLIC

Leaders Sparta Prague warmed up for their Champions League trip to Manchester United on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over nearest rivals Sigma Olomouc to open a seven-point gap at the top of the table.

Martin Petras opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime with a close range finish after a good pass from veteran Karel Poborsky and Lukas Zelenka doubled the lead with a scorcher from 25 metres shortly after the break.

Third-placed Liberec are nine points off the pace after a 1-1 draw at mid-table Drnovice, as are fourth-placed Teplice who can move two places up the table if they beat Slavia Prague later on Monday.

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CROATIA

Surprise package Inter Zapresic stayed top with a 0-0 draw at bottom team Medjimurhe as second-placed Rijeka suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat at Kamen Ingrad to remain two points behind.

Rijeka stormed to an early 2-0 lead but Kamen pulled one back before the break through Davor Bajsic and then sent the home crowd into raptures with injury time goals from Edin Saranovic and Bledi Shkembi.

Champions Hajduk Split stayed a further point behind after a 2-0 defeat at NK Zagreb while Dinamo Zagreb continued their recovery with a 3-0 home win against Pula.

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UKRAINE

Leaders Shaktar Donetsk and champions Dynamo Kiev both enjoyed away wins to continue their annual two-horse title race and warm-up for Champions League matches this week.

A header from Cosmin Barcaun deep into injury time gave Shaktar a 2-1 win at Kryvbas Kryvyi Rig after Taras Kabanov rifled in a 56th-minute screamer to cancel Andriy Vorobyey's first half opener for the visitors.

Brazilian midfielder Kleber struck in the 29th minute and his compatriot Diogo Rincon converted a 69th-minute penalty to help Dynamo to a 2-0 win at Metalurg Zaporizhya and keep them only two points behind the front-runners.

Source: Reuters