European Football Friday Round-up

English npower Championship

Substitute Adam Le Fondre's late double sent Reading top of the npower Championship with a 2-0 win over 10-man Leeds.

The striker came off the bench to net twice in the final six minutes of a pulsating and at times ill-tempered clash at the Madejski Stadium as the visitors paid the price for the early sending-off of defender Zac Thompson.

Playing his first match since January 31, the youngster was sent off by referee Darren Drysdale after just 12 minutes, leaving Leeds to absorb wave after wave of Reading attacks.

Ian Harte's teasing cross evaded everyone before striking a post after 20 minutes while, after the break, Alex Pearce saw his header cleared en route to goal.

Leeds had their chances to win it late on, with Ross McCormack and Robert Snodgrass going close without success.

Le Fondre thought he had put his side ahead with eight minutes remaining, only to be denied by an offside flag, but he made the most of his next two sights of goal to fire the Royals to the division's summit.

West Ham kept Reading and Southampton in their sights in the automatic promotion race thanks to some kamikaze Barnsley defending in a 4-0 win at Oakwell.

The Hammers, who started the game seven points adrift of new leaders Reading, never looked back once midfielder Kevin Nolan tapped the ball home in the sixth minute after Nicky Maynard's corner had bounced between Barnsley striker Craig Davies' legs.

Maynard added a fine second with a low finish from the edge of the penalty area after a neat interchange with Nolan in the 23rd minute and Mark Noble cashed in on some more hapless defending 12 minutes later to curl home a third goal from a tight angle.

Five straight draws last month meant Sam Allardyce's side have seen Reading cruise past them into the top two, but their second league win in eight games was already secured when Ricardo Vaz Te added a fourth goal from close range against his former club early in the second half.

Barnsley have now won only one of their last 10 league matches and were left looking anxiously over their shoulders despite a nine-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three.

Maynard went close to making it five with a spectacular 30-yard shot which crashed back off the crossbar soon after Vaz Te's effort.

Blackpool moved level on points with fourth-placed Birmingham following a 2-0 win at Watford.

The Tangerines went ahead in the 25th minute when Stephen Dobbie produced a superb finish as he swept the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Blackpool doubled their lead with Dobbie's second goal of the game.

Thomas Ince knocked the ball past Tomasz Kuszczak prompting the Hornets goalkeeper to bring down the Tangerines striker.

Dobbie stepped up to take the spot-kick and calmly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, rolling the ball home.

Brighton occupy the final play-off place but they had a disappointing afternoon, losing 1-0 at Burnley.

The hosts scored the only goal in the 23rd minute, Charlie Austin converting Josh McQuoid's right wing pass.

The result leaves the Seagulls in the top six on goal difference alone.

English npower League One

Carlisle squandered the opportunity to put daylight between themselves and seventh-placed Notts County in npower League One when they drew 1-1 at struggling Wycombe.

Carlisle took the lead 17 minutes into the second half. Jon-Paul McGovern's shot hit the bar with home defender Grant Basey the last person to touch the ball for an own goal.

Carlisle appeared to be heading for all three points but the Chairboys scored what could prove to be a vital equaliser in the final minute.

Stuart Beavon played a pass to Stuart Lewis and the midfielder fired home from 20 yards into the top left-hand corner of the goal.

The draw sees Wycombe just one point off safety while Carlisle are two ahead of Notts County in the final play-off place.

The Magpies enjoyed a 3-0 win at Leyton Orient although the scoreline indicates victory was more emphatic than was the case.

County went in front with 20 minutes remaining against the run of play as they took advantage of a mistake by Orient goalkeeper Jamie Jones.

Jones dropped the ball and Damion Stewart made sure, slotting home with the Orient defence looking on.

The visitors doubled their lead six minutes later when Lloyd Sam's cross found Jeff Hughes in the six-yard box and he made no mistake.

Sam then turned scorer with the final goal into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal in the last minute.

Colchester and Hartlepool drew 1-1.

The visitors took the lead when Evan Horwood's cross was headed home by Antony Sweeney in the 17th minute but their hosts drew level with nine minutes to go.

Paul Murray was penalised for a challenge on Gavin Massey in the penalty area, with Freddie Sears putting the resulting spot-kick low into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal.

Stevenage's fading play-off hopes were dealt another blow when they went down to a 3-0 defeat at Tranmere.

Tranmere made an ideal start by going ahead in the second minute.

Ash Taylor's header was parried by Stevenage goalkeeper Chris Day, with on-loan Jake Cassidy first to pounce and slotting home from close range.

The hosts doubled their lead nine minutes later and again it was Cassidy, this time heading home Andy Robinson's corner.

They then sealed the points with a third goal 13 minutes from time when Lucas Akins fired home John Welsh's cross.

Scunthorpe moved further towards mid-table with a 1-0 win against Exeter, who remain deep in trouble.

Jon Parkin scored the only goal of the game with a little under a quarter of an hour remaining, firing home after collecting the ball from Jamie Reckord.

English npower League Two

Swindon maintained their five point gap at the top of npower League Two with a slender 1-0 victory over Morecambe.

Robins striker Paul Benson grabbed his 11th of the season less than 60 seconds into the second half as Paolo Di Canio's side move closer towards securing promotion to League One.

Swindon are are now 11 points clear of fourth place with only six games remaining.

Torquay kept a firm grasp on second spot thanks to a second half Rene Howe goal against Accrington.

Mid-table Stanley made the Gulls work for their victory although the scoreline could have been greater but defender Mark Ellis hit the bar when well placed.

Shrewsbury moved into the top three with a 3-1 win over Macclesfield which extended the hosts' winless streak to 18 league games.

James Collins scored a brace for the promotion-chasing Shrews while Mark Wright netted the other, with Arnaud Mendy giving the Silkmen hope amid a late exchange of goals.

Crawley fell behind the leaders after being held 1-1 by Crewe at the Broadfield Stadium.

The result could have been much worse for Paul Evans' side but Gary Alexander equalised with an 88th minute penalty following Byron Moore's first half effort.

Southend failed to close the gap on the automatic promotion places as they slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Bradford.

The loss was compounded with two red cards for Southend, who remain fifth in the table.

James Hanson's 38th minute header opened the scoring for the hosts before Sean Clohessy was dismissed for fouling Nahki Wells, Craig Fagan dispatching the resulting penalty.

Things went from bad to worse for Paul Sturrock's side when substitute Elliot Benyon was sent off for an off-the-ball altercation.

Bottom club Hereford battled back from a goal down to earn a point with a 1-1 draw against fellow relegation battlers Plymouth.

Pilgrims' striker Warren Feeney missed a golden chance to open the scoring but was on hand to pressurise Hereford defender Stefan Stam into scoring an own goal.

Plymouth's Simon Walton then missed a penalty before Tom Barkhuizen equalised for the Bulls early in the second half.

Two goals in the last 15 minutes kept Cheltenham safely in the play-offs as they saw off Barnet 2-0.

Barnet are fighting for League Two survival and held out until the 75th minute against Mark Yates' promotion-chasing side.

Kaid Mohamed broke the deadlock before substitute James Spencer guaranteed the three points with two minutes remaining.

There was also late drama at the Memorial Stadium as Gillingham scored a last-minute goal to draw 2-2 with Bristol Rovers.

Chris Whelpdale had opened the scoring for the Gills but the hosts hit back through Eliot Richards and looked to have won the match through Mustapha Carayol's 80th minute strike.

But there was still time for Gillingham to fight back and they secured a point when substitute Dennis Oli levelled in the last minute.

Rotherham struck late to secure a win at AFC Wimbledon with Sam Hoskins' 83rd minute goal securing a 2-1 win.

Midfielder Ben Pringle had opened the scoring for the visitors before Luke Moore drew Wimbledon level.

Hoskins' winner means Rotherham retain an outside chance of reaching the play-offs.

There was yet more late drama as an 88th minute effort from Dagenham striker Brian Woodall earned his side a 1-1 draw at home to Burton who had taken the lead through Jacques Maghoma.

Substitute Brett Williams grabbed a dramatic winner as Northampton beat play-off chasing Oxford 2-1 in a keenly-contested derby.

Belgium Jupiler League Championship

Anderlecht recorded their second successive draw in the Jupiler League Championship Play-off as they were held 0-0 away to Standard Liege.

The league leaders after the regular season, Anderlecht failed to beat sixth-placed Kortrijk in their opening play-off game and were desperate to respond.

But they could not find a way past Standard keeper Sinan Bolat and were forced to settle for another point, meaning Club Brugge can overhaul them at the league summit if they beat Kortrijk on Sunday.

Beerschot hammered Lokeren 4-1 to pick up their first win in Group B of the Europa League play-off.

Hamdi Harbaoui put Lokeren in front in the 19th minute, but things soon started to go wrong as they had Giorgos Galitsios sent off five minutes later.

Hernan Losada's 26th-minute penalty levelled the scores and Roy Dayan put Beerschot in front three minutes later.

Arnor Angeli added a third in the 81st minute before substitute Conor Laerenbergh rounded off the scoring four minutes from time.

Danish Superliga

Martin Spelmann scored the only goal as Horsens beat 10-man Odense in the day's Superliga match.

The hosts had Anders Moller Christensen sent off just before half-time and Spelmann made them pay in the 57th minute.

The result lifts Horsens three points ahead of Midtjylland in third place in the table.

Turkish Super Lig

Besiktas had two players sent off as they drew 1-1 at Karabukspor in the Super Lig.

Filip Holosko put Besiktas in front in the 17th minute, only for Mehmet Yildiz to level seven minutes later.

The visitors finished the match with nine men following the sendings off of Hugo Almeida in the 69th minute and Egemen Korkmaz in the 84th.

The draw left Besiktas in fourth place, level on points with third-placed Trabzonspor.

Portuguese Liga

Beira Mar beat fellow strugglers Academica 2-1 to take a giant step clear of relegation from the Liga.

The two sides began the evening occupying the two places immediately above the bottom two, but it was the 10-man hosts who opened up a seven-point cushion with just four games remaining.

Tomas Marinho gave Academica a first-half lead, but Nildo Petrolina struck either side of Zhang Chengdong's dismissal to earn the home team a vital three points.

Uniao Leiria closed to within four points of Academica with a goalless draw at home to Gil Vicente despite the 37th-minute sending-off of Edson Henrique.

Vitoria Setubal beat 10-man Guimaraes 1-0 in the evening's other game, Bruno Amaro with the only goal in the 57th minute after the visitors had Paulo Sergio sent off midway through the first half.

Russian Premier League

Terek Grozny edged basement boys Spartak Nalchik a step closer to relegation from the Russian Premier League with a 2-0 win.

Junior Mauricio put Terek in front in the 25th minute and Spartak's hopes of getting back into the game were hit when they had Adnan Zahirovic sent off in the 71st minute.

Piotr Polczak added a second for the hosts seven minutes from time to make the points safe.

The loss dropped Spartak 10 points adrift of safety with six games to go as third-bottom Krylya Sovetov drew 0-0 at fourth-bottom Volga Nizhny Novgorod.