European Football Sunday Round-up

Belgian Pro League

Club Brugge missed the chance to put further pressure on fourth-placed Standard Liege in the Jupiler Pro League standings after they were held to a goalless home draw by Gent.

Juan Carlos Garrido's men would have joined Standard on 42 points with a victory, as well as still having a game in hand. But, even with new signing Eidur Gudjohnsen making his debut up front, they could find no way through the Gent defence.

Club Brugge therefore remain in fifth spot in the table, while Gent are 13th, five points above the bottom two.

Dutch Eredivisie

PSV Eindhoven continue to lead the way in the Eredivisie after both of their nearest rivals failed to pick up wins this afternoon.

FC Twente were unable to break down a stubborn Feyenoord defence as the teams played out a goalless draw in Rotterdam.

Ajax, meanwhile, saw an eight-match unbeaten run ended with a 3-2 defeat at Vitesse Arnhem.

The Amsterdam visitors were two goals up after an own goal from Guram Kashia (33) and Christian Eriksen's 65th-minute strike.

But Theo Janssen's reply four minutes later sparked a Vitesse fightback, and two goals in three minutes from Patrick van Aanholt (79) and Renato Ibarra (81) turned the match around.

Defeat leaves Ajax third in the standings, two points behind Twente and three adrift of leaders PSV.

FC Utrecht consolidated their top-six placing with a 3-1 victory over basement side Willem II.

Goals from Anour Kali (48), Edouard Duplan (67) and Bob Schepers (89) put Utrecht in the driving seat before a last-minute consolation from Rob Haemhouts.

Soren Rieks hit a late winner as NEC Nijmegen edged out FC Groningen 2-1.

Rens van Eijden's 11th-minute opener for NEC was cancelled out by Lorenzo Burnet after 67 minutes, but the home side took the lead once more 10 minutes from time through Rieks.

A red card for Mitchell Schet in the dying minutes capped a frustrating afternoon for Groningen.

Scottish Premier League

Ben Williams saved an early Niall McGinn penalty as Hibernian battled out a goalless draw against Aberdeen in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Williams got down to his right to push away the 10th-minute spot-kick, awarded after Tim Clancy's foul on Johnny Hayes,

The draw sees Hibs retain their top-four spot with a two-point cushion over the Dons.

Today's other match between Dundee and Kilmarnock also finished goalless.

Dundee remain at the bottom of the standings, seven points from safety, while Killie are eighth.

Turkish Super Lig

Wesley Sneijder made his Galatasaray debut from the bench as the Turkish Super Lig leaders beat Besiktas 2-1 in the Istanbul derby.

The Dutch playmaker completed his long-awaited move from Inter Milan this week, but Gala fans had to wait until the 57th minute to see their new man in action.

First-half goals from Emre Colak and Albert Riera proved enough for Gala, although Besiktas gave themselves hope when Tomas Sivok notched one minute after the interval.

Sneijder received a warm reception when he replaced Colak, but he soon learned how confrontational an Istanbul derby could be when his team-mate Felipe Melo saw red in the 61st minute for appearing to spit at Oguzhan Ozyakup.

Meanwhile, Elazigspor and Mersin Idmanyurdu both pulled away from the bottom of the table with wins over higher-ranked opposition.

Elazigspor are now a single point from safety after dispatching Trabzonspor 3-1, thanks to goals from Sinan Kaloglu, Koksal Yedek and Serdar Gurler.

Ondrej Celustka managed to find the back of the net for 11th-placed Trabzonspor but there was no way back when late substitute Marek Sapara received his marching orders.

Sivasspor fell foul of Mersin Idmanyurdu, whose 3-0 victory cut Akhisar Belediye three points adrift in last place.

Juan Culio completed his brace from the penalty spot before the half-time whistle and substitute Can Erdem made the points safe three minutes from time.

Elsewhere, Kayserispor climbed two places to 13th courtesy of a 2-0 home win over Antalyaspor.

Sefa Yilmaz's goal had the Scorpions under the cosh from the third minute and Deivson Bobo doubled the margin of victory midway through the first half.

Greek Super League

Olympiacos powered on at the top of the Superleague after downing Panthrakikos 1-0 away from home.

The pacesetters had to wait until four minutes from time to make the breakthrough but Pablo Contreras' late strike saw unbeaten Olympiacos move 14 points clear of Asteras Tripoli, who climbed up to second with a 3-0 win at Platanias.

Unlike Olympiacos, Asteras had the points sewn up early on thanks to three first-half goals from Khalifa Sankare (12 minutes), Ximo Navarro (33) and Emanuel Perrone (35).

Asteras leap-frogged PAOK Salonika, whose recent poor form continued with 1-0 home defeat to FC Xanthi, for whom Benjamin Onwuachi scored the winning goal on the stroke of half-time.

Panathinaikos ended a five-match winless run with a 2-1 victory at Atromitos, Jose Carlos Zeca (60) and Jean Alain Boumsong (78) putting the visitors in charge before Anastasios Karamanos netted a late consolation for the hosts.

In today's other game, a brace from Brana Ilic earned sixth-placed Giannina a 2-0 home win over second-bottom Veria.

French Ligue 1

Paris St Germain returned to the top of Ligue 1 with a fortunate 1-0 win over Lille at the Parc des Princes.

Lille defender Aurelien Chedjou's second-half own goal earned Carlo Ancelotti's men their ninth win in 10 games and lifted them back above Lyon on goal difference.

Referee Freddy Fautrel also controversially ruled out a first-half goal for the visitors, who were left languishing in mid-table.

One goal was also all that was required for in-form Bordeaux to beat Nice and leap-frog their hosts into fifth place.

Henri Saivet's second-half strike earned Bordeaux, who have lost just one of their last eight league matches, their first victory at the Stade du Ray since 2005 and consigned Nice to only their second defeat in 12 outings.

In today's other match St Etienne boosted their hopes of European football next season with a 3-0 victory over Bastia at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Brandao opened the scoring after nine minutes and further goals in the final 11 minutes from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Josua Guilavogui sealed Les Verts' first home league win since November.

The result - a repeat scoreline from the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign - leaves St Etienne in seventh spot, a point behind Nice and Bordeaux.

Portuguese Liga

Paco Ferreira moved a point behind third-placed Braga in the Liga table after a thumping 5-0 victory over Moreirense.

It took 24 minutes for striker Paolo Hurtado to open the coring before Vitor put his side two goals up a minute before the break.

Hurtado was on target again after 56 minutes before Luiz Carlos (69) and Vitor (89) sealed the win.

Mid-table Sporting Lisbon's troubles continued after they were held to a 1-1 raw with Guimaraes.

Xandao put through his own net after 53 minutes, but the Lisbon side fought back with Star striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel's equaliser three minutes later ensuring they took a share of the spoils.

A second-half comeback from relegation-threatened Olhanense saw them take a point after a 3-3 draw at 10-man Estoril.

Steven Vitoria put the home side ahead from the spot after nine minutes before Targino brought the visitors level.

Vitoria converted another penalty shortly before the half hour mark, while Evandro Goebel's strike a minute after the break seemed to have secured the win.

However Fernandes Mauricio scored after 59 minutes before Anderson Luis saw red eight minutes later. Fast forward 60 seconds and Olhanense were level with Pedro Rui Duarte netting a third for the visitors.

Elsewhere, second-bottom Vitoria Setubal lost 2-0 at home to Nacional, while Maritimo and Rio Ave played out a 1-1 draw.