Weekend round-up: Draw enough for Roma

AS Roma kept their lead at the head of Serie A in Italy and halted Juventus FC's winning run with a goalless draw at the Olimpico stadium on Sunday. The Turin side will be pleased to gain a point having had Mark Iuliano sent off. Meanwhile, Internazionale FC suffered a major blow to their Serie A title hopes with a shock 2-1 defeat against Bologna FC.

Madrid's magnificent seven
In Spain, Real Madrid CF moved top in Spain but there was little movement at the top of the tables in the rest of Europe at the weekend. Fernando Morientes scored an incredible five goals to help title-chasing Real Madrid CF overpower shell-shocked UD Las Palmas 7-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium on Sunday and regain top spot in the Primera División table.

Late penalty miss
The Spanish international scored after 22, 35, 52, 71 and 79 minutes and also saw a late penalty saved to miss out on a famous double hat-trick. Saturday's goalless draw between leaders Valencia CF and second-placed RC Celta de Vigo gave Madrid the chance to move to the summit - an opportunity they took with aplomb.

Deportivo held
Madrid's fellow title challengers RC Deportivo La Coruña could only manage a scoreless draw against Villarreal CF at the Municipal de Riazor stadium but move up to fourth place at the expense of FC Barcelona, who also drew 0-0 in their encounter with RCD Mallorca on Saturday.

Liverpool hit Ipswich for six
Liverpool FC went top of the FA Premiership on Saturday, albeit for 24 hours, as two goals apiece from England strikers Michael Owen and Emile Heskey helped them destroy Ipswich Town FC 6-0 at Portman Road. Liverpool's lead was usurped by Manchester United FC on Sunday, when two goals from Ole Gunnar Solskjær sent the reigning champions back to the top with a 2-0 away victory against Charlton Athletic FC.

United back on top
United, who have won eleven of their last 12 league games, now have 54 points from 27 games, two ahead of Liverpool FC and Newcastle United FC who both have 52 points. Newcastle continued their impressive run of form with a convincing 3-1 win against Southampton FC at St James' Park on Saturday, Alan Shearer scoring twice.

Five-star Leverkusen
As leaders BV Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Bayern München in the 1. Bundesliga on Saturday, second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen maintained their title credentials with a 5-0 demolition of VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. Michael Ballack, Oliver Neuville, Bernd Schneider, Carsten Ramelow and Dimitar Berbatov scored the all-important goals at the BayArena as they closed the gap at the top to two points.

Elber equaliser
Championship contenders 1. FC Kaiserslautern stumbled against a SV Werder Bremen side who earned their first win of the year by a solitary goal, Brazilian Ailton on target after 51 minutes. That victory was good news for FC Schalke 04, who are now within striking range of a top-three place after a 4-0 defeat of FC St. Pauli.

Tomasson the hero
Feyenoord stayed top of the Dutch Eredivisie on goal difference after a Jon Dahl Tomasson goal gave them a narrow 1-0 win against FC Groningen on Sunday. Elsewhere, Nikos Machlas scored twice in his first start since December as second-placed AFC Ajax beat RKC Waalwijk 3-1, while SC Heerenveen pushed themselves back into title contention with a 2-0 win at AZ Alkmaar.

Slim hopes
Olympique Lyonnais held on to their slim French title hopes on Saturday by beating ES Troyes Aube Champagne 3-1. Lyon's inspirational captain Sonny Anderson was the key player for the home side, who were forced to fight back from 1-0 down. Lyon are now four points behind leaders RC Lens, who have a game in hand.

Boavista move top
Boavista FC survived the second-half dismissal of Jorge Silva to defeat UD Leiria 1-0 on Saturday and move to the top of the 1.Liga in Portugal, while FC Porto leapfrogged opponents SL Benfica into third after coming from behind to win 3-2 on Sunday. Sporting Clube de Portugal wasted the chance to go top when they drew 1-1 with struggling Gil Vicente FC.