Embattled Betis make their point

It was a mixed weekend for the sides in UEFA Champions League Group G as Real Betis Balompié ended a recent run of league defeats, but had to settle for a point away to Real Racing Club Santander. Chelsea FC suffered their first Premiership defeat for over a year at the hands of Manchester United FC, while Liverpool FC and RSC Anderlecht both continued their recent resurgence.

Real Racing Club Santander 1-1 Real Betis Balompié

Real Betis went a fourth Primera División match without victory on Sunday, drawing away to Racing Santander. The result was an improvement on their three previous league matches, all of which ended in defeat. But they were unable to snatch a second win in five days, having defeated Chelsea in midweek UEFA Champions League action.

Dani Martín opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a brave header, but Antoñito Ramiro earned a share of the points for Racing with a stunning long-range volley that surprised Betis goalkeeper Pedro Contreras 15 minutes from time. The result leaves them precariously close to the relegation zone with just ten points from as many games.

Coach Llorenç Serra Ferrer said: "Justice has little to do with football. We struggled in the second half, and we are starting to feel the effects of our midweek Champions League matches. We lacked nerve rather than ambition, the team wasn't happy with a draw."

Manchester United FC 1-0 Chelsea FC

Chelsea suffered their second defeat in five days on Sunday, but their first in the Premiership for over a year. Having lost 1-0 against Betis on Tuesday, they were defeated at Old Trafford, ending an unbeaten league run stretching back 40 games to 16 October 2004, when they went down 1-0 against Manchester City FC. They remain six points clear of Wigan Athletic FC, with United a further four points down in third.

Darren Fletcher scored the only goal in the 31st minute, a looping header from an acute angle that cleared Petr Čech and John Terry and dropped into the far corner. Chelsea dominated the second half and had several chances to equalise, but Frank Lampard brought a tremendous save from Edwin van der Sar, while Didier Drogba and Damien Duff both missed the target.

Coach José Mourinho made two changes to the side that lost to Betis, bringing Asier Del Horno into the back four at Ricardo Carvalho's expense, and selecting Damien Duff on the left wing in place of the injured Arjen Robben (hamstring). Hernán Crespo also missed out.

"I don't think we deserved to lose but I give them credit for the way they defended," said Mourinho. "I'm happy with my team. We are disappointed but it's one thing to lose after a very bad performance and another to lose after a good game of football."

Aston Villa FC 0-2 Liverpool FC

Two late goals gave Liverpool three valuable Premiership points at Villa Park on Saturday. Djibril Cissé, who scored in the 3-0 win against RSC Anderlecht after coming off the bench, started in place of Peter Crouch, but Liverpool struggled to find the target despite working openings in Birmingham.

Home goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen was in fine form, notably denying Cissé, who was replaced by Crouch midway through the second half. It was Crouch who created Liverpool's opener when he was fouled in the box by Liam Ridgewell with five minutes left, giving Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard a penalty he converted. Four minutes later Xabi Alonso's shot beat Sørensen to seal the victory, but Liverpool remain well adrift of Premiership leaders Chelsea.

"We played well, we were organised and compact and created chances and we deserved to win," said Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez, who had praise for one-time Villa player Crouch, who is still without a goal since joining the club this summer. "People say 'Crouch must score' but he must do things like he did today; keep the ball, win the ball in the air, win the penalty. He had a good game."

RSC Anderlecht 3-1 R. Charleroi SC

Anderlecht remain unbeaten in the Belgian league 13 games into the season after victory against Charleroi on Saturday. The home team started with Nenad Ještrović in the lineup and Mbo Mpenza on the bench but it was Anthony Vanden Borre, just returned from a hamstring injury and playing in midfield, who opened the score after 12 minutes with a good shot after a fine dribble from Christian Wilhelmsson.

Charleroi responded 12 minutes later through François Sterchele but Wilhelmsson brought his side the lead again a minute after that with a diagonal shot set up by Serhat Akın. Four minutes into the second half, Hannu Tihinen decided the match with a header from Pär Zetterberg's cross, while Sterchele saw a second goal for Charleroi disallowed for offside. Van den Borre had to leave the pitch after 58 minutes with a suspected hamstring injury. Vincent Kompany remains out with a back problem.

Coach Frank Vercauteren said: "I am satisfied. Winning 3-1 is always a good result, certainly against opponents who have proven to be able to make it very difficult for the best teams. Of course there are still things to improve - we struggled in the final 20 minutes. But that might have to do with fatigue after the midweek action."