Leicester City's nightmare week surrounding three stars held in Spanish jail on sex attack charges ended in a glorious 1-0 victory at fifth place Birmingham on Saturday as Mickey Adams' team climbed out of the relegation zone.
The Foxes had been making headlines for the wrong reason all week with striker Paul Dickov, defender Frank Sinclair and winger Keith Gillespie facing provisional charges of sexual aggression and breaking and entering. The charges followed a complaint to police by three women at La Manga where City players had been training.
After a week in jail they were finally granted bail late Thursday but too late to play any part in the game at St. Andrews.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Foxes hadn't won for 15 league and cup games but veteran striker Les Ferdinand netted the only goal of the game in the 53rd minute as Adams' men captured three precious points.
Riccardo Scimeca started the move to Trevor Benjamin and he released Turkish international Muzzy Izzett, whose cross found Ferdinand at the far post for a simple tap-in.
Birmingham, seeking a place in the UEFA Cup or even the Champions League, fought hard to try and snatch an equalizer but Adams men held on and he hugged his players at the final whistle before saluting the Leicester fans.
With Portsmouth losing 1-0 at Everton, it meant that Leicester climbed out of the bottom three and is now above Pompey, Wolves and Leeds, which tumbled 2-0 at Fulham. Wolves hosts Aston Villa on Sunday.
"The dark days were Thursday, Friday of last week where my mind wasn't on football," Adams said.
At the top, runaway leader Arsenal scored a routine 2-0 victory at Blackburn to make it 28 league games without defeat. Thierry Henry fired home a free kick and Robert Pires added a late second for the Premier League's only unbeaten side.
Chelsea held on to second place and stayed within nine points of Arsene Wenger's team with a 2-0 victory at Bolton.
SPANISH LEAGUE
Paraguayan defender Delio Toledo scored the equalizer Saturday as Zaragoza held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Spain's first league match since 200 people were killed in a terrorist attack.
Striker Javier Portillo, leading Madrid's attack in the absence of the injured strikers Ronaldo and Raul Gonzalez, opened the scoring in the 28th-round match, which was a dress rehearsal for Wednesday's Copa del Rey final.
"It wasn't the best day to play soccer," Madrid sports director Jorge Valdano said. "In terms of effort the players can hardly be reproached. They showed their professionalism by playing this game."
Madrid's draw was only the second time it had dropped points at home in 14 league matches this season. Second-place Valencia, the only other team to draw at the stadium, will cut the defending champion's lead to four points and boost its title hopes if it beats struggling Celta de Vigo on Sunday.
Madrid has 61 points, seven more than Valencia and 11 more than Deportivo de La Coruna, which visits Mallorca today. FC Barcelona, which plays at last-place Murcia today, is fourth with 49.
Bundesliga
Despite two more Roy Makaay goals, Bayern Munich's last Bundesliga title hopes may have vanished Saturday with a 3-3 draw against Hansa Rostock.
Makaay's 75th-minute conversion from the spot was needed for Bayern to salvage the draw, which left front-runner Werder Bremen nine points clear of the second-place club.
Bayern blew a 2-0 lead, going ahead just nine minutes into match on goals by Jens Jeremies and Makaay, then was stunned when Rostock charged back with some gifts by the side's defenders.
Bremen, in an equally wild match, barely held onto to a 3-2 win against bottom Cologne -- leading 3-0 before surviving two late attempts off the crossbar and a score ruled offsides by the bottom club.
Bayern was still defiant about its chances for an 18th Bundesliga title and its last hopes of still claiming a trophy this season.
"We still won't give up even if we are far behind -- but it will be tough," Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said. "They do have two tough away matches next."
But Bremen, with nine rounds left, will have to undergo the biggest collapse in Bundesliga history to not claim its fifth title.
ITALIAN LEAGUE
Sampdoria revived its hopes for a UEFA Cup berth by lifting itself to seventh place in the Serie A after beating Bologna 3-2 Saturday.
First-half goals by Sergio Volpi and Aimo Diana and another by Giacomo Cipriani early in the second half gave the hosts their ninth victory of the season and 36 points in the table to move into a tie with Inter Milan.
Inter hosts Chievo on Sunday in the 25th round, which features the Big Match between league leader AC Milan (61 points) and third-place Juventus (55) at Turin's Stadio Delle Alpi.
In Saturday's only other match, lowly Empoli and Lecce played to a 0-0 draw that left both sides struggling to avoid relegation -- Lecce with 27 points and Empoli with 22.
FRENCH LEAGUE
Brazilian stars Giovane Elber and Edmilson both scored Saturday as the defending champion Lyon won 2-1 away at Sochaux 2-1 and kept the pressure on first division leader Monaco.
The win moves Lyon onto 57 points, just one behind Monaco, which faces a tough away trip to Auxerre on Sunday.
Elber, signed from Bayern Munich last summer, headed Lyon ahead in the third minute before Santos -- born in Brazil but now playing for Tunisia -- replied with a powerful 27th-minute shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Edmilson got the winner in the 65th minute ... with a little help from another Brazilian, Juninho.
Juninho flicked a free-kick into his path, and Edmilson drilled the ball through the wall.
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