Last-place Leeds United picked up a victory Saturday for caretaker manager Eddie Gray, winning at high-flying Charlton 1-0 on James Milner's goal in the 9th minute.
On an afternoon when the top three teams -- Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United -- took the day off, Leeds' victory snapped a five-game losing streak in the Premier League. It was Gray's first win in his second game in charge following the firing of Peter Reid.
The victory came just three days after reports that Leeds could be headed into financial administration with debts of ?79 million (US$134 million).
PHOTO: AP
The loss left Charlton in fourth place with 22 points. Arsenal leads with 33 with Chelsea on 32 and Man United with 31.
Leeds stayed in last place with 11 points, the same as Wolves. Everton dropped into 18th place with a 2-0 loss at Bolton.
Gray said the victory could pep up his Leeds side.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"There has been a lack of confidence running through the club and hopefully this victory will give the players a lot more belief and we can start to climb the table," Gray said.
"We have a long way to go before we can consider ourselves a good side, but I'm extremely pleased how it went for us today," he added.
Alan's Shearer's 12th league goal this season gave Newcastle a 1-1 draw at struggling Wolverhampton.
The Magpies' needed a victory to stay in touch with the big three in England. Instead, the draw left them 13 points behind Arsenal.
Newcastle manager Bobby Robson said his team was tired after beating Basel 48 hours earlier in the UEFA Cup.
"Considering we played on Thursday night I can't give my team enough credit," he said. "Not many managers would have agreed to play this game today but we did and it was a commendable effort."
Nathan Blake gave Wolves a surprise lead after just 27 minutes. Shearer responded in four minutes, scoring from 10m off a through ball from Lomana LuaLua.
Villa picked up three valuable points with Dion Dublin scoring in first-half injury time to beat Southampton 1-0. The win moved Villa one point clear of relegation.
Blackburn got a long-needed victory, defeating Tottenham 1-0 on Vratislav Gresko's goal in the 78th.
Leicester moved into 12th place with a 2-0 victory at Portsmouth on goals from Les Ferdinand and Marcus Bent.
Everton is in trouble, dropping into 18th place -- the final relegation spot. The Toffies fell 2-0 at Bolton with goals from Per Frandsen and Youri Djorkaeff.
SCOTTISH LEAGUE
First-place Celtic increased its lead to eight points in Scotland, defeating Partick 3-1 Saturday on two goals from Chris Sutton.
James Grady put Partick ahead after only 12 minutes, but Henrik Larsson equalized in the 23rd. Sutton got the winner in the 36th and added a clinching goal in the 60th.
BUNDESLIGA
Despite forward Claudio Pizarro's two goals, Bayern Munich threw away a good chance to climb back into the Bundesliga title race on Saturday.
Munich was held 2-2 by bottom FC Cologne -- loser of four straight matches -- at home on a day when the three top teams ahead of the defending champions all struggled to draws.
"I'm unbelievably disappointed. We wanted to catch up to the leaders because we thought they would lose some points with tough away matches," coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said.
"I'm especially disappointed with some players," he said, failing to name names.
Bayern, still six points behind frontrunner Stuttgart, was the only top team leading in its match until Cologne's Alexander Voigt popped up at the left post and headed in the equalizer in the 60th minute.
That spoiled Bayern's chance of moving close to the leaders before the crucial next two weeks as it faces showdowns against first second-placed Bremen, then Stuttgart. Losses now would drop it well out of contention.
Stuttgart remained unbeaten, but its nine-match winning streak came to an end in a 0-0 draw against sixth-placed Bochum, Bremen played 1-1 against Hamburg and third-place Leverkusen had to charge back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 against 1860 Munich.
That left Stuttgart 10-4-0 with 22-3 goal difference at 34 points in 14 rounds followed by Bremen with 32, Leverkusen with 31 and Bayern at 28.
Bayern, with Dutch forward Roy Makaay sitting on the bench, dominated the first 25 minutes against Cologne, with two attempts ricocheting off the posts.
Then Bayern midfielder Hasan Salihamidzic passed straight to an opponent, setting up a breakaway which Andrei Woronin finished by sidefooting past goalie Oliver Kahn.
Pizarro put Munich ahead 2-1 with two similar close-in goals in the 42nd and 49th minutes, getting his leg on two extended corners from Brazilian international Ze Roberto.
But Bayern's defense was vulnerable all day, and Vogts popped up at the left post unmarked to head in his first Bundesliga goal in three years.
Afterwards, Bayern was lucky to save the draw, with the cellar-dwellars wasting several chances and a tackle by defender Robert Kovac in the box on Woronin lucky not to draw a penalty whistle.
"We could have won the match with a little luck," said Cologne goalie Roger Wessels, who was once Bayern's backup. "We played well, of course, Bayern didn't play too well."
In other matches, Hannover blasted Freiburg 3-0, Moenchengladbach beat Kaiserslautern 2-1 and Frankfurt charged back from two goals down to gain three points against Wolfsburg 3-2.
Stuttgart stayed unbeaten in the Bundesliga since May 17, but it wasn't a good performance by the frontrunners, whose attack appeared to suffer without injured playmaker Aliaksandr Hleb.
With representatives from Manchester United, Juventus Turin and AC Milan in the stands, Stuttgart was drawn into a colorless defensive battle against Bochum, which had won its last three matches at home with a 11-0 goal difference.
Bremen, with the league's most explosive attack, appeared to be headed toward another victory in front of 55,000 at Hamburg's AOL Arena when defender Fabian Ernst scored in the 27th minute.
The Germany player drilled the ball into an empty goalmouth after the Hamburg 'keeper was forced out to upend a through Ailton, the league's top scorer. That came amidst a flurry of chances for the side.
But Hamburg came back out after the half transformed, pressuring Bremen and earning its reward on Christian Rahm's 50th minute free kick equalizer.
"I told them they were playing too scared and they had no reason to be scared -- they can football too," Hamburg coach Klaus Toppmoeller said.
Leverkusen played the day's most exciting match, charging back from two goals back to earn a draw against 1860 on scores by Brazilians Robson Ponte in the 60th and Lucio 10 minutes later.
Leverkusen wasted seven good chances before it was shocked against the flow of play when Danny Schwarz of 1860 suddenly charged up the center and volleyed in a 35th cross.
Markus Schroth then made it 2-0 in the 56th as Leverkusen's seven-match winning streak at Bay Arena ended, despite a furious fightback.
SPANISH LEAGUE
Argentine international Pablo Aimar scored in the 45th minute Saturday to help Valencia beat Zaragoza 3-2 and jump into first place in the Spanish league.
Midfielders Jorge Lopez and Vicente Rodriguez also scored as Valencia took a three-goal lead before halftime. Zaragoza then battled back with two second-half goals.
Madrid dropped to second place with a 1-1 draw at Osasuna despite Ronaldo's 10th goal of the season. The defending champions -- lacking injured Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos -- trailed after 11 minutes when Ivorian striker Ibrahima Bakayoko scored.
Valencia looked to be cruising against Zaragoza but was then made to work hard for its first victory in three matches.
Lopez opened the scoring in the 20th minute when he beat Zaragoza midfielders Jesus Munoz and Fernando Soriano on the edge of the area before firing home.
Seven minutes later, Spanish international Rodriguez doubled the lead after goalkeeper Cesar Lainez parried Aimar's shot with his legs.
Aimar put Valencia three ahead on the stroke of the interval with a volley from outside the area which took a slight deflection off Zaragoza defender Gabriel Milito.
Zaragoza, which went into the match unbeaten in four games, reduced the deficit in the 49th minute when striker David Villa swept home after a neat back-heel by former Brazilian winger Savio Bortolini.
Valencia's nerves began to jangle when Zaragoza substitute Ruben "Cani" Garcia netted with 11 minutes remaining, although it held out for victory.
Madrid, which had lost on its previous two league visits to El Sadar stadium, was given a torrid time by a fast, aggressive Osasuna and was fortunate to come away with a point.
"I'm sure other big teams are going to drop points here," Ronaldo told Cadena SER radio station.
Osasuna, backed by a noisy crowd, went ahead when Bakayoko swerved past defender Ivan Helguera and unleashed a fierce drive which gave Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas no chance.
With his team struggling to keep Osasuna at bay, David Beckham appeared to grow increasingly frustrated. He shouted at one of the stewards after he was pelted by the crowd as he prepared to take a 48th-minute corner and was then involved in an angry exchange with Bakayoko in the 65th.
However, in the 74th minute Beckham provided Ronaldo with the pass which led to the league's top scorer surging forward and firing the equalizer past Ricardo Sanzol with a trademark shot.
Beckham, who then came close to scoring with an audacious shot from the halfway line, limped off in the 87th minute and was replaced by Borja Fernandez.
Atletico gained its fifth victory in six games with a lackluster performance.
Uruguayan midfielder Gonzalo de los Santos gave his team a fine start when he volleyed home from the edge of the area in the sixth minute.
But Atletico had to wait until the 71st minute to make sure of the win when Greek striker Demis Nikolaidis volleyed home a free kick by Argentine midfielder Ariel Ibagaza for his third league goal of the season.
Sociedad extended its winless streak in the Primera Division to five games, a contrast to its results in the Champions League, in which it is close to advancing to the last 16.
Sociedad midfielder Igor Gabilondo opened the scoring with a 30th-minute free kick. Murcia forward Luis Garcia equalized, also direct from a free kick, in the 47th minute.
Forward Oscar de Paula restored Sociedad's lead a minute later from a pass by right back Aitor Lopez Rekarte, only for Murcia substitute David Karanka to head home in the 69th, a minute after he replaced midfielder Fredi Lobeiras.
Sociedad rises to 15th with 14 points. Murcia, which is without a win in seven games, stays 19th with nine points.
ITALIAN LEAGUE
Inter Milan, rebounding from a humiliating Champions League rout, demolished Italian league leader Juventus 3-1 Saturday to end Juve's 10-match unbeaten streak and rejoin the title chase.
Argentine striker Julio Ricardo Cruz, starting as replacement for the injured Christian Vieri, scored two goals and Nigerian teenager Obafemi Martins added another for the Milan team at Turin's Delle Alpi stadium.
The upset win lifted Inter to 22 points, four behind La Juve, which suffered its first loss of the season and could be leapfrogged by second-place AC Milan and AS Roma after Sunday's matches of the 11th round.
AC Milan and AS Roma, with 24 points each, play at home lowly Modena and Lecce, respectively.
Inter, coming off a 5-1 thrashing by Arsenal in a Champions League match on Tuesday, unexpectedly dominated play and took a few defensive risks against the Turin team, which fielded the best league offense with such strikers as David Trezeguet, Alessandro Del Piero, Pavel Nedved and Marco Di Vaio.
Cruz netted the first goal with a curling free kick in the 12th minute, and hit again in the 69th with a precise shot off a save by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Martins, a quick forward, beat defender Nicola Legrottaglie in the 75th and put the ball past Buffon to seal Inter's win. He celebrated with a somersault and a brief dance.
Uruguayan defender Paolo Montero scored the only goal for the home team with a header off a melee in the 90th.
It was the most prestigious win of the season for the Milan team and its first in Turin in 10 years, although it had to do without such key players as Vieri, Marco Materazzi and Fabio Cannavaro.
And it was a healing victory for newly signed coach Alberto Zaccheroni, who replaced Hector Cuper last month.
"We knew it was going to be a tough match, and it was," Cruz said. "We converted our chances into goals, to prove that Inter is a strong team, respected at international level.
"The match with Arsenal was strange, with three goals allowed in five minutes. The true Inter was tonight's team. Now we are closer to the top of the table."
In the only other match of the day, Brazilian Rodrigo Taddei netted two first-half goals within three minutes and set up another in injury time as Serie A newcomer Siena stunned Lazio 3-0.
While Siena lifted itself to 14 points and into the upper half of the standings, the fourth loss of the season slipped Lazio to fifth place with 19 points.
Siena scored its first home win in one month at the Artemio Franchi stadium by outplaying and outpacing Lazio, which was coming off Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Besiktas which slipped the Roman team on the brink of elimination from the Champions League.
Lazio must win at Sparta Prague in its last group match and hope that Chelsea beats Besiktas to stay alive in the European competition. Taddei, in his second season with Siena, opened the scoring in the 41st with a diagonal volley off a rebound.
In the 43rd he tallied his second goal of the match -- his fourth of the season -- on a perfect pass from teammate Nicola Ventola, who took the ball from Serbian veteran defender Sinisa Mihajlovic.
Mihajlovic, who received an eight-match ban from European competition for spitting on Chelsea's Romanian striker Adrian Mutu during a Champions League match, was eventually replaced in the second half following a disappointing performance.
"We pressed Lazio throughout and left them no time to play at ease," Taddei told television interviewers after being named player of the match.
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