Vasco defeated last year’s champions, third placed Fluminense, away from home, meaning they remain two points behind leaders and title favourites Corinthians, who won 1-0 at Figueirense.
Both face tricky derby games next weekend, with Corinthians facing São Paulo rivals Palmeiras, whilst the fierce Rio derby between Vasco and Flamengo will play a huge role in deciding who lifts the championship.
In Argentina, the title race is almost over and it is Boca Juniors who won 2-1 against Godoy Cruz to leave them nine points clear of their closest rivals, Tigre, with three games to play. Union face Independiente on Monday knowing a victory could keep their narrow title hopes alive.
Back in Europe, and the Clasico between Marseille and Paris St. Germain went the way of the home team, who won 3-0 at the Stade Velodrome to condemn the Parisians to their third defeat of the season, but by far their heaviest. Montpellier now lead the way in France after their 3-1 at Sochaux, whilst it was also a good weekend for champions Lille, who beat Brest 2-0. Rennes are in fourth after beating Evian 3-2, and Lyon claimed a 3-0 success at Auxerre.
Manchester City were left clinging on in Merseyside as Liverpool were unlucky not to claim all three points when the pair drew 1-1 on Sunday. Manchester United also drew 1-1 at home to Newcastle, whilst Arsenal had the same score against Fulham. The only teams in the top seven to win were Tottenham, who beat West Brom 3-1, and Chelsea, who claimed a 3-0 win over Wolves.
In Spain Barcelona were shocked by Getafe, who claimed a 1-0 win over them at home, helping their Madrid rivals Real, whose 4-1 win over local rivals Atletico moved them six points clear in La Liga. Valencia beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 away from home to remain third, and their local rivals Levante won 4-0 against Sporting Gijon to get back on track. Sevilla are third after beating real Zaragoza, whilst promoted Granada shocked Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in the Basque country.
Juventus won 1-0 at fourth placed Lazio to remain at the top of Serie A, just ahead of AC Milan, who beat Chievo 4-0. Udinese are still third after beating Roma 2-0, and Palermo are fifth after beating Fiorentina 2-0.
Borussia Dortmund are now top of the Bundesliga after a 2-0 win over local rivals Schalke in a fiercely contested derby. They are ahead of Borussia Moenchengladbach, who beat Cologne 3-0, whilst Bayern Munich lost 3-2 at last season’s surprise package Mainz. Werder Bremen beat Stuttgart 2-0 to remain fifth, just behind Schalke.
Leaders AZ Aalkmar won 2-0 against Utrecht to stay top of the league in Holland, three points and a game in hand ahead of PSV, who won 6-1 against Gronigen. In Greece Panathinaikos went top with a 3-1 win against OFI Crete as Athens rivals Olympiacos lost 2-0 to Asteras Tripolis. Benfica and Porto still lead in Portugal, and are now four points clear of Sporting after the former beat them 1-0. Porto won 3-2 against Braga to stretch their unbeaten record further still.
