They beat Houston Dynamo 1-0, with Robbie Keane setting up Landon Donovan to score the winning goal.
With championships coming towards their conclusion across the Americas, Boca Juniors remain eight points clear at the top of the Argentine Premier Division despite a 0-0 draw against Racing Club. Their opponents were down to nine men, but Boca remain on 33 points with Racing on 25, with four games still to play.
In Brazil, Corinthians are favourites to lift this year’s Brasiliero after beating Atlético Mineiro 2-1 at home, to put them on 67 points with two games left. Two points behind them are Vasco de Gama, who beat Avai 2-0 to remain in touch at the top. The only other team who can lift the title now are last year’s champions Fluminense, who had a stunning 4-0 win at Figueirense, to leave them on 62 points. But with two games left, they must win both to have any chance.
Back in Europe, the big game of the weekend was in Germany, where Borussia Dortmund won at Bayern Munich for the second successive year thanks to a goal from Mario Goetze. Borussia Moenchengladbach beat Werder Bremen in a stunning 5-0 success to move into third, whilst their opponents are in fifth, with Schalke between the pair after a 4-0 win over Nuremberg.
In England, Chelsea lost 2-1 at home to Liverpool to increase the pressure on under fire boss Andre Villas Boas. It was the first time they lost two successive home games in the Roman Abramovich era.
Elsewhere, Man City kept up their unbeaten run by breaking that of Newcastle, winning 3-1, and Manchester United and Arsenal both won away to promoted clubs, Swansea (1-0) and Norwich (2-1).
Udinese’s 2-0 defeat at Parma allowed a trio of teams to overtake them in Serie A; Juventus beat Palermo 3-0, whilst 0-0 draws for Lazio at Napoli and AC Milan at Fiorentina saw them move into second and third respectively. Roma beat Lecce 2-1 to go fifth, whilst Palermo are sixth and Napoli seventh. Inter Milan are 16th despite a 2-1 win over Cagliari.
In Spain, a scrappy encounter at Valencia’s Mestalla was won by Real Madrid (2-3), and Barcelona crushed Real Zaragoza 4-0 at home to stay three points behind their fierce rivals. Valencia are third, whilst Levante are fourth after a 3-2 loss at Atletico Madrid. Sevilla lost at home to Atletico Bilbao 2-1.
In France, PSG suffered a shock 1-0 reverse at home to Nancy, a result which leaves them level on points with Montpellier, who beat Marseille 1-0. None of the pre season title favourites won at the weekend, with Lille drawing 0-0 at Toulouse and Lyon losing 2-1 at home to Rennes.
The big derby in Greece saw Panathinaikos and Olympiakos draw 1-1, leaving the former two points clear of the latter. In Holland, PSV won 3-1 at de Graafschap to move to within three points of leaders AZ, who have a game in hand, whilst champions Ajax remain fifth after drawing 2-2 with NAC.
