KEY POINTS:
The pressure continues to mount at the top of many European leagues as teams who had enjoyed big leads start to come back to the pack.
In England, the neck-and-neck battle at the top of the Premier League has front-runners Arsenal and Manchester United separated only by the greater number of goals scored [27 to United's 22]. But Arsenal have the advantage of a game in hand.
William Gallas, who scored a stoppage-time equaliser for Arsenal, after earlier conceding an own goal, helped the Gunners set a club record of 25 unbeaten games in all competitions.
ENGLAND
The performance of the weekend came at St James' Park, where Portsmouth scored three times in the first 11 minutes in a 4-1 win over Newcastle United - their first there for 58 years - that took them to fourth place.
Yesterday, West Ham United defender George McCartney scored his first goal in more than seven years but Kevin Nolan made it 1-1 in injury time to snatch a point for struggling Bolton Wanderers.
McCartney, whose only other goal as a professional came for Northern Ireland in September 2001, looked as if he had been banging them in all his life as he acrobatically hooked in a volley after Bolton failed to clear a 19th-minute corner.
Danny Guthrie and Kevin Davies hit the woodwork before Bolton grabbed their point when Nolan scored from close range three minutes into stoppage time.
GERMANY
Bayern Munich had their Bundesliga lead cut to two points when they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Eintracht Frankfurt, while Hamburg SV beat Hertha Berlin 2-1.
Bayern spurned 38 chances as strikers Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni had an off day.
Hamburg made them pay as they stretched their unbeaten run to seven league matches with a scrappy win at home to Hertha.
Paolo Guerrero put HSV ahead in the fourth minute but Patrick Ebert equalised early in the second half.
Hamburg looked like being frustrated before Bastian Reinhardt got the winner with a late header. With 12 games played, Bayern lead by two points.
SPAIN
Barcelona and Villarreal closed to within a point of Real Madrid at the top of the Primera Liga after the champions' 2-0 defeat at Sevilla. Real fell to quick-fire goals from Mali midfielder Seydou Keita and Brazil striker Luis Fabiano.
Barcelona had few problems seeing off struggling Real Betis 3-0 at the Nou Camp, where Thierry Henry put the Catalans ahead with a neat breakaway strike and Ronaldinho added two more with trademark free kicks.
Villarreal came from two down at the Calderon to snatch a dramatic 4-3 win over Atletico Madrid thanks to two late goals from substitute striker Nihat Kahveci.
Real Madrid remain top, one point clear of Barcelona and Villarreal.
FRANCE
Olympique Lyon maintained their four-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 with a clinical 2-0 victory over Valenciennes.
Brazilian midfielder Juninho struck five minutes from the interval, tapping in a Karim Benzema cross. Striker Sidney Govou put the result beyond doubt when he lobbed the ball over Valenciennes goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau three minutes from time.
Lyon, who host German champions VfB Stuttgart on Thursday as they bid to keep alive their hopes of progressing from the Champions League group stage, head the table from Nancy, who had a 1-0 win over Girondins Bordeaux.
ITALY
Inter Milan stayed top of Serie A despite being held to a 1-1 draw at fourth-placed Juventus.
Substitute Mauro Camoranesi earned the Turin team a draw with a 77th-minute strike after Argentine striker Julio Cruz had given Inter the lead in the first half.
Unbeaten Fiorentina moved up to second, two points behind Inter, with a Giampaolo Pazzini goal that gave the Tuscans a 1-0 win at Lazio.
AS Roma dropped to third after blowing a 2-0 lead at struggling Empoli.
A long-range strike from Ighli Vannucchi and Sebastian Giovinco's free kick cancelled out the first-half goals by Roma midfielders Ludovic Giuly and Matteo Brighi.
European champions AC Milan, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Torino, have not won a league game at the San Siro since April.
- Reuters
