World champions Italy continued their goalless run with a 0-0 draw with Switzerland in their friendly in Basel.
The convincing win lifted them three points clear of Werder Bremen, who had taken over at the summit on goal difference with a 2-2 draw with defending champions VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Manchester City comes very close to losing at the Etihad Stadium for the first time in 15 months but fight back from 3-1 down with only minutes left to draw 3-3 with Sunderland.
In Group F , Thomas Muller secured Bayern Munich's place in the next round following a 1-1 draw with ten-man Valencia.
In Italy's Serie A , fourth-placed Udinese's Champions League hopes were dented by a 0-0 draw with mid-table Chievo on Saturday.
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In Group B Nigeria also failed to shine, grinding out a 0-0 draw with Mozambique - who should have won the game.
And a bonus came when news filtered through that leaders Halesowen had let slip a 4-1 lead with nine minutes to go to draw 4-4 with Swindon Supermarine.
Morecambe snatched a vital point at the death to keep their promotion play-off hopes alive with a draw against high-flying Chester.
The home team will face Costa Rica who had to settle for the play-off spot after a 2-2 draw with the already-qualified United States having taken an early two-goal lead.
Yet the national team was not treated with similar enthusiasm after their 0-0 draw with football lightweights Iraq.
The climax to their qualifying campaign was the emotionally charged 2-2 draw with Croatia in Zagreb - a result that saw them qualify as group leaders and ended their fierce rivals' interest in the competition.
Paolo Guerrero - who was banned for five Bundesliga games on Thursday by the German Football Association for throwing a bottle at a fan at the end of his side's 0-0 draw with Hannover on Sunday - rounded off the scoring in injury time with a finish which went in off the post.
Swindon, who opened with a 2-2 draw against Steaua Bucharest, finish their tour with a match against FC Zlin on Tuesday night.
It was the final chance of the game - with the draw leaving both clubs still in a perfect position to qualify for the knockout phase.
The sides last met in Toronto in 2000 with the Irish lucky to come away with 27-27 draw thanks to an outstanding performance by Ronan O'Gara.
As with similar draw-downs in the past, we wound up cashiering force-structure we need to deter aggression against us or our interests and to contend with its perpetrators.
Wireless power demos abound at CEATEC, and Rohm Semiconductor had their own variant on hand with a complete mix of direct-draw gadgets, along with the omnipresent charging iPhone 4 (or was it a 4S?).
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The defeat brings the curtain down on a sensational run of results for the Catalans who, until Saturday, had amassed 55 points from a possible 57 -- Real Madrid the only team to take points off them this season with a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp in October.
In La Liga's other Saturday matches, Valencia played out a 2-2 draw with Levante while the game between bottom-of-the-table Deportivo La Coruna and ninth-place Rayo Vallecano ended goalless.
He netted in their opening 2-2 draw with Tunisia and struck again in a 3-0 win over Albania four days later in the tournament in Pescara.
Angola's 4-4 draw with Mali, when the hosts surrendered a four-goal lead, and Malawi's fabulous 3-0 win over World Cup qualifiers Algeria particularly stand out.
England captain Michael Owen has insisted that the 1-1 draw with South Korea was a useful exercise in Sven-Goran Eriksson's final preparations for the World Cup.
With Liverpool toiling to a 0-0 draw against Fulham earlier in the day and Tottenham preoccupied with their FA Cup semi-final against Portsmouth, the home side knew a win would open up a potentially decisive gap on their rivals for the final Champions League place, with some difficult fixtures lying in wait.
He set up both goals as Chelsea beat Arsenal at Wembley on Saturday to reach the FA Cup final, and put in an inspirational performance in last week's dramatic 4-4 draw with Liverpool that saw Chelsea progress to the Champions League semi-finals.
Instead, Bolton claimed the final Uefa Cup spot after a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa to keep Pompey and Reading, who drew 3-3 with Blackburn, at bay.
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The 27-year-old, who played in a 1-1 draw with Drogheda United in Sunday's friendly, has signed a two-year contract at New Douglas Park.
The 22-year-old was booked in third-placed Milan's 2-2 draw with fellow European hopefuls Fiorentina, for trying to delay an opposition free-kick with 20 minutes to play.
After the 1-1 draw with Bolton, MacDonald revealed that Houllier had not interfered with team selection - despite being present at Villa Park to see his new team in action.
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McGinn, who scored in this month's draw with Celtic, had been restored to the St Mirren side along with Alan Reid, John Potter, Stewart Kean and Franco Miranda following the 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock.
McGeady missed a penalty in Sunday's 3-3 draw with Falkirk and Tony Mowbray's side have been criticised for some under-par displays.
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