Friedel leads Blackburn over Everton
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-07 10:41

Backed by U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel, Blackburn beat Everton 1-0 Sunday to move seven points clear of the relegation zone in the English Premier League.

Friedel caught an early attempt by Tim Cahill, stopped a shot from Marcus Bent just before halftime and blocked another by Leon Osman with two minutes left.

Jonathan Stead scored the lone goal for Blackburn, which moved up two places to 14th. Everton stays in fourth place — the final Champions League spot. Stead scored from just inside the penalty box, beating Everton goalkeeper Nigel Martyn in the 71st minute.

West Bromwich Albion boosted its chances of staying in the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Birmingham. Neil Clement and Kevin Campbell scored a goal each to help West Brom rise above last place for the first time since the end of November.

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Inter beat Lecce 2-1 on a late penalty kick by Adriano, and Sampdoria downed Chievo 1-0 on a lucky deflection by Andrea Gasbarroni to keep both teams near the top of the Italian league.

Sampdoria is in third place with 47 points, one more than fourth-place Inter. Both teams are trying to qualify for next season's Champions League. The top four teams in the league will clinch a berth.

Serie A leaders AC Milan and Juventus both won Saturday, leaving each with 60 points.

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Espanyol moved into third place in the Spanish league and closed in on a spot in the Champions League after beating Levante 2-1.

Maxi Rodriguez scored his 11th goal of the season midway through the second half and Jose Emilio Amavisca added the other to rally Espanyol from an early deficit. The Barcelona-based team was in seventh place just three weeks ago.

FC Barcelona, which beat Osasuna 1-0 on Saturday, leads the league with 62 points. Real Madrid is next with 54 points, followed by Espanyol with 45.

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Champions League hopeful Hertha Berlin got a late goal from Alexander Madlung to earn a 1-1 tie with FC Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga.

The 22-year-old defender headed in an 85th-minute free kick for fifth-place Hertha. It was the fifth time in Madlung's career that he has turned around a match with a timely goal.

Borussia Dortmund and FC Nuremberg tied 2-2 in the day's other game.

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The Dutch league game between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar was one of three postponed because of snow.

The two teams are vying for the country's second Champions League berth, and second-place AZ leads Ajax by four points. PSV Eindhoven, its game at FC Groningen postponed, leads the league with 58 points. Fourth-place Feyenoord's game at FC Den Bosch also was called off.

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Greek league leader Olympiakos played to a 1-1 tie at PAOK Thessaloniki, losing two points to title rival Panathinaikos. Both teams now have 45 points.

Predrag Djordjevic scored from the penalty spot to give Olympiakos the lead, but Dimitris Salpingidis evened the score in the 47th. Fanis Gekas scored the only goal in Panathinaikos' 1-0 win over Panionios.

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Celtic beat Hibernian 3-1 to reduce the Rangers' lead in the Scottish Premier League to four points. Stilian Petrov, John Hartson and Craig Bellamy scored for the defending champions.

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