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McBride Leads Fulham Past Portsmouth
U.S. forward Brian McBride scored the go-ahead goal in the 81st minute Sunday to help Fulham beat Portsmouth 3-1 and move ahead of its English Premier League rival in the fight to avoid relegation.
McBride, who entered as a substitute in the second half, volleyed a 15-yard shot over Portsmouth goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown to put his team ahead 2-1.
"He didn't start because he has just had a long flight back from America and couldn't have played the full 90 minutes," Fulham manager Chris Coleman said. "But when I play with two strikers Brian is always at the front of my mind, because he works well with Andy Cole."
McBride returned to England late last week after playing for the United States in a World Cup qualifying loss at Mexico. He did not play in the 2-0 win over Guatemala on Wednesday. Fellow U.S. international Carlos Bocanegra was on Fulham's bench.
Luis Boa Morte and Cole also scored for Fulham. Lomana LuaLua had given Portsmouth the lead.
Fulham and Blackburn are tied with 33 points each, with Portsmouth next at 31. Southampton, West Brom, Crystal Palace and Norwich all trail and are in danger of relegation to the lower-level League Championship.
"This was an important step forward, but I don't see it as breathing space for us," Coleman said. "We need to build on this win, and I will not let my players relax."
West Brom, which beat Everton 1-0 Sunday, trails Southampton on goal difference. Zoltan Gera scored the only goal.
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Barcelona got an injury-time goal from substitute Giovanni van Bronckhorst to hold on for a 3-3 tie against Real Betis in the Spanish league.
Van Bronckhorst entered in the 76th minute and scored in the fifth minute of injury time when he took a long pass from Deco and lifted the ball over goalkeeper Toni Doblas.
Samuel Eto'o, the league's leading scorer with 20 goals, twice scored on penalty kicks to help Barcelona rally from a two-goal deficit.
Joaquin Sanchez scored two goals and Ricardo Oliveira added the other for Betis, which lost David Rivas on a 14th-minute ejection.
The tie extended Barcelona's unbeaten run to eight games, but it also gave rival Real Madrid hope in the race for the league title. Barcelona leads by 12 points, but Madrid can cut the deficit to nine if it beats Albacete later Sunday.
All Spanish league games were marked by tributes to Pope John Paul II. A moment of silence was observed at some stadiums while music was heard and prayers were said at others. Some teams wore black armbands.
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Hertha Berlin teammates Marcelhino and Arne Friedrich fought with each other at halftime, and Borussia Dortmund took advantage of the trouble by beating its Bundesliga rival 2-1 on the field.
Brazilian forward Ewerthon scored the first goal in the 24th minute and Eby Solarek added the second in the 36th to stretch Dortmund's home dominance over Berlin to 33 years. Fifth-place Hertha last won in Dortmund in 1972. Friedrich pulled one back for Berlin in the second half, just after Marcelhino hit Friedrich in the face during a heated exchange over the team's play. "The energy we wasted in the dressing rooms would have been better spent on the pitch," Berlin coach Falko Goetz said. "We had our chances but we couldn't use them."
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