Eastern Europe Roundup

Czech leader Banik Ostrava loses; Red Star made to fight

BELGRADE (Reuters) -- Czech league leaders Banik Ostrava suffered a shock first league defeat of the season at lowly Blsany at the weekend.

Red Star Belgrade maintained a three-point lead in Serbia and Montenegro while Hajduk Split stayed top in Croatia. Lokomotiv Plovdiv extended their lead in Bulgaria and Siroki Brijeg enjoyed an emphatic win in Bosnia.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Banik Ostrava crashed to their first league defeat of the campaign they went down 2-1 at bottom team Blsany, allowing closest rivals Slavia Prague to cut their lead at the top to three points.

Tomas Pesir and Ludek Zelenka gave Blsany a 2-0 lead over the leaders before Lukas Magera pulled one back but the hosts held off a late Ostrava rally to keep alive their hopes of avoiding the drop.

Slavia won 3-0 at home to struggling Plzen.

SERBIA & MONTENEGRO

Red Star Belgrade laboured to a 2-1 win at Hajduk Kula with two second-half penalties to stay three points ahead of champions and bitter city rivals Partizan, who beat Obilic Belgrade 2-0.

Red Star skipper Nemanja Vidic converted the spot kicks, the second of which was hotly disputed by the home side, after Dejan Osmanovic had given Kula a 14th-minute lead.

CROATIA

Hajduk Split romped to a 4-0 win over fourth-placed Rijeka to maintain a five-point lead over champions Dinamo Zagreb, who stayed in touch with a 1-0 win at third-placed Kamen Ingrad.

Two goals in each half saw Hajduk demolish their traditional coastal rivals Rijeka while Belgian Branko Strupar gave Dinamo a much-needed win with an early strike at Ingrad.

BULGARIA

Lokomotiv Plovdiv went five points clear at the top with a 1-0 home win over Spartak Varna while Levski Sofia had a weekend off before Wednesday's UEFA Cup third round return leg against Liverpool.

Litex Lovech leapfrogged Levski into second position with a 1-0 win over champions CSKA Sofia, whose slim hopes of retaining the title suffered another setback. They are now seven points off the pace.

Violence flared in Varna when fans of Cherno More Varna and Botev Plovdiv clashed in the streets after Cherno More's 3-1 win on Saturday. The coach of bottom club Botev had his nose broken when he was hit by a bottle at the end of the game.

BOSNIA

Siroki Brijeg beat lowly Ugljevik 4-0 to extend their lead at the top to four points over second-placed Leotar Trebinje, who have a game in hand.

Sloboda Tuzla stayed third with a 2-1 win over Brotnjo while Zeljeznicar Sarajevo kept their slim title hopes alive after beating mid-table Zepce by the same score.

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