LONDON -- Peter Beardsley's strike 30 seconds from the end fired Newcastle to a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace as the Magpies stretched their lead atop the English Premier League standings to five points.


Blackburn leapfrogged Nottingham Forest into second place Saturday by edging Liverpool in a 3-2 thriller at Ewood Park and defending titlist Manchester United moved up to fourth after a 1-0 home victory over West Ham, thanks to Eric Cantona's goal.


Chris Sutton scored twice for Rovers after Mark Atkins' goal had canceled out a strike for Liverpool by Robbie Fowler. John Barnes was Liverpool's other scorer.


Newcastle, which has won seven league and cup games in a row on the road this season, now has 26 points from 10 games. Blackburn has 21, Forest, which hosts Wimbledon on Monday, has 21 from nine games and Manchester United has 19 from 10.


While there was more glory for Newcastle, Blackburn and Manchester United, there was Everton, which tumbled 2-0 at home to Coventry and stays rooted to the bottom with only three points from 10 games. Dion Dublin and American striker Roy Wegerle netted two Coventry goals in the first 18 minutes at Goodison Park and the Everton board of directors went into discussion at the end of the game to try and find a solution to the team's disastrous form.


Ian Wright scored twice as Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 3-1 at Highbury. Manchester City had goalkeeper Andy Dibble and defender Richard Edghill sent off in the second half at Queens Park Rangers but still wound up 2-1 winner. Leicester conceded two goals in the last two minutes but ran out 4-3 winner over Southampton, which lost for the first time in eight games. Teddy Sheringham fired Tottenham ahead at Leeds but Brian Deane replied for a 1-1 tie. Aston Villa was held 1-1 at home by Norwich.


In Sunday's Premier League game, David Hirst fired the winner for Sheffield Wednesday in injury time after Bulgarian striker Bontcho Guentchev had missed an Ipswich penalty as the Owls ran out 2-1 winners.





Italian First Division


Defender Alexi Lalas became the first American to score in an Italian first division league game as Padova upset AC Milan 2-0 Sunday, dropping the three-time defending champions into a sixth-place tie.


Padova's first win of the season was one of a string of surprises in the sixth round. AS Roma moved into sole possession of first place despite being held to a 2-2 draw by 13th-place Torino in the late match. The only undefeated squad, Roma has 14 points from four wins and two draws.


AC Parma, in first place entering the day based on more goals scored, lost 3-1 at Sampdoria of Genoa to fall to second with 13 points. Juventus of Turin, alone in third going into the game, was shut out for the second straight week with Roberto Baggio back in the lineup, losing 2-0 to mediocre Foggia.


At Padua, the man known as "Wild Bill'' helped the newly promoted hosts shock the troubled champions. An even match was suddenly turned in the 23rd minute when the U.S. World Cup standout pounced on a loose ball and deposited it just inside the right post. Lalas leaped over advertising signs along the sideline and ran over to the stands to celebrate the goal. His exuberance earned a yellow card for improper conduct.





German Bundesliga


Eintracht Frankfurt coach Jupp Heynckes made a dramatic return to his old club when his struggling team held reigning champions Bayern Munich to a 3-3 draw in the German first division Saturday.


Heynckes, who coached Bayern to the 1989 and 1990 Bundesliga titles before losing his job in October 1991, watched midfielder Slobodan Komljenovic strike an 86th-minute equalizer to earn Eintracht a vital away point.


The dropped point did not turn out to be too negative for Bayern, however, since the leading two clubs Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen were also involved in draws.


Dortmund, who played out a goalless draw at Karlsruhe, held on to the top spot on goal difference from second-placed Bremen, who also drew, 2-2, at home with Cologne. Bayern stayed fourth, two points behind Dortmund and level on points with third-placed Freiburg who moved up from seventh after a 3-0 victory over Hamburg on Friday. (AP, Reuters)


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