Arsenal, AC Milan and Werder Bremen moved closer to winning their league championships with wins at the weekend but Real Madrid's title defence suffered a blow and the Rome derby was abandoned after crowd trouble.

European champions Milan, marching towards a 17th league title, moved 10 points clear in Serie A on Saturday with two goals from Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson and another from strike partner Andriy Shevchenko in a 3-1 win over Parma.

But Milan's success was overshadowed on Sunday when crowd trouble at the Olympic Stadium was triggered by a false rumour that a young boy had been killed by a police car outside the ground and the Lazio versus Roma match had to be called off.

The game was four minutes into the second half, with the score at 0-0, when a fan walked on to the pitch behind the Roma goal to interrupt the match with the rumour of the death.

Italian Football League president Adriano Galliani told the domestic news agency ANSA he had ordered the referee to call off the game but said that it would be replayed.

After the fans left the stadium there were violent clashes with the police in the surrounding area. Supporters threw flares and bottles at police who responded with tear gas.

Earlier on Sunday, Juventus drew 0-0 at Udinese, which all but ended their hopes of a third consecutive title since Milan lead the table with 67 points ahead of Roma with Juve trailing the leaders by 11 points with eight games to play.

UNBEATEN START

Arsenal clocked up a record-equalling unbeaten start to the season on Saturday with a nervy 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers that kept them nine points clear in the English premier league.

Goals from Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp ensured Arsenal matched Leeds United (1973-74) and Liverpool (1987-88) by going 29 top-flight matches without defeat from the start of a season.

Arsenal, with 73 points, did not extend their lead at the top, though, after second-placed Chelsea beat Fulham 2-1 in the west London derby and champions Manchester United trounced Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 to reach 61 points in third place.

In the Spanish Primera Liga, Valencia's in-form striker Mista grabbed a hat-trick as his team won 5-1 against Real Mallorca to move within a point of leaders Real Madrid on Sunday.

Barcelona extended their winning streak to nine games after Ronaldinho struck a brilliant last gasp free-kick to give his side a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad in Sunday's late match to reclaim third place from Deportivo Coruna.

Real Madrid, who lost Wednesday's King's Cup final against Real Zaragoza, had ended a miserable week with a morale-sapping 4-2 defeat at an inspired Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

With nine matches left to the end of the season, Real lead the table on 61 points, Valencia follow with 60 and Barca are now just five behind on 55. Deportivo, who won 1-0 at basement side Murcia on Saturday, are fourth with 53.

Last season's champions Real have now frittered away a comfortable eight-point lead in the space of just three games.

LYON TOP

In French Ligue 1, Olympique Lyon took over at the top thanks to a goal from Giovane Elber on Saturday when the champions beat Nantes 1-0 and Monaco were held to a 1-1 draw against Sochaux.

Lyon top the standings with 60 points from 29 matches, equal with Monaco, who are second on goal difference.

The champions, chasing a third consecutive title, beat Cup semi-finalists Nantes when their Brazilian striker took advantage of a Mickael Landreau blunder.

Monaco had to share the points with fourth-placed Sochaux when Mickael Pagis answered Fernando Morientes's opener in injury time, deflecting a Jeremy Mathieu free kick.

Paris St Germain stay in third place three points off the pace after a Pedro Pauleta penalty earned a 1-0 victory over strugglers AC Ajaccio at the Parc des Princes.

In Germany, runaway leaders Werder Bremen moved a step closer to the Bundesliga title with a 2-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg.

Goals in the last 15 minutes from Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic and French playmaker Johan Micoud helped the northerners move 11 points clear of second-placed Bayern Munich with nine matches left.

Bayern undermined their slim hopes of retaining the title by being held to a 1-1 draw at strugglers Hertha Berlin.