spending Manchester City missed the chance to move into the Premier League top four when it was held to a 1-1 draw at Wigan Athletic Sunday. Martin Petrov's equalizer one minute into the second half earned City a point but its hopes of pushing for a win were hampered by the sending-off of Argentine right back Pablo Zabaleta for a second yellow card. City remained in fifth spot with 17 points from eight matches, five behind champion Manchester United which tops the table having played one more game. Fierce local rivals Blackburn Rovers and Burnley squared up in the top flight of English football for the first time in 43 years at Ewood Park and Rovers edged a gripping Lancashire derby 3-2. First-half goals by David Dunn, Franco Di Santo and Pascal Chimbonda canceled out Robbie Blake's stunning early opener for Burnley before Chris Eagles pulled one back for the visitors in the closing stages. Villarreal drops to last Villarreal and Atletico Madrid's early season struggles continued as both sides crashed to defeat Sunday. Antonio Ramirez scored a late winner as Xerez came from a goal down against Villarreal to win 2-1, while Atletico was thrashed 3-0 by Osasuna ahead of Wednesday's Champions League game against Chelsea. Robert Pires scored his first of the season after charging through midfield into the area and exchanging passes with Joseba Llorente to put Villarreal 1-0 up. Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez stretched to save from a rebound off defensive teammate Diego Godin soon after, but couldn't stop the unmarked Mario Bermejo from heading in a corner in the 42nd minute. Nilmar looked set to score Villarreal's winner in the 75th when he was put through with just the goalkeeper to beat - only to hit the post. But Ramirez took advantage of a fumbled clearance by Lopez four minutes later and chipped the Villarreal goalkeeper to secure Xerez's first win of the season. In other games it was: Espanyol 2, Tenerife 1; Mallorca 3, Getafe1; Zaragoza 2, Racing 2; Malaga 1, Almeria 2; Athletic Bilbao 1, Sporting Gijon 2. Sampdoria draws 1-1 at Lazio In Milan, Sampdoria drew 1-1 at Lazio Sunday to miss a chance to draw level with Inter Milan at the top of the Serie A. Giampaolo Pazzini gave Sampdoria the lead in the 40th minute, but Francelino Matuzalem equalized for Lazio two minutes later. Inter leads the standings with 19 points following its 5-0 win over Genoa Saturday. Sampdoria is second with 17, followed by Juventus and Fiorentina with 15 points each. AC Milan ended a four-match run without a win with a 2-1 victory to AS Roma that moves Leonardo's side up to eighth. Also Sunday : Catania 2, Cagliari 1; Chievo Verona 1, Bari 2; Livorno 1, Palermo 2; Napoli 2, Bologna 1; Parma 1, Siena 0 and Udinese 1, Atalanta 3.
