No matter what time of season it is, the pressure is always on when you are a title candidate. Just ask Boca Juniors, who relinquished the frontrunner's position in Argentina to River Plate of all teams, and Mexico's CD Guadalajara, who saw their unbeaten record go up in smoke. Or the title holders in China PR and the United States for that matter, both of whom recorded winless starts to their respective domestic campaigns.

Argentinian Clausura: Millonarios hit the jackpot
River Plate beat Arsenal 1-0 to keep a clean sheet for the seventh time in eight games and hit the front in the Clausura championship. Erstwhile joint leaders Boca Juniors dropped back to second after they could only draw 1-1 away to Olimpo. The stalemate put them level on points with Estudiantes, who scraped a 1-0 win at home to Velez Sarsfield on Saturday courtesy of a late strike from Velez old boy Ivan Moreno y Fabianesi.

Big game: San Lorenzo downed Lanus 3-1 to prevail in the battle between the last two domestic champions and register their fourth win in a row. In contrast El Granate have now gone three games without a win.

Headline-grabber: San Juan outfit San Martin defeated Racing Club 2-1 to move ever closer to the promotion zone. Striker Martin Bravo was on target for the fifth consecutive game and is now joint top scorer on six along with Dario Cvitanich of Banfield.

Mexican Clausura: Chivas slip up
Argentinian defender Pablo Quatrocchi headed the only goal of the game as Necaxa put paid to CD Guadalajara's undefeated run. Chivas remain in pole position in Group 3, however, after San Luis went down 2-0 at home to Jaguares. Itamar Baptista bagged a brace for the third consecutive match to consolidate the Chiapas side's position at the top of Group 1. In Group 2, meanwhile, Santos kept their foot on the pedal with a 4-0 rout of Tecos.

Big game: Veracruz hauled themselves off the bottom of the relegation averages table with a handsome 4-0 defeat of America, extending Las Águilas winless streak to a worrying eight games.

Headline-grabber: Pachuca disposed of reigning champions Atlante 2-0 to reacquaint themselves with victory after three games without a win.

Brazilian state championships: All smiles for Botafogo
Botafogo took the honours in the Rio clásico when they beat Fluminense 3-1. With just one round of games remaining, O Fogão have assured themselves top spot in Group 2 of the Taca Rio, ahead of Vasco da Gama, who booked their place in the semi-finals despite suffering a 2-1 reverse at home to Volta Redonda. Although Flu are also through to the last four, their weekend defeat enabled Flamengo to leapfrog into first place in Group 1 following their goalless draw with 0-0 Madureira.

Big game: Gremio put one foot in the last four of the Gaucho state championships after beating Juventude 2-1 away in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.

Headline-grabber: Two goals from Adriano helped Sao Paulo see off Braganca and move closer to a place in the Paulista semi-finals. Santos saw their last chance of joining them disappear when they could only draw away to Rio Claro. Still leading the way are Palmeiras and unfashionable Guaratingueta.

Chinese Super League: Champions kick off with a draw
Changchun Yatai began their title defence by picking up a point at Changsha Ginde. Tianjin Teda registered the biggest win of the weekend when they put four goals past Zhejiang Lucheng without reply to stand top of the table with three other sides.

Big game: Shanghai Shenhua prevailed in the duel between former champions when they beat Shenzhen Shangqingyin 2-0. The Shanghai side have now won the last four meetings between the two, with their last defeat to Shenzhen coming in April 2006.

Headline-grabber: Honduran goalgetter Luis Ramirez began his third season in China with a brace to help Guangzhou Yiyao to a 3-1 win over Wuhan Guanggu.

Elsewhere
The exciting battle for the Nigerian Premier League intensified following a key weekend. Kano Pillars salvaged a point at home to sixth-placed Enyimba to stay ahead on goal difference of Heartland, who drew at home to Bayelsa United in fifth. Sunshine Stars and Niger Tornadoes, tied on 51 points in third and fourth respectively, missed the chance to move above the front two when they went down to respective defeats to Ocean Boys and Zamfara United.

Colorado Rapids made a fast start to the 13th MLS season when they strolled to a 4-0 defeat at home to Los Angeles Galaxy. Ruud Gullit, making his debut as Galaxy coach, and David Beckham were powerless to prevent the Rapids from racking up their seventh consecutive win over the Californians at home. In the weekend's other big game New England Revolution gained some revenge for last season's final defeat when they beat title holders Houston Dynamo 3-0.

Down in Costa Rica, defending champs Deportivo Saprissa lost their unbeaten record when Puntarenas caught them off guard with a 1-0 win on matchday 14. Even so El Monstruo Morado remain comfortably in command in Group A of the Clausura championship, a full 11 points clear of Heredia and San Carlos. Alajuelense maintained their lead in Group B by disposing of Santos 1-0.