■NETHERLANDS
ADO The Hague top the table
Midfielder Ibrahim Afellay scored in the 58th minute on Saturday to give defending champions PSV Eindhoven a 1-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch league. It was Afellay’s third goal in two games, giving PSV a perfect six points and a share of the lead with ADO The Hague. ADO beat AZ Alkmaar 3-0 and lead PSV on goal difference to top the standings for the first time since January 1971. In Rotterdam, Jon Dahl Tomasson scored on penalties in the 14th minute and 30th minute to help Feyenoord rout newcomers FC Volendam 5-0. Substitute Diego Biseswar also netted a second-half double, before Michael Mols added a goal in the 90th minute as Feyenoord secured their first three points of the season. FC Twente drew 1-1 with NEC Nijmegen and former England coach Steve Mclaren is still looking for his first win with the club after an identical result last weekend. NEC substitute Joel Tshibamba canceled Eljero Elia’s first-half goal with an 88th-minute strike. Heerenveen fired 25 shots on target in their 2-2 draw against Heracles Almelo on Friday.
■ROMANIA
Timisoara play despite threat
First division team FC Timisoara fulfilled their fixture against Universitatea Craiova on Saturday despite the club’s owner threatening to boycott matches after they were docked six points. A Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in 2006 found the club were wrongfully using the name and violet colors of the original FC Politehnica Timisoara and they were ordered to stop, but they agreed only to change the team name. World soccer’s governing body FIFA threatened to suspend the Romania Federation (FRF) unless FC Timisoara were docked points and soon after club owner Marian Iancu said the FRF decision, which he labeled “illegal,” meant the end of his “former club.” He added that his team “will [therefore] be kicked out of the competition” for not playing anymore. However, FC Timisoara, whose players wore yellow and black instead of their traditional violet shirts, turned up on Saturday and won 3-1 with three goals in the last eight minutes. The result leaves them on 10 points from seven matches.
■GREECE
Panathinaikos boost morale
Panathinaikos prepared for tomorrow’s Champions League opener against Inter by easing to a 3-0 win over Panthrakikos in the Greek Super League on Saturday. After losing their opening league game to AEK Athens, Panathinaikos delivered a morale-boosting performance against the newly promoted side from the northeastern city of Komotini. Brazil striker Souza opened the scoring after just 14 minutes and 33-year-old Greece defender Ioannis Goumas added a second 10 minutes before halftime. The Greens were cruising when Austria captain Andreas Ivanschitz fired in number three. Champions Olympiakos Piraeus, who face Danish side Nordsjaelland in the first round of the UEFA Cup tomorrow, had to work hard for a 1-0 win at Xanthi.
■PORTUGAL
Ronaldo gets Golden Boot
Manchester United’s Portugese winger Cristiano Ronaldo received the European Golden Boot trophy at a ceremony in his native Madeira on Saturday. It took place at a hotel on the mid-Atlantic island, fulfilling Ronaldo’s wish to receive the award where he was born as a tribute to his late father Diniz Aveiro. The European Footballer of the Year, who scored 31 goals in the Premier League last season, has been sidelined since surgery on his right ankle in July.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Sumo is walking a “tightrope” as it prepares to stage events outside Japan for the first time in 20 years while also trying to preserve its ancient traditions, experts say. The sport is to hold exhibition tournaments in London in October and in Paris in June next year, the first time the Japan Sumo Association has been abroad since Las Vegas in 2005. Sports such as soccer, baseball and football play domestic games overseas in a bid to gain new fans in emerging markets. John Gunning, a former amateur sumo wrestler who commentates on the sport in English on Japanese television, says its
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday withstood Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52-point outburst to beat the Western Conference leading Thunder 116-109. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Golden State erased a double-digit deficit and pulled away late for the victory. “We just stayed solid,” said Curry, who entered the contest mired in a shooting slump and had just four points on one basket in the first half. “Just all-around effort.” The Thunder, fueled by 31 first-half points from Gilgeous-Alexander, led by as many as 14 in the
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