■FRANCE
Paris St Germain go third
Paris Saint Germain moved to third place in Ligue 1 on Sunday with a 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes over bottom club Nantes. Serbian midfielder Mateja Kezman, a former Partizan Belgrade, PSV Eindhoven and Chelsea player, converted a penalty after Guirane Ndaw fouled Guillaume Hoarau. The Paris club, who were playing without suspended captain Claude Makelele, dominated the game throughout, but were unable to penetrate a sturdy Nantes defense. “It was a difficult match, but we won. It’s good to be back to the leading bunch,” midfielder Stephane Sessegnon told French television channel Canal Plus. After three wins, a draw and a defeat, PSG are on 10 points, ahead of promoted Grenoble on goal difference. The Ligue 1 leaders are Olympique Lyon, who host Fiorentina in their Champions League opener tomorrow. Lyon came from behind to grab a 3-2 home win over Nice on Saturday thanks to a controversial free-kick and a stoppage time penalty.
■RUSSIA
Rubin Kazan edge Dynamo
Russian premier league leaders Rubin Kazan moved a step closer to their first title by beating Dynamo Moscow 1-0 in the top-of-the-table clash on Sunday. Former Ukraine striker Serhiy Rebrov, who joined Rubin from Dynamo Kiev in March, scored in the second minute to give the Kazan side 45 points from 21 matches and a nine-point lead over second-placed Dynamo with the same number of games remaining. Amkar Perm, 2-1 winners at Shinnik Yaroslavl, are third with 35 points. Serbia winger Milos Krasic scored twice to lead CSKA Moscow to a 4-1 rout of struggling Luch Vladivostok, lifting the army side to fourth place, also on 35 points. On Saturday, FK Moscow edged out city rivals Spartak 2-1 to spoil Michael Laudrup’s debut as Spartak coach. The former Denmark international, who played for Real Madrid and Barcelona in the 1990s, replaced Stanislav Cherchesov on Friday following a string of poor results. The defeat dropped Spartak to sixth place, 12 points behind the leaders. Champions Zenit St Petersburg crushed Terek Grozny 4-1 to stay in the title hunt by moving up to seventh on 31 points with a game in hand. The match was moved Grozny to nearby Makhachkala following an assault on a referee in their previous home game.
■GERMANY
Hanover score five goals
Former Germany striker Jan Schlaudraff recovered his scoring touch to help Hanover 96 get their season going at last with a 5-1 win over Borussia Munchengladbach on Sunday. Schlaudraff and Szabolcs Huszti each scored twice, while Mikael Forssell added a late penalty to give Hanover their first win of the season and propel them to 12th place with four points. Munchengladbach are a point behind them in 15th. VfL Bochum also moved out of the Bundesliga relegation places and into mid-table with a 2-0 win at home to Arminia Bielefeld.
■ENGLAND
Magpies put up for sale
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley announced on Sunday he wanted to sell the troubled English Premier League club. Ashley, a self-made millionaire, has become a hate figure with many of the northeast side’s supporters, who blame him for the resignation of popular manager Kevin Keegan. “I am putting the club up for sale,” Ashley said in a statement. “I hope that the fans can get what they want and that the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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