Tue, Sep 16, 2008 page19

• Sport Soccer Shorts

  • AGENCIES
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  ■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.”
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