■ ENGLAND
Wolves go six points clear
Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Mick McCarthy insisted his players would not get carried away despite extending their lead at the top of the English Championship to six points. Wolves’ 2-0 win over Burnley at Molineux on Saturday combined with Birmingham City’s solitary point away at Nottingham Forest put McCarthy’s men in pole position for a return to the Premier League after a five-year absence. But former Republic of Ireland coach McCarthy is determined not to let his team rest on their laurels. “We didn’t get carried away when we lost three and we are not getting carried away now we have won a few,” McCarthy said. “You just keep trying to win games. We work for each other.”
■BRAZIL
Sao Paulo leave it late
Sao Paulo twice lost the lead before scoring a late winner to beat Portuguesa 3-2 and stay top of the Brazilian championship on Saturday. Attempting to win the title for the third year in a row, Sao Paulo lead with 65 points from 34 games. Borges gave Sao Paulo an eighth minute lead when he snapped up a rebound after Gottardi failed to hold Jorge Wagner’s free-kick. Jonas equalized with a classy finish from the edge of the penalty area in the 42nd minute, only for Borges to put Sao Paulo back in front in first-half stoppage time following a one-two with Dagoberto. Jonas replied again in the 73rd minute, heading in Heverton’s cross at the far post, but the visitors snatched victory in the 89th minute when Ze Luis headed in a corner at the near post.
■NETHERLANDS
NEC defeat PSV, go fifth
Peter Wisgerhof’s first-half goal was enough to give NEC Nijmegen a 1-0 win over PSV Eindoven in the Dutch League on Saturday. Wisgerhof collected Bas Sibum’s pass to score the winner in the 12th minute, moving NEC up to fifth place with 18 points. PSV stayed fourth with 18 points, four behind leaders NAC Breda, who beat De Graafschap 2-0 on Friday to return to the top of the league standings. In Saturday’s other games, Said Boutahar scored in the 28th minute and 74th minute in Willem II’s 2-1 win over struggling Roda JC, while Heracles Almelo drew 0-0 against Vitesse Arnhem.
■GREECE
PAOK beat Panionios, go top
Vladan Ivic and Zlatan Muslimovic scored on Saturday to help PAOK beat Panionios 2-0 in the Greek league. PAOK lead the standings with 19 points alongside Olympiakos. Ivic gave PAOK the lead from the penalty spot in the 36th minute and Muslimovic doubled the lead in the 90th minute with his fifth goal of the season. Xanthi drew 1-1 at home with AEK Athens to drop from second to third place with 18 points and OFI won 2-1 at Panserraikos. Dorival scored with a 35m shot in the 35th minute to give Xanthi the lead, but Ismael Blanco equalized for AEK with a shot off a cross from Martin Scocco in the 62nd minute.
■TUNISIA
Etoile Sahel force a draw
Etoile Sahel are favorites to lift the African Confederation Cup after forcing a 0-0 draw at title holders CS Sfaxien on Saturday in the first-leg of an all-Tunisian final. The visitors had the best chance to break the deadlock during the first half, when Nigeria-born striker Emeka Opara broke clear only to be denied by goalkeeper Jassem Khaloufi. Sfaxien managed to create several clear cut scoring chances during the second half, but an Etoile team playing only their second match under caretaker French coach Herve Gauthier survived.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barca secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barca a 2-0 win over
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