■ FRANCE
Marseille survive Cup scare
Olympique Marseille survived a scare before knocking out amateurs Besancon on penalties in the French Cup on Sunday. Marseille struggled on a frozen pitch away to opponents playing in the fourth division. The last 64 game finished 1-1 after extra-time, with Marseille winning the penalty shoot-out 5-4. Midfielder Benoit Cheyrou scored the decisive penalty after an effort by Besancon striker Yohann Rangdet was blocked by Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda. The former European champions were 1-0 down with seven minutes left in normal time when Nigeria defender Taye Taiwo put them level from the penalty spot after Besancon defender Yannick Goyon handled the ball in the area. Marseille defender Ronald Zubar had put Besancon in front by putting the ball into his own net under pressure from Rangdet on 67 minutes. Besancon then resisted bravely under sustained pressure during extra-time and did not show signs of nerves until the very end of the shoot-out. Following Sunday’s draw for the round of 32, Lyon will entertain Marseille, providing the seven-times champions win their round of 64 tie against Concarneau, postponed twice because of a frozen pitch. Paris-Saint Germain needed a second-half goal from Stephane Sessegnon to beat fourth division Montlucon 1-0 earlier on Sunday.Monaco had earlier struggled to overcome fifth division Blagnac, needing an own goal from defender Frederic Marquet on 21 minutes to win 1-0.
■PORTUGAL
‘Hulk’ helps Porto go top
Defending champions Porto replaced Benfica at the top of the Portuguese league on Sunday after winning 4-2 at Nacional courtesy of injury-time goals by Lucho Gonzalez and Givanildo “Hulk” Vieira. Benfica suffered their first league defeat of the season, falling 2-0 at lowly Trofense after goals from Nuno “Reguila” Silva and Helder Barbosa. Porto trailed in the 14th minute when midfielder Edson Sitta’s angled shot from outside the area was turned home by Porto defender Bruno Alves as he attempted to clear the ball. The champions of the past three years then struck back through the Hulk in the 51st minute and midfielder Cristian Rodriguez’s bicycle kick in the 72nd minute. Nacional substitute Miguel Fidalgo equalized with a 79th-minute header, only for Gonzalez to convert a last-gasp penalty and Hulk to then score with a solo effort. Benfica struggled to impose themselves on a Trofense side that began the game in last place. Reguila gave Trofense the lead on the stroke of halftime following a swift counterattack by the home team. Benfica’s problems worsened in the 64th minute when midfielder Augustin Binya was dismissed after picking up a second yellow card. Barbosa fired home 18 minutes later to seal Trofense’s win. Elsewhere, a forceful second-half display brought Maritimo a comfortable 4-1 win over visiting Pacos Ferreira and Amadora edged past Naval 1-0 courtesy of Anselmo’s 44th-minute headed goal.
■GREECE
Athens derby ends goalless
Panathinaikos’ hopes of significantly closing the gap on league leaders Olympiakos were dashed after a goalless draw with crosstown rivals AEK on Sunday. Playing before more than 60,000 fans at the Athens Olympic Stadium, Panathinaikos charged forward from the start. But it was AEK who came closest to taking the lead in the 31st minute when a header by Sotiris Kyrgiacos hit the post following a corner kick by Angelos Basinas. Also on Sunday it was Levadiakos 2, Aris 0 and Thrasivoulos 0, Larissa 0. The match between Panserraikos and Iraklis was postponed because of snow.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
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
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