■FRANCE
Leaders lose to Rennes
Girondins Bordeaux saw their lead at the top of Ligue 1 cut to three points after going down 4-2 at Stade Rennes on Saturday. A goal after three minutes by Sylvain Marveaux, a penalty by Jimmy Briand and then a fine strike by Ismael Bangoura just after the break gave Rennes a comfortable lead, before Bordeaux fought back with goals from Yoan Gouffran and Brazilian Wendel. A superb goal in the 78th minute by Rennes’ Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan, freshly returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, sealed victory for the Breton side. Earlier in the day, second-placed Montpellier cut the gap at the top with a 2-0 win at second-from-bottom Boulogne-sur-Mer through goals from Souleymane Camara and Victor Montano. Surprise package Montpellier are now looking increasingly confidently toward European competition next year. Bordeaux, still on course for an unprecedented French triple of league and cup triumphs, lead the table with 48 points, ahead of Montpellier on 45 with third-placed Lille, who drew 1-1 at Nice, on 41. Paris Saint-Germain slid to 15th after going down 3-0 to Lorient. Bottom club Grenoble recorded a shock 5-0 win over sixth-placed Auxerre.
■NETHERLANDS
PSV go three points clear
PSV Eindhoven marched three points clear at the top of the Dutch league with a 2-0 home win over third from bottom ADO Den Haag on Saturday. Mexican Francisco Rodriguez opened the scoring after 16 minutes when he nodded in a corner from Balazs Dzsudzsak at the near post and Ola Toivonen netted a rebound after the break to make sure of victory. PSV have 58 points from 22 matches, three ahead of Twente Enschede. Fifth-placed Heracles Almelo fought back from two goals down to beat nine-man Groningen 4-3. Groningen went 3-1 up thanks to two goals from Thomas Enevoldsen and one by Morten Nordstrand, but red cards for Gibril Sankoh and Leandro Bacuna early in the second half gave Heracles hope. Bas Dost grabbed his second goal of the match for the home team in the 72nd minute, before Willy Overtoom leveled and Birger Maertens scored the winner with a minute left. Elsewhere, Heerenveen beat Utrecht 2-0 and Roda JC Kerkrade overcame Sparta Rotterdam 2-1.
■PORTUGAL
Benfica held at Setubal
Benfica moved four points clear of Braga at the top of the Portuguese league after drawing 1-1 at Setubal on Saturday. Ricardo Silva’s early goal for Benfica was equaled by David Luz in the 38th minute. Benfica could have taken three points after being awarded a penalty in stoppage-time, but Oscar Cardozo hit the bar. Braga, with two games in hand, visits Belenenses today. Also on Saturday, fourth-placed Sporting lost 2-1 to 11th-placed Academica.
■GREECE
AEK rally to beat Xanthi
Ismael Blanco scored twice on Saturday to help AEK overcome an early deficit and beat visiting Xanthi 3-1. Leonardo scored AEK’s other goal. Mugurel Buga had given Xanthi the lead. The victory moved AEK into fourth place with 33 points after 21 games, 16 points behind leaders Panathinaikos and 10 behind Olympiakos and PAOK. The game between Aris Thesaloniki and Panthrakikos was suspended at the end of the first half when referee Christos Mitsios decided that heavy rain had made the waterlogged pitch unplayable. Panthrakikos were leading 1-0 after a 42nd-minute goal by Fotis Papoulis. The second half was scheduled to be played yesterday afternoon. Also on Saturday, Kavala beat Giannena 1-0.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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