■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.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
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