■SOCCER
Toulouse move into second
Toulouse moved into second place in Ligue 1 on Saturday with a 1-1 draw at Auxerre, but they needed a goal 10 minutes from time to stay on course for a European place next season. Bryan Bergougnoux found the target in the 80th minute to equalize Polish striker Ireneusz Jelen’s 26th-minute opener for Auxerre. Strugglers Valenciennes scotched Lille’s attempts to have a say in the French title race with a 2-0 success. Lille, who enjoyed a brief foray in the Champions League three seasons ago, stay sixth after goals in quick succession from Gael Danic and former Glasgow Rangers striker Jean-Claude Darcheville around the half-hour mark put paid to their lofty ambitions. Elsewhere on Saturday, Nice saw their hopes of bagging a potential place in Europe fade after a 1-0 loss at Sochaux, now level on points with fourth-bottom Caen. Nantes and Grenoble shared a 1-1 draw and Le Mans moved away from the danger zone with a 2-0 home win over a Le Havre side who appear doomed after a 19th league defeat left them 10 points behind St Etienne.
■ALPINE SKIING
Ligety wins giant slalom
Ted Ligety of the US won a giant slalom race on Saturday for his fourth career victory. Ligety, who was third after the opening leg, finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 19.92 seconds to beat Didier Cuche of Switzerland by 0.19 seconds. Massimiliano Blardone of Italy was 0.34 seconds back in third. Ligety had a flawless second run on the Pokoren course, which was set by US head coach Sasha Rearick, and became the first American to win in 27 men’s World Cup races this season. “It’s a fantastic hill, I like it here,” Ligety said. “If my coach sets the course, that’s obviously good for me. Many courses this season were very quick, I like it better with more turns.” With just one giant slalom remaining at the season-ending races in Are, Sweden, Cuche leads the discipline standings with 414 points, 52 points clear of Austria’s Benjamin Raich. Ligety has 341 points in third.
■SOCCER
AZ Alkmaar extend streak
AZ Alkmaar extended their unbeaten streak to 23 games on Saturday by beating FC Groningen 3-0 in the Dutch league. Graziano Pelle scored two goals, first converting Gill Swerts’ cross in the third minute and then scoring from a free header in the 57th minute. Moussa Dembele’s solo effort wrapped up the win in the 83rd minute. Elsewhere, Everton scored in the 50th minute and added another two minutes later in Heracles Almelo’s 3-0 win over Willem II. Ricky van den Bergh also scored as Heracles ended their nine-game winless run. Kris De Wree, Andres Oper and Marcel de Jong got the goals for Roda JC in a 3-1 win over struggling De Graafschap. Ben Sahar, who is on loan from Chelsea, scored a 46th-minute goal for De Graafschap. NAC Breda beat Sparta Rotterdam 3-1, helped by goals from Nourdin Boukhari, Rob Penders and Csaba Feher. Ruud Knol scored a 20th-minute consolation goal for Sparta.
■ALPINE SKIING
Vonn clinches downhill title
Lindsey Vonn of the US won the World Cup downhill championship on Saturday, despite a 12th-place finish in Bulgaria. The 24-year-old clinched her second straight title in the discipline — the only American to do so since Picabo Street in 1995 and 1996. Vonn was well down the field on Saturday, but her time of 1 minute, 48.0 seconds was enough with only one downhill race remaining this season. Andrea Fischbacher of Austria won in 1 minute, 45.81 seconds, edging Slovenian Tina Maze.
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