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■ FRANCE

Rennes stay in sixth place

Goals from Carlos Bocanegra and Jimmy Briand earned Rennes a 2-0 victory over Auxerre in Ligue 1 on Sunday to keep them firmly in the race for a European spot. Bocanegra headed in a cross from Mickael Pagis in the ninth minute and Briand tucked home another cross from Pagis in the 36th minute to keep Rennes in sixth place. Araujo Ilan struck twice to lead St Etienne to a 2-1 comeback victory over Nantes. The Brazilian striker converted a penalty in the 11th minute after Guillaume Moullec handled the ball and then picked his spot from 27m to fire into the top corner in the 30th minute. Croatia forward Ivan Klasnic had given Nantes a sixth minute lead, nodding in a free-kick from Frederic Da Rocha and teammate Yohann Poulard nearly equalized for Nantes in the 80th minute with a header that struck the crossbar. St Etienne moved out of the relegation zone with the win. Last-place Le Havre came back from a goal down to beat fellow relegation battlers Sochaux 2-1.



■ PORTUGAL

Benfica stay behind Porto

Pablo Aimar and Costas Katsouranis scored on Sunday to help Benfica beat Naval 2-1 and hold on to second place. Aimar set Benfica on the way to their first away win for three months by firing home in the third minute after the Naval defense failed to clear a free-kick by Jose Antonio Reyes. Naval equalized in the 53rd minute through substitute Marcelinho’s angled shot, only for Katsouranis to head home following another Reyes free-kick in the 74th minute. Benfica, aiming to win the title for the first time since 2005, trail defending champions Porto by two points. Also on Sunday it was Amadora 2, Braga 2; Academica 1, Trofense 0; and Guimaraes 3, Belenenses 1.



■ GREECE

Violence overshadows draw

League leaders Olympiakos played out a goalless draw at PAOK Thessaloniki on Sunday in a match that was overshadowed by violent clashes between fans and police. Seven riot police and five PAOK fans were injured in clashes that flared outside the stadium both before and after the game. Supporters threw rocks, bottles and firebombs at police, who responded with tear gas. PAOK fans had been angered by what they claimed was bad refereeing in a Greek Cup game between the two sides last Wednesday. Also on Sunday, it was Thrasivoulos 1, Ergotelis 3; OFI 0, Levadiakos 2; Panserraikos 1, AEK 5; and Xanthi 1, Panthrakikos 0.



■ BRAZIL

Ronaldo grabs equalizer

Brazilian striker Ronaldo scored his first goal for Corinthians on Sunday having played for the first time in more than a year last week following a serious knee injury. The 32-year-old World Cup winner and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year came on after an hour in the 1-1 draw against Sao Paulo. Ronaldo headed home in the second minute of injury-time for the equalizer to send the supporters into frenzied celebrations.



■ RUSSIA

CSKA edge Rubin Kazan

CSKA Moscow edged Rubin Kazan 2-1 in extra-time to lift the Russian Super Cup on Sunday, Tomas Necid’s late volley securing victory in the traditional curtain-raiser for the league season. Lithuanian defender Deividas Semberas slotted home a rebound to give CSKA the lead in the 43rd minute at the Luzhniki Stadium, before Roman Sharanov equalized for the league champions after an hour. The teams remained locked in a stalemate until second-half substitute Necid scored the winning goal in the 113th minute.


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