■SOCCER
PSG end winless streak
Paris Saint-Germain ended a five-match winless streak in the French league that stretched back to August with a 4-1 victory at Sochaux on Sunday. PSG moved up to 10th in the standings after their first win since beating Lille 3-0 at home on Aug. 30. Midfielder Jeremy Clement broke the deadlock in the 35th minute, scoring his second goal this season from a rebound after striker Mevlut Erding saw his penalty parried by Teddy Richert. The goalkeeper had conceded the spot-kick for a foul on Peguy Luyindula. Following a neat one-two with Christophe Jallet, Clement Chantome increased PSG’s lead in the 56th minute with a chip over Richert. Former Sochaux player Erding then pounced from close range in the 78th minute from a cross by Jallet. Stephane Dalmat scored a consolation goal for Sochaux with a 20m strike in the 85th minute, two minutes before Luyindula slid the ball under Richert for PSG’s fourth. Earlier on Sunday, Valenciennes won 3-0 at Rennes to climb to sixth in the table. Goals from former Celtic defender Bobo Balde, Fahid Ben Khalfallah and Gregory Pujol secured a third consecutive win for Valenciennes, who have the best attacking record in the league with 22 goals. Nice maintained their good form with a 1-0 win against struggling Le Mans, who were reduced to 10 men when Brazilian defender Geder was sent off for elbowing striker Mamadou Bagayoko in the 16th minute. Nice defender Ismael Gace headed the winner five minutes before halftime.
■RUGBY UNION
Kennedy added to squad
London Irish lock Nick Kennedy became the latest player to be added to England’s injury-hit squad ahead of the upcoming Test against Australia as the uncapped Richard Blaze was told to stay with his club. Sunday’s announcement by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) came a day after Leicester lock Blaze was ruled out of the Tigers’ Premiership win over Northampton before kick-off with a recurrence of a foot injury. Blaze, who had two pins inserted in his right foot during a preseason operation on a stress fracture, now looks unlikely to make a Test debut during any of England’s encounters at Twickenham this month against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand. There were many who were surprised by England manager Martin Johnson’s decision to omit Kennedy, regarded as the best lineout jumper in the Premiership, from his original squad.
■SOCCER
Smith backs abandonment
Rangers manager Walter Smith said he backed referee Mike Tumilty’s decision to abandon Sunday’s Scottish Premier League match against Dundee United, even though the Glasgow giants were in front. The match at Tannadice was abandoned at halftime after torrential rain had worsened the state of the pitch. At that stage, champions Rangers were 1-0 in front thanks to a shot from Steven Davis, but Tumilty’s decision meant the scoreline did not stand. His verdict left Rangers four points behind leaders and arch rivals Celtic, but Smith said: “I don’t think we can complain, although we are disappointed after working hard to get 1-0 up.”
■CYCLING
Evans joins BMC Racing
Australian world champion Cadel Evans has agreed to ride for the American BMC Racing Team, two days after ending his five-year association with Belgian team Silence Lotto. “The BMC Racing Team announced the signing of current world road race champion Cadel Evans to a three-year contract,” BMC said in a statement yesterday.
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