■NETHERLANDS
Twente leapfrog PSV
FC Twente went top of the Dutch league on Sunday after Kenneth Perez scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over RKC Waalwijk. Perez headed home Bryan Ruiz’s curling cross in the 69th minute as Twente took full advantage of PSV Eindhoven’s 2-1 defeat at NAC Breda on Saturday. Twente lead the standings with 67 points, two more than PSV. Ajax, who face PSV in the next round of matches, are third with 61 points after beating Sparta Rotterdam 3-0 earlier on Sunday. “The next goal is to win the next game,” Twente coach Steven McClaren said. “We still have eight games to go. Who knows what will happen? There will be so many twists and turns.” Ajax’s goals came from Siem de Jong, Gregory van der Wiel and Dennis Rommedahl. Sekou Cisse scored twice and created another as Feyenoord topped Roda JC 4-2. Cisse opened scoring in the 14th minute from a rebound, before adding another goal in the 60th minute. He then set up Luigi Bruins for the third in the 71st minute. Substitute Roy Makaay added a fourth in the 82nd minute. Jeanvion Yulu Matondo and Boldizsar Bodor scored for Roda, who had Ruud Vormer sent off for a 20th-minute foul on Leroy Fer. Feyenoord goalkeeper Darley was also ejected in the 84th minute. Also on Sunday, it was FC Groningen 1, VVV-Venlo 0 and FC Utrecht 1, NEC Nijemegen 0.
■PORTUGAL
Benfica go three points clear
Benfica went three points clear at the top of the Portuguese league on Sunday after beating Pacos Ferreira 3-1. Ruben Amorim, Javier Saviola and Oscar Cardozo all scored for the hosts, while William Conceicao cut the deficit for Pacos Ferreira. The result leaves Benfica top on 55 points. Second-place Braga are on 52 points after being held 0-0 at Setubal on Saturday. Also on Sunday, fourth-place Sporting beat Belenenses 4-0 and Maritimo drew 0-0 with Academica. Third-placed Porto drew 2-2 with Olhanense on Saturday.
■CHINA
Corruption probe expands
The wide-ranging crackdown on corruption in soccer has expanded to referees and the women’s game as investigators cast a wider net to clean up the scandal-plagued sport, state press reported yesterday. Following the arrests of several top officials of the China Football Association on match-fixing and bribe-taking charges, numerous referees have gone missing and are believed to be in police custody, the Beijing Times said. “As far as the problems with referees, this is under investigation and it shows that the football industry is orderly and carrying out efforts to strike at match-fixing and gambling,” the paper quoted new CFA head Wei Di as saying. “We are not afraid of these things coming to light — the important thing now is to find out about these problems.” The paper said Shen Huangying, a woman who worked on top women’s matches at China’s National Games last year, was among the missing.
■BRAZIL
Piece of wood kills player
A futsal player has died following a match in Brazil after a piece of the court’s wooden floor came off and struck him in the abdomen. Globo’s G1 Web site says 23-year-old Robson Rocha Costa died of hemorrhagic shock on Sunday, a day after the accident in a friendly match in southern Brazil. Witnesses say Costa was hurt after a sliding tackle near the goal-line. A small piece of the court apparently came off as he was sliding, initially hitting his thigh and then making it to his intestines. Costa was immediately taken to hospital and underwent surgery, but succumbed to his injuries.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
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
‘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
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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