NETHERLANDS
AZ maintain their lead
AZ Alkmaar maintained their lead in the Dutch league with a 3-0 win over ADO The Hague on Sunday thanks to goals from Brett Holman, Adam Maher and Jozy Altidore. Holman gave AZ the lead in the 11th minute, before Maher and Altidore added goals in the second half to secure the victory. Also on Sunday, second-placed Twente routed De Grafschaap 4-0, while a hat-trick from Jeremain Lens inspired PSV Eindhoven to a 4-1 win over Heracles Almelo. In the most eventful match of the day, Zambia winger Jacob Mulenga created two goals and scored another as Utrecht beat Ajax 6-4. AZ have 31 points from 12 games. Twente and PSV have 25 each, while Ajax have 20. In Utrecht, Ajax took the lead twice in the first half, before the hosts scored four second-half goals in a wild shootout. Russia striker Dmitri Bulykin gave Ajax the lead after eight minutes, but Mulenga set up Ghana forward Nana Asare for an equalizer eight minutes later. Mulenga then played in Edouard Duplan, who scored from close range, before Ajax battled back to level through veteran defender Andre Ooijer’s header in the 32nd minute. Bulykin made it 3-2 for Ajax in the 41st minute, but Utrecht then took charge with goals from Daan Bovenberg, Mulenga and Asare to make it 5-3. Christian Eriksen gave Ajax renewed hope in the 72nd minute, but Anouar Kali netted in stoppage-time to wrap up the win. In other matches it was VVV Venlo 0, Excelsior Rotterdam 0; NAC Breda 1, Vitesse Arnhem 0; RKC Waalkwijk 1, Groningen 1; Roda JC 1, SC Heerenveen 2; and Feyenoord 0, NEC Nijmegen 1.
PORTUGAL
Benfica blow their chance
Benfica drew 1-1 at Braga on Sunday, missing a chance to move top of the Portuguese league standings. Braga went ahead in first-half stoppage-time through Lima’s spot-kick after Benfica defender Emerson had handled in the area. Spanish forward Rodrigo Moreno equalized in the 72nd minute, but Benfica failed to get the winner that would have lifted them two points ahead of defending champions Porto. Midfielder Matias Fernandez scored once in each half to lead Sporting to a 3-1 win over Leiria. Third-placed Sporting are one point behind Porto and Benfica. In other matches it was Beira Mar 2, Feirense 1; Rio Ave 2, Nacional 1; and Setubal 0, Gil Vicente 0.
UNITED STATES
Beckham’s LA make final
David Beckham set up a goal with one of his trademark crosses as the Los Angeles Galaxy advanced to the MLS Cup Final with a 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Sunday. The 36-year-old English midfielder is now due to play for his first MLS title in the final game of his five-year contract in Los Angeles. Beckham set up Mike Magee for a goal in the 58th minute. US striker Landon Donovan had earlier scored and Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane got the third for the Galaxy, who are set to face the Houston Dynamo for the championship on Nov. 20.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Cech banned from flying
The Czech Republic could suffer a potential blow ahead of their crucial Euro 2012 playoff against Montenegro on Friday after goalkeeper Petr Cech hinted he could be sidelined. Chelsea’s Cech suffered a broken nose in the 1-0 win away to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday and he later announced a flying ban, imposed by doctors, means he would be unable to join up with his national squad as scheduled yesterday. If doctors give the go-ahead, the 29-year-old should be able to travel home tomorrow at the earliest.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier