FRANCE
Lille beat Nantes
Nolan Roux scored as Lille beat Nantes 1-0 on Friday to pull within a point of leader Paris Saint-Germain in the French league. Roux slid home a low cross from Ronny Rodelin in the 41st minute, although replays showed the Lille striker was just offside. Lille kept a sixth straight clean sheet to provisionally climb to second place, one point clear of Monaco. The result ended Nantes’ four-match winning streak. The promoted side provisionally remained in fourth place, five points off the pace.
GERMANY
Stuttgart still unbeaten
VfB Stuttgart continued their unbeaten run under new coach Thomas Schneider on Friday, climbing to sixth with a 1-1 home draw against Nuremberg, who are still looking for their first Bundesliga win of the season. Bosnia international Vedad Ibisevic converted a third-minute penalty before Nuremberg leveled three minutes later through Josip Drmic following a fine through ball from Timothy Chandler. Stuttgart, who have gone seven games without defeat since Schneider took over from Bruno Labbadia, were the better side. They hit the post through Ibrahima Traore, while Austrian Martin Harnik also missed two golden chances for the hosts in the first half. Nuremberg, with Dutch coach Gertjan Verbeek in charge for the first time, came agonizingly close when Daniel Ginczek fired wide from close range. Stuttgart have 13 points from 10 games, 10 behind leaders Bayern Munich, while third-from-bottom Nuremberg are on seven points.
SPAIN
Valladolid cruise to victory
Valladolid cruised to a 3-0 victory at Rayo Vallecano on Friday for their second win of the season through 10 rounds of the Spanish league. Valladolid’s pressure frustrated Rayo’s normally energetic attack, while their forwards took full advantage of the their few scoring opportunities. Patrick Ebert opened in the 31st minute with an inspired effort. The German midfielder controlled a lobbed pass, cut back to shed two defenders and unleashed a long left-foot strike into the far corner of the net. Striker Javi Guerra added a second goal in the 39th when Valladolid beat Rayo’s offside trap on the break. Daniel Larsson replaced Ebert at halftime and sealed the win three minutes later when he scored.
UNITED KINGDOM
Fergie could return: Wenger
Alex Ferguson could return to a job in soccer management despite his retirement at the end of last season, according to his old adversary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. “In six months we will know more about that. You cannot rule it completely out,” Wenger was quoted as saying about the former Manchester United manager by British media on Friday. “It is difficult to take a drug for 30 years and suddenly get rid of it.” Earlier this week, Ferguson published his autobiography, which included a chapter about his French rival called “Competing with Wenger.” “We have gone through some years that were a bit more difficult, but honestly, in our job, it is quite simple just to think about tomorrow or the next game, and that is it,” said Wenger, who celebrated his 64th birthday on Tuesday. Wenger, now the longest-serving manager still working in the Premier League, having joined the north London club in September 1996, had not yet read the autobiography, but added: “It looks like Ferguson had prepared his book while he was managing. I suspect he had written some of it at home at night, remembering things and thinking: ‘That goes into my book!’
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
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