■ NETHERLANDS
NAC Breda top the table
PSV Eindhoven scored four first-half goals on Saturday to beat Heracles Almelo 4-0 in the Dutch league, while NAC Breda drew 1-1 with NEC Nijmegen to go top. PSV’s big win lifted the defending champions to fifth in the league. Francisco Rodriguez opened the scoring in the 15th minute, Ibrahim Afellay made it 2-0 with his seventh goal of the season, before Danko Lazovic and Balazs Dzsudzsak completed the rout. In Breda, NEC took the lead against rivals NAC when Lasse Schoene fired in a left-foot shot from the edge of the area in the 27th minute. NAC earned the point that took them top when Edwin de Graaf headed in a second-half equalizer. In Enschede, Steve McClaren’s FC Twente humiliated Heerenveen 6-0. Defender Ruud Knol scored an injury-time equalizer to give Sparta Rotterdam a 3-3 draw with De Graafschap Doetinchem.
■ ENGLAND
Pardew leaves the Addicks
Charlton manager Alan Pardew left the struggling Championship club by mutual consent after his side’s 5-2 thrashing by Sheffield United on Saturday. Pardew paid the price for a woeful run of eight games without a win that left Charlton languishing in the relegation zone just 18 months after they dropped out of the Premier League. Speaking after the match, but before news of his sacking was confirmed, Pardew said: “My record coming to this club has been good, but it’s been difficult here. When I arrived they were on the slide and I haven’t been able to stop that. We’re in a sticky situation and I have to accept whatever decision is made.”
■ PORTUGAL
Sporting move up to third
A first-half goal from Liedson da Silva gave Sporting a 1-0 victory at Naval to temporarily move them into third place in the Portuguese league on Saturday. The Brazilian striker headed Derlei Fernandes’ pass home in the 15th minute at the Jose Bento Pessoa Stadium for only their second win in six games. Leixoes ensured they stayed top of the table after nine rounds on Friday with a 2-1 victory over Rio Ave.
■ TUNISIA
CS Sfaxien win Cup final
CS Sfaxien become the first club to win the African Confederation Cup twice after forcing a 2-2 draw at Etoile Sahel in the second-leg of the all-Tunisia final. The first-leg two weeks ago ended goalless and the Red Devils of Etoile were expected to use home advantage and add to eight African Football Confederation trophies won in 13 years. But Sfaxien got off to a dream start with Ghana-born striker Agyemang Opoku scoring after just two minutes. It took Etoile until 12 minutes into the second half to level through another West African striker, Nigerian Emeka Opara. However, Sfaxien regained the lead on 74 minutes via Abdelkrim Nafti, only for Aymen Abdennour to trigger a thrilling climax with an equalizer soon after.
■ SOUTH AFRICA
Miss World assists at draw
Brazil, Italy, Egypt and the US were drawn together on Saturday in much the tougher of the FIFA Confederations Cup first round groups. The other group includes hosts South Africa, Spain, Iraq and New Zealand in a draw conducted by FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke with assistance from the reigning Miss World and seven contestants for this year’s event. Highlights of the first phase include World Cup holders Italy against South American champions Brazil in Pretoria on June 21 and South Africa against European champions Spain a day earlier.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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