SOCCER
FC Seoul take league title
FC Seoul won their first K-League title in a decade after beating Jeju United 2-1 at Seoul World Cup Stadium. After battling to a 2-2 draw in Jeju in the first leg on Wednesday, Seoul rallied from a goal down on Sunday to claim the title with a 4-3 aggregate victory in front of more than 55,000 fans. After having a goal disallowed as offside in the 10th minute, Seoul fell behind to Brazilian Santos’s goal 15 minutes later. However, Seoul striker Jung Jo-gook equalized with a penalty three minutes later before Adilson Dos Santos headed the winner from a corner in the 72nd minute. The team last won the K-League title in 2000, when they were based in Anyang, South Korea.
CYCLING
Meyer wins ‘Oppy’ medal
Cameron Meyer was awarded the Hubert “Oppy” Opperman medal when he was named this year’s Australian Cyclist of the Year at a gala ceremony in Melbourne late on Sunday. Meyer, 22, won the medal for the first time ahead of former winners Cadel Evans and Anna Meares. He also claimed the track rider of the year award. While Evans was the favorite to win his fourth medal in five years, Meyer was a deserving winner after an outstanding year. The West Australian won three titles at the world track championships in Copenhagen in March and another three gold medals at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in October.
SOCCER
Four spots left to fill
With Europe’s major powers already through to the Champions League knockout stages, there are only four spots left to fill following this week’s final group matches. Rubin Kazan is at already-qualified Barcelona, needing to better FC Copenhagen’s result against Panathinaikos to edge the Danish side to the Group D runner-up spot, while AS Roma will be guaranteed progress from Group E if they avoid defeat at lowly Cluj. That leaves only Group H with both spots open, although Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal each need only to avoid defeat to freeze out third-place Braga. Elsewhere, Inter are at Werder Bremen, but need Tottenham to slip up at FC Twente to have any chance of winning Group A and secure a more favorable draw for the next round. Newcomer Tottenham lead defending champion Inter courtesy of a superior head-to-head record and the Italian side’s morale took another hit on Friday with a 3-1 Serie A loss to Lazio. That was Inter’s fourth domestic defeat, the same as they took in winning last season’s title. Inter head to Bremen for one of today’s eight matches without goalkeeper Julio Cesar, fullback Maicon, midfielder Coutinho and defender Walter Samuel — the latter out for the season with a knee injury
SOCCER
Sporting Lisbon win
Sporting Lisbon scored three first-half goals on Sunday to beat Portimonense 3-1 and jump from fifth to third place in the Portuguese league. Helder Postiga put Sporting ahead in the 23rd minute. Portimonense striker Jorge Pires scored his first league goal to equalize in the 38th, but Nuno Oliveira made it 2-1 in the 43rd from a cross by left back Evaldo. Andre Santos sealed Sporting’s win as the first half ended. Also on Sunday, Rio Ave drew 1-1 with Beira Mar. The other two matches scheduled for Sunday were postponed.
SOCCER
Monterrey win Apertura title
Chilean striker Humberto Suazo scored twice as Monterrey defeated Santos 3-0 on Sunday to win the Mexican Apertura title 4-2 on aggregate. Suazo, who returned to Mexico after a six-month stint with Zaragoza in Spain, scored in the 28th and 85th minutes as Rayados won the Mexican crown for the fourth time in their history and second in the last three seasons. Argentine defender Jose Maria Basanta also scored in the 72nd for a Monterrey team that also has titles in the Mexico 1986 tournament, the Clausura in 2003 and last year’s Apertura. Santos, which was also the runner-up in May in the Clausura final, wasted a 2-1 lead from the first leg on its home pitch. The victory was the seventh Mexican league title for Monterrey coach Victor Manuel Vucetich, who is known as the “King Midas” of Mexican soccer.
RUGBY UNION
Coach hails son’s play
Saracens coach Andy Farrell hailed his son Owen’s match-winning performance in a 26-14 win over the Harlequins that lifted his side up to third in the Premiership on Sunday. The 19-year-old fly-half, standing in for the injured Derick Hougaard and Alex Goode, kicked four penalties and converted tries by David Strettle and Schalk Brits. “I have been watching him and analyzing him all of his life, so he knows I will be an objective critic. But he played a very fine game out there and I’m very happy he was made man of the match,” Farrell senior said. “It was particularly good to see Owen kicking so well tactically, taking his time and making his decisions calmly. The best fly-halves play as if they are wearing dinner suits, that is when they are controlling things and looking settled.”
BASEBALL
Werth signs with Nationals
Jayson Werth, who helped Philadelphia win the 2008 World Series, agreed on Sunday to a seven-year Major League Baseball contract worth US$126 million with the Washington Nationals. The 31-year-old free agent outfielder batted .296 with 27 home runs, 85 runs batted in and a National League-best 46 doubles this year with the Phillies, who won the NL East division crown in all four of his seasons on the team. By contrast, the Nationals went 69-93 and have not managed a winning season since 2003 when they were based in Montreal. “He’s going to be a big piece of the puzzle,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. “We certainly have more holes to fill. We had more work to do, and we’re certainly aggressively going on from here and beyond.” Washington lost slugger Adam Dunn to the Chicago White Sox on Friday, but replaced his big bat in their lineup with Werth, who spent two seasons each with Toronto and the Los Angeles Dodgers before joining the Phillies.
SOCCER
Velez beat Godoy Cruz
Santiago Silva scored twice as Velez beat Godoy Cruz 4-0 on Sunday to stay in the race for the Argentina Apertura title with two rounds remaining. Silva scored in the 32nd minute from close range and again in the 52nd, chipping in from in front. Maxi Moralez scored in the 56th and Jonathan Cristaldo added the final goal seven minutes from the end. Velez moved to 37 points. League-leading Estudiantes had a 3-1 victory over Argentinos Juniors on Saturday to move to 39 points. Maxi Nunez and Gabriel Mercado scored second-half goals for Estudiantes. Only Velez or Estudiantes can win the title, which will be decided in the next week.
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
PINA BRACE: Claudia Pina scored in the 61st and 74th minutes, while Vicky Lopez added one as Spain notched their third victory in a final in the past four tournaments Claudia Pina scored twice and Germany crumbled on Tuesday as Spain retained the UEFA Women’s Nations League title with a 3-0 victory in the final’s second leg. Vicky Lopez also scored after Pina finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with Germany stubbornly hanging on as Spain had done in the first leg, a 0-0 draw in Kaiserslautern on Friday. Spain were without three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati, who broke her leg in training on Sunday. Lopez took Bonmati’s place and Spain dominated from the start. Esther Gonzalez swept the ball just past the post and Mariona Caldentey forced a save
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