IN BRIEF (Page 19)

NFL

Giants crush Falcons for fourth straight victory

ATLANTA: Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes to help the New York Giants crush the Atlanta Falcons 31-10 for their fourth straight win on Monday.

Manning hit Amani Toomer with a five-yard scoring strike in the first quarter, then connected with Plaxico Burress on a 43-yard pass play to put the Giants ahead 21-10 in the second.

The catch was Burress's eighth touchdown reception of the season.

The Giants also scored on a one-yard run by Reuben Droughns in the first quarter. In the fourth, they added a 32-yard field goal from Lawrence Tynes and a nine-yard run by Derrick Ward.

Morten Andersen's 47-yard field goal and Jerious Norwood's 67-yard run sparked Atlanta (1-5) to a 10-7 first-quarter lead before New York (4-2) took control.

Testaverde grabs another chance with Carolina

MIAMI: Quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who made his NFL return at the age of 43, said he is grateful to the Carolina Panthers for giving him another chance in the game.

Testaverde made his comeback on Sunday and led Carolina to victory over the Arizona Cardinals. He became the third-oldest quarterback to start an NFL game and the oldest to win one.

The Panthers signed Testaverde on Wednesday after their starting quarterback, Jake Delhomme, was ruled out for the season with an elbow injury. Delhomme's backup, David Carr, has been struggling to recover from a back injury.

"I'm just glad they believed a guy my age could come in and help them win," Testaverde told the team's website (http://www.panthers.com).

Arizona suffers another quarterback blow

MIAMI: Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner is waiting for tests on an elbow injury in the second injury setback for the NFL team in as many weeks.

The team said Warner had torn ligaments in his non-throwing left elbow during their 25-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday and was due to undergo scans on Monday.

Warner was pushed into the line-up after starter Matt Leinart's season ended with a broken collarbone on the previous Sunday.

The Cardinals lead the NFC West with a 3-3 record.

Soccer

No change of heart over Riquelme

MADRID: Villarreal will not change its mind about sidelining Juan Roman Riquelme despite the playmaker's virtuoso performance for Argentina in its 2-0 win over Chile in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday.

"We took a decision some time ago and our policy is very clear," club director Juan Manuel Llaneza told reporters on Monday. "We hope that in December the player and the club can find a dignified solution to all this.

"At the moment we haven't received any offers for the player, but I'm sure they will come in December."

Riquelme fell out with Villarreal and its Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini midway through last season and was loaned to Boca Juniors for the second part of the campaign.

Players vote Brazilian Diego top in Germany

BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund midfielder Diego has been voted player of the 2006-07 season in a ballot of players from Germany's top three divisions.

The Brazilian got 31.4 percent of the vote, ahead of VfB Stuttgart's Mario Gomez (12.1 percent) and Bayer Leverkusen's Bernd Schneider (10.2 percent), the professional soccer players' association announced.

Striker Miroslav Klose won the honor the previous season with 64 percent of the votes.

Tennis

Murray cruises through to Madrid second round

MADRID: British No 1 Andy Murray continued his return to form with a classy 6-4, 6-1 win over Radek Stepanek in the first round of the Madrid Masters on Monday.

The 20-year-old Scot, who missed mreo than three months of the season with a wrist injury, put the Czech to the sword with the help of an impressive array of passing shots to earn himself a second-round match against 15th-seeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela.

Qualifier Robby Ginepri came from a set down to defeat Austria's Jurgen Melzer 2-6 7-6 6-4 on Monday and book himself a daunting match against defending champion Roger Federer.

(China Daily 10/17/2007 page19)