IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Soccer

Real Madrid beats Villarreal to go nine points clear

MADRID: Leader Real Madrid beat Villarreal 3-2 at home to pull nine points clear at the top of the Primera Liga on Sunday, as all its nearest rivals dropped points.

Brazil forward Robinho scored a goal in each half in a pulsating match at the Bernabeu, in which Giuseppe Rossi and Joan Capdevila had twice leveled for third-placed Villarreal.

Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder scored the winner as Real made the most of second-placed Barcelona's 1-1 draw away to Athletic Bilbao.

Real's eighth consecutive win puts it on 53 points, Barca has 44 and Villarreal 38. Atletico Madrid and Espanyol both lost as their vague pretensions of challenging for the title were knocked back even further.

Angola, Tunisia one point from African Cup quarterfinals

ACCRA, Ghana: Angola and Tunisia moved to within a point of qualification for the quarterfinals of the African Nations Cup on Sunday.

Angola upset group favorite Senegal 3-1 and Tunisia followed up with a victory over South Africa by the same score in the Group D matches in Tamale.

Tunisia and Angola clash on Thursday in Tamale, needing only to draw the game to eliminate the other two sides from the tournament in Ghana.

Senegal and South Africa, who meet in Kumasi on Thursday, have taken only one point each from their two games.

Striker Manucho provided two goals for Angola and Tunisia's Brazilian-born Francileudo dos Santos grabbed a pair in his side's victory.

Baros joins Portsmouth on loan for rest of season

LONDON: Portsmouth completed the signing of Czech forward Milan Baros from Olympique Lyon on loan until the end of the season, the Premier League club said on Sunday.

Baros joined Lyon from Aston Villa a year ago but has struggled there, scoring only three goals and starting only six league games.

He passed his Portsmouth medical on Sunday and is in line to play in the team's Premier League game at Manchester United on Wednesday.

US-based GSE buys English Premier club Derby County

LONDON: English Premier League struggler Derby County named US-based General Sports and Entertainment (GSE) as its new owner yesterday.

The club said the investment was in the form of cash, and not debt, and that the financial future of the club was underpinned.

Derby lies bottom of the Premier League, with just one win from 23 games, and on Saturday was knocked out of the FA Cup after a 4-1 thrashing by Championship (second division) side Preston North End.

GSE is a sports and entertainment marketing and management firm founded in 1998 by chairman Andy Appleby.

NHL

Savard's late strike helps East edge West in All-Star Game

ATLANTA: Marc Savard's late strike gave the Eastern Conference victory over the West in the NHL's annual All-Star game on Sunday, the Boston forward burying the puck behind Manny Legace with 20 seconds left to seal an 8-7 win.

Carolina's Eric Staal was named MVP with two goals and an assist while Rick Nash scored a hat-trick for the West.

Blue Jacket Nash put the West 1-0 up with only 12 seconds gone but the East took control with goals from Staal, Andrei Markov, Brian Campbell and a double from the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin to grab a 5-1 lead in the first period.

Cricket

Australia clinches series victory over India

ADELAIDE, Australia: Australia completed a 2-1 series victory over India yesterday when the fourth and final test ended in a draw at Adelaide Oval.

With neither side in any position to push for a result, India opted to bat out the last day before the two captains agreed to an early finish.

The Indians, who needed to win the match to draw the series, finished the game on 269 for seven in their second innings and an overall lead of 232 runs.

The final day was dominated by India's dashing opener Virender Sehwag, who occupied the crease for more than five hours to make a brilliant 151, contributing more than half the Indian total.

Australia's vice-captain Adam Gilchrist capped his last day in Test cricket with two catches to take his final career tally to 416 dismissals, three days after he broke the world record for a wicketkeeper.

(China Daily 01/29/2008 page22)