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MINNEAPOLIS — Ohio State was so concerned about getting caught offguard against overmatched Minnesota that coach Jim Tressel called a fake punt inthe first quarter. Tressel even called out running back Chris Wells after Saturday’s game for alosing a fumble at his own 7-yard line with about 6 minutes left. Never mindthat the Buckeyes led by 23 points at the time. |
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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts lost two starters with left kneeinjuries in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against Denver. Eight-time Pro Bowl receiver Marvin Harrison sustained a bruised knee andmissed most of the second quarter after going to the locker room. Then, in thefinal minute of the half, linebacker Rob Morris was carted off the field with abrace around his left knee. |
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FRISCO, Texas — Dwayne De Rosario, Eddie Robinson and Stuart Holden scoredgoals and the Houston Dynamo defeated FC Dallas 3-0 on Sunday. Houston (14-7-6) pulled into a tie with Chivas USA for first-place in theWestern Division with the win. FC Dallas (12-11-4) lost for the fifth time inits past seven games. |
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MADRID - Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster enjoyed a successful return to former club Getafe on Sunday with a Sergio Ramos goal seeing the champions reclaim top spot in the Spanish first division with a 1-0 win over their local neighbours. Incredibly Getafe, who Schuster left in the summer to join Real, had never lost at home in the league to Real but Ramos’s goal on 65 minutes ended that run as Real moved a point clear of Villarreal at the summit. Villarreal, trounced 5-0 by Real at the beginning of September, had briefly replaced Barcelona, now two points behind Real, at the top following a 1-0 triumph over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday which was their 13th league victory in their last 14 outings. Schuster singled out central defensive pair Fabio Cannavaro and Sergio Ramos for praise as they prevented a Getafe equaliser. “The defence was sensational. Fabio Cannavaro and Sergio Ramos saved us as they have done so often in the past,” said Schuster. “The fact is we are winning games. Of course we want to play better but when you are playing every three days the important thing is to win.” Valencia also have the winning habit and recorded their fifth victory on the spin with a 1-0 win over Recreativo Huelva on Sunday. David Villa scored after just five minutes to put Valencia in front and they held the lead until the finish to move one point behind leaders Real. Valencia’s next test is against Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday and Villa admitted revenge for last season’s painful quarter-final defeat, when Chelsea scored a late winner, was on their minds. “We want to do well against Chelsea because of what happened last season,” said Villa. “We are playing well and continue to win matches - hopefully nothing changes against Chelsea.” Dutch international winger Arjen Robben made his first league start in Real colours as Schuster changed his system to a 4-3-2-1 with Robinho operating on the other flank. With Wednesday’s Champions League match against Lazio in mind Ruud van Nistelrooy was rested. Raul almost opened the scoring after 13 minutes but was denied by the post. At times, Real looked worryingly open and that will give Lazio hope. However Real seem capable of winning without playing well and on 65 minutes Spanish international Sergio Ramos accepted a Robben pass to score the winner. Villarreal went top of the table for the first time in their history in midweek and continued their purple patch with Argentine defender Fabricio Fuentes scoring a rare goal just after the hour mark to sink Bilbao. “The important thing is to forge a winning a habit,” said Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini. “We have started the league well and I hope we can take that into the UEFA Cup too.” Villarreal have now taken 39 points from a possible 42 with the 5-0 defeat by Real the only blot on their record. Elsewhere Atletico Madrid notched their third straight win with a 2-0 victory against Osasuna. Spanish league standings after Sunday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Real Madrid 6 5 1 0 14 3 16 Villarreal 6 5 0 1 9 5 15 Valencia 6 5 0 1 9 7 15 Barcelona 6 4 2 0 13 4 14 Atletico Madrid 6 3 2 1 11 4 11 Espanyol 6 3 1 2 8 7 10 Real Mallorca 6 2 2 2 9 8 8 Murcia 6 2 2 2 7 6 8 Real Zaragoza 6 2 2 2 8 9 8 Recreativo Huelva 6 2 2 2 7 8 8 Racing Santander 6 2 2 2 3 7 8 Almeria 6 2 1 3 7 7 7 Sevilla 5 2 0 3 11 9 6 Osasuna 5 1 2 2 5 5 5 Real Betis 6 1 2 3 7 8 5 Athletic Bilbao 6 1 2 3 4 8 5 Valladolid 6 1 2 3 8 13 5 Deportivo La Coruna 6 1 2 3 3 8 5 Getafe 6 0 2 4 3 9 2 Levante 6 0 1 5 3 14 1
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ROME - AC Milan suffered another setback in their stuttering championship bid on Sunday after being held 1-1 at home by lowly Sicilian side Catania. The European champions’ fourth draw of the season leaves them in 11th place in Serie A below the likes of Genoa, Udinese and Palermo. Carlo Ancelotti was at a loss to understand his side’s inability to win at their San Siro stadium. “The soul searching is for tomorrow when we can see things more clearly,” said Ancelotti ahead of their midweek Champions League tie at Scottish side Celtic. “We’re not in a good period. We’re a little slow, we lack focus and application. There are problems, but no tensions. The atmosphere is very calm and that was the key for success last season. It will be again this year.” Catania opened through Jorge Martinez who beat ‘keeper Zeljko Kalac, stepping in for the sidelined Nelson Dida, with a header at the back post inside the half hour. Only a Kaka penalty three minutes after the restart saved Milan’s blushes, though for the remainder of the second half Ancelotti’s men came up against a brick wall as they sought out the winner. A dramatic stoppage time goal from French striker David Trezeguet gave Juventus a hard fought 1-0 victory in their tension-filled derby at Torino late on Sunday which lifts them second behind Inter Milan. Inter sit top with a one-point advantage after their 4-1 win at 10-man Roma on Saturday, with Fiorentina a further point behind Juventus after their 3-0 victory in the Tuscan derby with Livorno. Trezeguet struck three minutes into injury time with his sixth goal of the season which puts him joint top of the scorers list with Inter Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. On Saturday, Inter were given a boost ahead of their Champions League tie against PSV Eindhoven midweek, as they crushed Roma, who were reduced to ten men when Frenchman Ludovic Giuly was sent off for the capital side. Swede Ibrahimovic scored from a 29th-minute penalty to put the visitors ahead at the Olympic stadium, though Simone Perrotta equalised for Roma in the 53rd minute. However further goals from Milan by Hernan Crespo, Julio Cruz and then Ivan Cordoba meant Inter had scored their four with more than 20 minutes to go till full time. For Roma, the defeat was particularly badly-timed with midweek European action looming. Following two draws against Fiorentina (2-2) and then Juventus (2-2), Luciano Spalletti’s men travel to England on Tuesday to face Manchester United in the Champions League where they had been humiliated by a 7-1 defeat in the quarter-final, second leg of last season’s competition in April. Meanwhile, a double from Argentine striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo helped Fiorentina to victory against long time rivals Livorno. Osvaldo put Fiorentina ahead at the stroke of half-time in a bad tempered clash which saw the visiting coach Nando Orsi sent off for dissent during the break. Livorno were reduced to ten men after Massimo Loviso fouled Gianpaolo Pazzini after 63 minutes, allowing Osvaldo net his second when he chested down Mario Alberto Santana’s pass and fired over the goalkeeper. Santana sealed Fiorentina’s win three minutes later. Also on Sunday Lazio did little to improve their league ambitions with a 1-1 draw at Regina. Italian league table after Sunday’s late match - Torino v Juventus (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Inter Milan 6 4 2 0 14 4 14 Juventus 6 4 1 1 15 6 13 Fiorentina 6 3 3 0 12 6 12 Roma 6 3 2 1 12 8 11 Napoli 6 3 1 2 9 4 10 Palermo 6 3 1 2 9 9 10 Udinese 6 3 1 2 8 10 10 Atalanta 6 2 3 1 8 8 9 Genoa 6 2 3 1 6 7 9 Sampdoria 6 2 2 2 5 6 8 AC Milan 6 1 4 1 8 6 7 Lazio 6 1 4 1 7 6 7 Cagliari 6 2 1 3 7 8 7 Parma 6 1 3 2 7 8 6 Catania 6 1 3 2 4 6 6 Empoli 6 1 2 3 4 7 5 Torino 6 0 4 2 6 9 4 Siena 6 0 3 3 4 9 3 Reggina 6 0 3 3 4 12 3 Livorno 6 0 2 4 6 16 2
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MINNEAPOLIS — Brett Favre was as good as ever, becoming the NFL’s all-timeleader in career touchdown passes with a couple of vintage third-down zingers tohelp Green Bay stay unbeaten. Favre was the obvious difference in Sunday’s 23-16 victory by the Packers,who hung on against the pass-deficient Minnesota Vikings. He threw No. 421 in the first quarter to Greg Jennings and No. 422 in thefourth quarter to James Jones and went interception-free against a defensedetermined to make him the league’s all-time leader in that category, too. Favreremained three picked-off passes away from passing George Blanda on the careerlist. Kelly Holcomb is, well, not quite in Favre’s class. He threw a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice with 1:55 left to pull the Vikingswithin seven, and a nearly disastrous fumble gave Minnesota (1-3) a chance totie it. |
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MIAMI — Daunte Culpepper dived into the end zone for a touchdown, thenrose, tapped his surgically repaired right knee and signaled “OK” to thecrowd. His much-scrutinized knee might not be 100 percent, but it was good enoughSunday for Culpepper to lead the Oakland Raiders past the Miami Dolphins. He ranfor three touchdowns and threw for two to win the grudge game against his formerteam, 35-17. Culpepper’s slow recovery from major knee surgery limited him to four gameslast year in his only season with the Dolphins, and his breakup with new Miamicoach Cam Cameron was bitter. Cameron has bigger problems now — for the second time in four years, theDolphins are off to an 0-4 start. The Raiders, who won last week when Culpeppercame off the bench to replace an injured Josh McCown, improved to 2-2. Culpepper led the Raiders out of the tunnel before the game, raising hisright fist and punching the air as fans booed. He was hardly flashy against hisold team, relying on a ground game that totaled 299 yards against aninjury-depleted defense. |
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DETROIT — The Detroit Lions turned a here-we-go-again loss into a new-lookwin. Jon Kitna threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and Detroitovercame mistakes and missed opportunities to beat the Chicago Bears 37-27Sunday. Brian Griese, who had three interceptions as a starter in place of RexGrossman, threw a 1-yard pass to Desmond Clark on a fourth down with 52 secondsleft to pull the Bears within three points. However, the onside kick bounced to Detroit’s Casey FitzSimmons and hereturned it for a TD to seal the victory. It was the kind of game Detroit used to lose as the league’s laughingstock,but these might not be the same-old Lions, who are 3-1 for the first time since2004. |
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NEW YORK — The Knicks kept tinkering with their roster two days beforetraining camp, acquiring the draft rights to Jared Jordan on Sunday and workingtoward a buyout of Dan Dickau’s contract. The Knicks traded cash considerations to the Los Angeles Clippers in a dealthat sends last season’s NCAA assists leader back to New York. The Clippers tookJordan with the 45th pick in the NBA draft. Jordan averaged 17.2 points and 8.7 assists last season for Marist, becomingthe first player to lead Division I in assists for two consecutive seasons sinceAvery Johnson in 1987-88. Jordan then performed well in Orlando predraft camp toplay his way into the draft. Jordan could compete for a backup point guard spot that will become openonce the Knicks have completed their buyout of Dickau, who was acquired fromPortland in the Zach Randolph trade in June. Dickau isn’t expected to be in campwhen it opens Tuesday in Charleston, S.C.
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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Busch, whose strong performances early in the Chase for the Nextel Cup put him among the serious title contenders, crashed early in Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway after Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit him from behind. Busch, who was fourth in the Chase standings going into the LifeLock 400, said he tried to let Earnhardt pass when the contact was made fewer than 30 laps into the race. “I just left him a lane to try to let him go on the outside, because I knew he was going to have a run off the corner,” Busch said. “And I got run into the back of, and got spun down the back straightaway for absolutely no reason. It was a pretty stupid move on his part.” Martin Truex Jr., seventh in the Chase standings, blew a tire shortly after Busch’s crash. |
Category:
Author: Alex
Date: September 30, 2007

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