Auxerre beats Monaco 2-0 to take French lead
PARIS (AP): Auxerre beat Monaco 2-0 to earn its seventh straight win and take the top spot in the French league on Saturday. Auxerre has 26 points from 13 matches, one clear of Bordeaux and Lyon.

Real Madrid leads in Spain as Barcelona slips up
MADRID (AP): Real Madrid led the Spanish league after beating Racing Santander 1-0 and Barcelona could only draw 1-1 against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Football: Blues go marching on
LONDON: Chelsea cranked up the pressure on their Premier League title rivals by cruising to a 4-0 win over struggling Wolves yesterday.

Pienaar voted the best player
JOHANNESBURG: Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar has won South Africa’s Player of the Year award for 2009.

Spurs keeper Cudicini out for rest of the season
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini was discharged from hospital on Friday following surgery after a motorcycle crash but the Italian is unlikely to play again this season, his club manager said on Friday.

Blackburn boss Allardyce to go for surgery
BLACKBURN: Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce is to have surgery to widen an artery and will miss the next three Premier League games.

Rubin Kazan champs again
MOSCOW: Russia’s defending champions Rubin Kazan retained their Premier League title with a 0-0 home draw with Zenit St Petersburg after their closest pursuers Spartak Moscow lost 3-2 in the Moscow derby with CSKA.

No joy for Liverpool
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool’s stuttering season continued as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Manchester City that did little for either club’s hopes of finishing the season in the top four.

I want to play for England after World Cup, says Becks
LONDON: David Beckham wants to continue playing for England even after next year’s World Cup Finals in South Africa, he was quoted as saying yesterday.

UEFA overturn Dinamo Zagreb’s points penalty
NYON: Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Friday had their Europa League points deduction replaced with a ‚75,000 fine and a three-year suspended ban from European competition.

Cantona slams Henry and coach Domenech
MARSEILLE: Former French international Eric Cantona launched a stinging attack on national coach Raymond Domenech on Friday following France’s controversial qualification for the 2010 World Cup.

Heinze scores for Marseille in scrappy victory over PSG
MARSEILLE: A first-half goal from Gabriel Heinze vaulted Marseille back into the French title race on Friday, securing a 1-0 win at the Stade Velodrome over Paris St Germain.

Trezeguet hit by injury again
TURIN: Juventus striker David Trezeguet will be sidelined for a month after injuring a calf muscle in training.

Barca: Abidal, Toure down with swine flu
BARCELONA: Barcelona have confirmed that defender Eric Abidal and midfielder Yaya Toure have swine flu and could be out for the next three games.

Iraq banned from internationals
PARIS: World football’s governing body FIFA on Friday announced their decision to suspend the Iraqi Football Association (IFA) until further notice “because of government interference”.

Ivory Coast coach confident in ‘Group of Death’
LUANDA: Ivory Coast coach Vahid Halilhodzic brimmed with confidence here on Friday despite having to face fellow World Cup qualifiers Ghana, Togo and Burkina Faso in the African Nations Cup “Group of Death”.

Marseille beat PSG
MARSEILLE: A first-half goal from Gabriel Heinze vaulted Marseille back into the French title race on Friday, securing a 1-0 win at the Stade Velodrome over Paris St Germain.

Football: Almeida nets twice as his team go top of the Bundesliga
BERLIN: Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida netted twice as Werder Bremen went top of the Bundesliga yesterday thanks to a 6-0 hammering of Freiburg.

Football Results Worldwide

Halim axed as Sathianathan revamps Kelantan squad
PETALING JAYA: The Kelantan FA (Kafa) have made seven new signings for the Super League next season.

Red Warriors are FAM’s top revenue earners
KOTA BARU: The Kelantan FA (Kafa) had contributed RM2.4mil to the FA of Malaysia (FAM), directly or indirectly, said their president, Tan Sri Annuar Musa.