Bent scores as Aston Villa stuns Man City 1-0

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP): Darren Bent scored on his debut Saturday to give Aston Villa a surprising 1-0 win over Manchester City and deal a blow to the visitors' Premier League title hopes.

Bent slotted in a rebound from a tight angle in the 18th minute after goalkeeper Joe Hart weakly pushed away Ashley Young's hard shot from the edge of the area.

City nearly netted an equalizer when Nigel De Jong's shot from 25 yards out was deflected onto the post in the 84th minute but the loss drops the club into third place, three points behind leader Manchester United and with two games more played.

Villa registered only their second win in 11 league games and it lifted them further away from the relegation zone. It also gave them revenge for a 4-0 loss at Eastlands last month.

With their strike force of Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko, the visitors dominated for long spells but struggled to find a way past Villa's rock-solid defense, led by James Collins and former City center back Richard Dunne.

Villa had a let-off after 16 minutes when an inswinging corner from Aleksandar Kolarov caused problems but neither Dzeko nor Tevez could apply the decisive touch from close range.

Bent then converted his first chance for his new club.

Gabriel Agbonlahor found Young in space and his curling effort was parried aside by Hart. But Bent was first to react to the rebound and slotted it into the corner of the net.

City tried to retaliate and Brad Friedel produced a fine save to tip Vincent Kompany's header over the bar from Kolarov's corner.

Former Villa captain Gareth Barry went close to bringing City level after 37 minutes when his glancing header slid past the far post from Jerome Boateng's threatening ball into the box.

City continued to press at the start of the second period.

Collins blocked a shot from Dzeko after the striker had cut inside following good play by David Silva. Dzeko then got on the end of a corner from Kolarov but could not keep his header down.

At the other end, Hart was called into action to turn a dipping drive from Young away for a corner.

Collins produced another superb block to deny Tevez's volley as the game entered the final 10 minutes.

In a rare Villa attack, Young poked the ball wide at the near post from Marc Albrighton's cross, but one goal was enough.

  

Barcelona beats Racing 3-0 in Spain

BARCELONA, Spain (AP): Barcelona won its 14th straight Spanish league game with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Racing Santander on Saturday.

Pedro Rodriguez and Lionel Messi scored in the first half and Andres Iniesta added another after the restart to send the league leaders seven points clear of Real Madrid ahead of its match against Mallorca on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola's team showed no signs of its midweek defeat to Betis in the Copa del Rey, which ended its run of 28 games without a loss, and continued its dominating play that led it to the midway point of the season with a record points haul of 52.

Racing did what it could to withstand Barcelona's barrage, but the Catalan side's trademark combination of short, quick passes was too much for the visitors to handle.

Rodriguez opened the scoring in the second minute chesting a lob pass from Messi across the goal line after the Argentina star combined with David Villa and penetrated the area on the left side.

Messi made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 33rd after Villa was fouled in the area by Racing defender Henrique, and Iniesta fired a pass from Rodriguez that took a friendly deflection off a defender before landing in the net to cap the win in the 56th.

Barcelona's league-winning run matched a club record from 2005-06, and was just one victory shy of equaling the league record of consecutive wins set by Real Madrid in 1960-61.

"There are no easy games," Villa said. "But we went ahead in the second minute and that took the pressure off. "Now we have to see if we are lucky tomorrow and Madrid doesn't win."

Also, Aritz Aduriz scored a late winner to give Valencia a 4-3 victory over a nine-man Malaga, and Luis Fabiano scored a hat trick to help give Sevilla a 4-1 win over Levante.

After Barcelona went ahead on Rodriguez's seventh goal in five games and 11th of the season, a first-half rout was prevented by the work of Racing goalkeeper Antonio "Tono" Rodriguez.

Messi still doubled the lead in the 33rd with his 19th goal in the league and 33rd in all competitions. Messi, who had missed a penalty early this week against Betis, calmly rolled the ball into the right corner as Tono dove the other way.

Racing, however, did not roll over and goalkeeper Victor Valdes had to produce some great saves. But Barcelona took control for good through Iniesta's goal.

The Spain midfielder is having his most prolific season with seven goals in league play, bettering his previous personal best of six in 2006-07. For Guardiola the key to his side's success is possession.

"If we didn't have this style, we would have to run much more and we would tire," he said. "If you made Leo (Messi) run up and down, we would end up worn out."

Racing, which is set to be acquired by Indian businessman Ahsan Ali Syed, has not won in five weeks and stayed in 14th place, four points clear of the drop.

At Mestalla Stadium, Valencia provisionally claimed third place, one point ahead of Villarreal, through its fifth win in a row, while Malaga remained one point above the relegation zone.

After Jose Rondon's 10th-minute opener, Valencia's Juanma Mata leveled from the penalty spot after Martin Demichelis was sent off for fouling him with only the 'keeper to beat.

Rondon put Malaga back ahead in the 35th, banging in a ball the defence failed to clear, but second-half substitute Roberto Soldado pulled the home side even once again in the 53rd.

Malaga lost another man in the 65th after defender Helder Rosario was sent off for arguing, and two minutes later substitute Ever Banega put Valencia ahead for the first time.

Baptista, in his second game with Malaga, equalised for his new team in the 79th, and just when it looked like Malaga would earn a point, Aritz Aduriz appeared to fire in the winner in the 89th. Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini was also sent off in the 81st for arguing.

Earlier at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, Luis Fabiano displayed his full repertoire of attacking skills, scoring with a header, a penalty and through an excellent dipping strike from outside the area.

The Brazil striker opened the scoring with his 28th-minute header, and defender Julien Escude doubled Sevilla's advantage in the 39th.

Luis Fabiano added his second from the penalty spot in the 43rd before Levante's Xisco Munoz made it 3-1 early in the second half. But the Brazilian's long blast sealed the victory in the 68th and gave him eight goals for the season.

Sevilla coach Gregorio Manzano said the game was an example for his team to follow. "With our firepower up front, if we defend well we are guaranteed to win," Manzano said.

Sevilla's third victory in four games left it just one point off Europa League positions. Levante has lost five straight and risks falling into last place if Almeria beats Osasuna on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, third-place Villarreal hosts Real Sociedad, Sporting Gijon plays Atletico Madrid, Espanyol visits Getafe, and Zaragoza receives Deportivo La Coruna. Hercules is at Athletic Bilbao on Monday.

  

5th-division Chambery upsets Brest in French Cup

PARIS (AP): Fifth-division side Chambery beat Brest 4-3 in a penalty shootout in the second round of the French Cup on Saturday.

Brest looked set for victory when midfielder Bruno Grougi scored early in the second half of extra time, but with three minutes to go striker Malick Faye equalized for Chambery with his sixth goal of the Cup campaign.

"We thought we had done the hard work when we took the lead late on," Brest coach Alex Dupont said. "After that, penalty kicks are a lottery. It's disappointing for us."

Faye scored his other five goals as Chambery progressed through the qualification rounds, before knocking Monaco out - also on penalty kicks - in a first round which featured a record amount of upsets.

"Our wish is to face another team from the first division so the players get a taste of what it's like to play in a big stadium," Chambery coach David Guion said.

Larsen Toure and Omar Daf missed their kicks for Brest, while striker Aissa Yahia-Bey missed for the home side. Bordeaux joined the list of first-division teams eliminated, losing 1-0 away to second-division strugglers Angers.

Second-division Boulogne-sur-Mer lost 1-0 at home to fourth-division Drancy in another upset.

In the French first division, midfielder Adil Hermach and striker Toifilou Maoulida each scored as Lens beat Caen 2-0 at home to move out of the relegation zone, while defeat plunged Caen into the bottom three.

Caen cleared Maoulida's shot and it fell to Hermach, who volleyed the ball in from 20 meters out in the 20th minute.

Maoulida added the second goal 10 minutes into the second half when he chested down Gregory Certic's pass and beat goalkeeper Alexis Thebaux with the outside of his right foot.

It was only the fifth win this season for Lens, and the first time it has won consecutive games after last week's 2-1 home win over Saint-Etienne.

  

Cologne wins to reach safety, Gomez nets hat trick

 BERLIN (AP): Lukas Podolski scored twice to inspire Cologne to a 3-0 win over visiting Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga and lift his side provisionally to safety on Saturday.

Cologne was fourth from bottom with one more point than St. Pauli which occupies the relegation playoff place ahead of its game at Hoffenheim on Sunday.

Earlier, Mario Gomez scored a hat trick in a 5-1 win for Bayern Munich at home to Kaiserslautern. Munich climbed to third, 14 points behind leader Borussia Dortmund, which was held to 1-1 by visiting Stuttgart.

Podolski opened the scoring in the sixth minute. Fabrice Ehret beat Bremen's offside trap on the left before pulling the ball back for the Germany international to strike it first time past Tim Wiese into the bottom right hand corner.

Adam Matuschyk doubled the advantage when he gathered a pass from Andrezinho on the edge of the penalty area, feigned one way past Torsten Frings and Petri Pasanan before unleashing a perfect shot to the left past Wiese. Podolski grabbed his second - his seventh of the season - late in the game.

Bayern's Gomez became the league's joint topscorer with 15. His goals came after Arjen Robben - making his first appearance at home for eight months after recovering from injury - opened the scoring at the end of the first half with his first of the season.

The Dutch winger received a wonderful crossfield pass from Thomas Mueller, smartly rounded the advancing goalkeeper, and stroked the ball into the unguarded net with his right foot.

Gomez doubled the lead at the beginning of the second - to equal the 86 goals scored for Bayern by watching club president Uli Hoeness - but Jan Moravek pulled a goal back for Kaiserslautern against the run of play following a defensive error from Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.

Gomez then went two better than Hoeness before Mueller completed Bayern's spree in the 90th minute. "We're third," Munich coach Louis van Gaal said. "I think we're on the right path."

Elsewhere, Pavel Pogrebnyak scored a late equalizer for Stuttgart at Dortmund. The Russian struck a powerful shot to the top right hand corner after being set up by a clever back-flick from Zdravo Kuzmanovic. It left Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp fuming on the sideline.

His side missed a number of opportunities to increase the lead taken through rising star Mario Goetze's first-half goal. Nuri Sahin helped set up the 18-year-old's goal, when he flicked a pass from Mats Hummels first time into the path of Kevin Grosskreutz.

The attacking midfielder crossed for the advancing Goetze to control the ball with his left before placing the ball with his right past goalkeeper Sven Ulreich.

"It shouldn't happen that we are hit on the counterattack five minutes before the end," Hummels said. "But it's much worse that we missed four or five 100-percent chances because we weren't focused."

Klopp said: "We got many turnovers and played too anxiously. We let in a counterattacking goal while winning 1-0 in our own stadium - that says everything. Of course the lads are disappointed now, but we will look at it calmly."

Raul Gonzalez scored the only goal for Schalke at second-place Hannover, where he met a Lukas Schmitz cross in the penalty box in the first half. It was the Spaniard's 10th goal of the season.

Hannover should have equalized in the second half when Didier Ya Konan set the ball back for Mohammed Abdellaoue, who blasted his shot from 16 metres (yards) to the right.

Manuel Neuer twice came to Schalke's rescue, the Germany goalkeeper denying Sergio Pinto and Emanuel Pogatetz in quick succession.

"It was really great that we could put Schalke under so much pressure," said Hannover coach Mirko Slomka. "We just didn't get deserved reward. Manuel Neuer was outstanding at times."

Schalke coach Felix Magath said he demanded a good game from his players. "In the second half we showed that we cannot only play, but fight too. The chase starts now." Magath's side move up to 10th, with two more points than Wolfsburg, which broke a streak of seven draws in a row to finally win at Mainz.

Simon Kjaer headed in the only goal from a Diego free kick to ease the pressure on coach Steve McClaren. Freiburg drew 1-1 with visiting Nuremberg, with Julian Schieber scoring a stunning equalizer for the visitors.

Schieber volleyed a thunderous effort from the right edge of the penalty area in off the underside of the crossbar.

Bayer Leverkusen could cut the gap at the top to 11 points with a win at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday, when St. Pauli travels to Hoffenheim.

  

Totti inspires Roma to win over Cagliari in Italy

MILAN (AP) - Back in the lineup, Francesco Totti inspired Roma with the opening goal in a 3-0 win at home over Cagliari in the Serie A on Saturday.

Earlier in the week he sat out the 2-1 win against Lazio in the Italian Cup. The Roma captain converted a penalty and kept Cagliari's defence occupied for the rest of the match.

"We are playing a lot of games - one every three days - and that is hard for the players," Roma coach Ranieri said. "We are having to chop and change, but the results speak for themselves."

Roma rose to provisional second in the standings, one point above Napoli and three behind AC Milan, both of whom play on Sunday.

Simone Perrotta grabbed the second goal in the 70th when he was first to the ball after Cagliari goalkeeper Michael Agazzi spilled it in the box.

Substitute Jeremy Menez added a third in second-half stoppage time. He ran through Cagliari's defence before bamboozling Agazzi and stroked the ball into the empty net.

"I had to tweak things at the start of the first half because we were leaving too much space down the wings," Ranieri said, "but we worked extremely hard, especially our midfield."

Cagliari began the stronger and in the seventh minute Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio had to acrobatically push Andrea Cossu's powerful shot over the bar. Robert Acquafresca then forced Sergio into a low save.

Roma won its penalty when Michele Canini was adjudged to have pulled Daniele De Rossi down as he was trying to reach Totti's cross.

Totti smashed the penalty straight down the middle for his third goal of the season. It boosted Roma's confidence and Ranieri's team stayed in control for the rest of the half. Shortly before halftime Agazzi had to react quickly to stop Marco Borriello from doubling the lead.

De Rossi came close to adding to the score in the 69th, but Agazzi pushed his powerful drive away. From the corner, though, Agazzi's error presented Roma with its second score. The goalkeeper failed to hold Juan's header and Perrotta poked the rebound in from close range.

Agazzi recovered to stop Totti from scoring a second, when he dived low to push his shot away after Totti shaped to cross to Mirko Vucinic.

In injury time, Philippe Mexes hit the top of the bar with a header, but it was his fellow Frenchman Menez who grabbed the third as his fresh legs allowed him to get away from the tiring Cagliari defence to score.

"Roma is among four or five clubs that can win the title," Ranieri said. "AC Milan and Inter Milan are the favorites. We have to fight to compete with them, but it will be fun."

Palermo kept up its pressure on the European places with a 1-0 win over Brescia, but needed a late goal from Cesare Bovo to secure the win.

Parma also won. Antonio Candreva and Sebastien Giovinco scored in the 56th and 62nd to secure a 2-0 victory over Catania in Diego Simeone's first match since taking over as coach of the Sicilian side.

  

Australia, South Korea into Asian Cup semifinals

DOHA, Qatar (AP): Australia beat defending champions Iraq to reach the Asian Cup semifinals for the first time on Saturday while South Korea downed Iran to move one step closer to its third title.

Both matches were tense encounters that were decided in extra time. Australia avenged a loss to Iraq in the 2007 group stage when Harry Kewell headed in the winner with three minutes to go in extra time.

South Korea also kept its fans waiting, with substitute midfielder Yoon Bit-garam scoring with a left-foot drive from just outside the area in the 105th minute.

Australia now plays Uzbekistan and South Korea faces archrival Japan on Tuesday. Australia and Iraq appeared to be heading for penalties when Matt McKay's cross found a streaking Harry Kewell, who headed it past Iraq goalkeeper Mohammed Kassid in the 117th minute.

Kewell, who plays for Galatasaray in Turkey, stripped off his jersey and swung it around in celebration after scoring his 15th international goal and second of the tournament.

"I am very pleased and happy with the team's performance today. We managed to qualify for the semifinals which is definitely a great achievement," Australia coach Holger Osieck said.

"Looking at the game itself, although it went to extra time, in 90 minutes we played solidly in defense ... and created a lot of good chances. If I'm not mistaken, the Iraqis only had one great opportunity and the rest came from half chances. We should have done our job in 90 minutes."

Iraq coach Wolfgang Sidka disagreed, saying the his side had the better opportunities in extra time and was competitive throughout the match.

"You know, it was a very exciting match for both sides," he said. "It was up and down. You saw everything in this game. We always played in front and tried to create chances especially in extra time, in the last 30 minutes. In the end, it was one cross and one header."

In a tight first half, Osieck's plan of subduing Iraq playmaker Nashat Akram paid off, while Sidka's side restricted Australia to half-chances. The game opened up after the break.

Mohammed missed what would turn out to be Iraq's best chance after he was played in by Younus Mahmood, and that scare appeared to spark Australia into life.

But not until extra time could the Socceroos get the ball in, when Kewell found space between two defenders to power home his header and finally lift the tension hovering over Australia.

"It was important to get the goal, didn't really want to go into a shootout," Kewell said. "(It's a) massive relief. There are no easy games in Asia. We worked hard as a team and I was proud of every one of them."

Iraq defender Basem Abbas, who was closest to Kewell, said the last-gasp winner was hard to accept and he apologised to fans "for not keeping the cup in Iraq."

"It is really painful," Abbas said. "We played a great match and suddenly they scored. It is not anyone's mistake. But I think we could have scored earlier. We had a lot of chances."

In the late game, three-time champion Iran seemed to have the edge going into extra time. But it was the South Koreans - who had appeared exhausted late in the second half - who dug deep.

Their breakthrough came in the 105th when the unheralded Yoon received the ball from midfielder Lee Chung-yong, shifted to his left past two defenders, and then drilled a shot from the edge of the penalty box for the winner.

In the second period of extra time, Iran tried desperately to find space but South Korea crowded its defence and hung on to win. The closest Iran came to tying the match was a shot from Masoud Shoajei with six minutes left in extra time that hit the top of the net.

"The cooperation and the willingness of my players to sacrifice for each other were the key factors of our victory," South Korea coach Cho Kwang-rae said. "Iran has been beyond the level of Asian football, they are close to European level. The main reason we won the match is that we controlled the midfield and didn't let them play their game."

After winning the first two editions of the continental tournament, South Korea was runner-up three times and finished third another three times, and has not won the title since 1960. Iran coach Afshin Ghotbi said his players had plenty to be proud of despite being eliminated.

"What we achieved with this team, if you look at it from a helicopter view and without emotion, they really achieved greatness," he said. "They beat Iraq, the defending champion, North Korea, who were at the World Cup and the United Arab Emirates with almost a different team. And today they took the South Koreans to the limits."

  

PAOK beats Xanthi 2-1 to sit 3rd in Greek league

ATHENS, Greece (AP): PAOK beat visiting Xanthi 2-1 to take sole possession of third place in the Greek league after AEK's humiliating 4-0 home loss to newcomer Volos on Saturday.

PAOK moved three points clear of AEK. Leader Olympiakos travels to Asteras on Sunday, when defending champion Panathinaikos visits Panionios. Olympiakos was 5 points ahead of Panathinaikos.

After Stefanos Athanasiadis scored, Mauro Poy equalized for Xanthi, then Dimitris Salpingidis netted the winner for PAOK in the 81st minute.

Also, Kerkyra beat last-place Larissa 1-0. PAOK came close to opening the score in the 16th when a shot by Athanasiadis forced goalkeeper Michael Gspurning to palm away the ball.

Four minutes later, Salpingidis fed Athanasiadis in the Xanthi area but his powerful shot was saved by Gspurning. In the 28th, a powerful shot by Xanthi's Christopher Katongo grazed Costas Halkias' post.

Athanasiadis gave PAOK the lead in the 36th with a shot off a cross by Vieirinha. In the 66th, less than a minute after going in for Diego Quintana, Poy silenced the more than 12,000 PAOK fans in the stadium when he exploited a mistake by Halkias to level.

Nine minutes from time, Salpingidis made the final 2-1 with a powerful shot from inside the area. On Sunday it's Kavala vs. Iraklis, Panserraikos vs. Atromitos and Ergotelis vs. Aris.

  

Hulk gives Porto 1-0 win over Beira Mar

LISBON, Portugal (AP): FC Porto beat Beira Mar 1-0 to maintain its eight-point lead over Benfica in the Portuguese league on Saturday.

Hulk earned the win from the penalty spot in the 34th minute after Andre Marques fouled the Brazilian striker in the area. Also, second-place Benfica beat Nacional 4-2 to extend its winning streak to seven games.

Nicolas Gaitan scored Benfica's eighth-minute opener. Sidnei headed in a free kick by Pablo Aimar for Benfica's second in the 20th, and Oscar Cardozo made it three in the 51st when he slipped a shot between the legs of Nacional goalkeeper Bracali.

Luis Alberto and substitute Rene Mihelic scored to reduce the deficit for Nacional before Franco Jara capped Benfica's win with two minutes to play.

  

Venezuela, Argentina draw 1-1 in South America U20s

AREQUIPA, Peru (AP): Argentina booked its place in the second round of the South American Under-20 World Cup qualifying tournament with a 1-1 draw against Venezula on Saturday.

The draw gave Argentina seven points from three games in Group A, while regional minnow Venezuela has two points from two games to retain hopes of reaching the second round.

Boca Juniors forward Sergio Araujo scored in the 55th minute for Argentina and Yoahandry Orozco equalised in the 65th with a long-range header after Argentina goalkeeper Esteban Andrada came out to clear and ball and slipped, leaving the goal wide open.

Uruguay also improved its chances of making the second round, defeating Chile 4-0 in the other Group A match to move to four points from three games while Chile has three from two.

Pablo Cepellini scored on a soaring shot from 30-metres in the 10th minute and added his second in the 45th, chipping in from close range after Chile goalkeeper Carlos Alfaro failed to handle a free kick and dropped the ball into the midfielder's path.

Adrian Luna scored in 73rd and captain Diego Polenta added an impressive goal in the 77th after a weaving 50-metre run that left a half-dozen Chile defenders in his wake.

The top four teams will qualify for the U20 World Cup this year while the top two will qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. Brazil will play Bolivia on Sunday in Group B and Ecuador will face Paraguay.

  

Cruz Azul draws 3-3 with UNAM Pumas

MEXICO CITY (AP): Hugo Droguett salvaged a point for Cruz Azul by scoring a late equaliser in a 3-3 draw with derby rival UNAM Pumas on Saturday in the third round of the Mexican Clausura championship.

Emanuel Villa and Horacio Cervantes had given Cruz Azul a 2-0 lead at half time, but two goals by Juan Carlos Cacho either side of Dario Veron's header put Pumas in front with 10 minutes to go. Droguett slotted the equalizer in the 83rd.

Elsewhere, reigning champion Monterrey claimed its first win in three with a 1-0 home victory against ten-man Atlante. In other results, Morelia won 3-0 at Queretaro, while both Guadalajara-San Luis and Santos Laguna-Pachuca ended 1-1.

On Friday, Atlas won 1-0 at Necaxa. Fixtures continue Sunday, with Puebla vs. Estudiantes Tecos, Toluca vs. Chiapas and America vs. UANL Tigres. After three rounds of matches, Atlas is the only team with maximum points.

In the Mexico City derby earlier Saturday, Villa prodded the ball home to give Cruz Azul the lead after the Pumas defence failed to clear a corner in the 25th minute.

A pass from Cervantes took a big deflection on the edge of the box to wrong-foot goalkeeper Alejandro Palacios in the 36th and give Cruz Azul a two-goal advantage at half time.

Martin Bravo scooped a cross into the path of Cacho to pull a goal back for Pumas with a volley after an hour and Veron levelled with a header from a corner in the 73rd.

Cacho then curled a shot in via the crossbar from 30 yards (metres) to give Pumas the lead in the 80th, but Droguett raced on to a pass from Cesar Villaluz to equalise the scores three minutes later.

In Monterrey, Humberto Suazo scored his first goal of the tournament after bursting through the defense in the second minute to give defending champion Rayados a first win of the season at home against Atlante.

Jorge Hernandez was sent off in the 73rd for the visitors. Suazo scored 15 goals in Monterrey's title win in the Apertura tournament, but has struggled for fitness after returning from holiday later than expected ahead of the Clausura campaign.

In the northern city of Torreon, Edgar Benitez scored a quickfire equaliser for Pachuca a minute after Daniel Luduena had given home team Santos the lead in the 44th minute. Santos held on for the draw despite a red card for Fernando Arce in the 74th.

Elsewhere, Chivas of Guadalajara took the lead against San Luis thanks to a headed goal from 18-year-old striker Erick Torres in the 67th minute, but Anibal Matellan scored a near-post header from a corner to level in the 76th.

Rafael Marquez Lugo scored in the 57th to put Morelia ahead at Queretaro. A Jaime Lozano penalty in the 80th and an Elias Hernandez strike in stoppage time completed the 3-0 win.

The Mexican season is split into two tournaments, the Apertura and Clausura. In each tournament, the 18 teams of the Primera Division play each other once, with a playoff system to decide the champion.

  

Ron gets more laser treatment

MADRID: Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo was targeted by a laser during the club’s Spa­nish King’s Cup win at cross-town rivals At­­letico, in the latest in a string of similar incidents.

The green laser was pointed at the 25-year-old’s left eye as he was about to take a free-kick, an AFP photographer at the match said.

Real won the game at the Vicente Calderon Stadium 1-0 to qualify for the semi-finals 4-1 on aggregate.

Ronaldo has been targeted by lasers at other stadiums in the past as well.

The most recent reported case was last October at an away match against Murcia, also as he was about to take a free-kick.

In March 2008, European football’s governing body UEFA fined Lyon €3,834 after the French club’s supporters used a laser on Ronaldo during a Champions League clash with Manchester United, his club at the time.

Television pictures showed Ronaldo being targeted by a green light both before and during the first knockout round tie at Lyon on Feb 20. 

  

Gomez hat-trick fires Bayern third, Dortmund held

BERLIN: Bayern Munich’s Mario Gomez hit a hat-trick as the defending champions went third in the Bundesliga with a 5-1 win over Kaiserslautern yesterday as leaders Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 with Stuttgart.

Despite being held, the leaders remain 13 points clear at the top with Bayern 14 points behind after Gomez netted three second-half goals to bring his tally to 15 in 17 league matches this season.

Bayern went ahead when Dutchman Arjen Robben latched onto a long pass from Germany star Thomas Mueller, held off a defender and beat Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich with almost the last kick of the first-half.

Munich went 2-0 up straight after the break when Robben beat two defenders down the left wing, squared the ball to Bastian Schweinsteiger who offered his Germany team-mate Gomez the chance to tap into an empty net.

Kaiserslautern pulled a goal back when Bayern defender Anatoliy Tymoshchuk made a hash of dealing with a cross and the loose ball fell into the path of Czech midfielder Jan Moravek in the 62nd minute who fired home. But Gomez showed his class with two late goals before Mueller added the fifth in added time to complete the rout.

Dortmund had to share the points after Stuttgart’s Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak equalised in the 84th minute to stun the leaders at home.

Borussia had opened the scoring just before the half-time break when midfielder Kevin Grosskreuz slid a pass through the Stuttgart defence for teenager Mario Goetze to beat the goalkeeper on 43 minutes.

Stuttgart fought back for a point but are still 16th in the league, three from bottom, despite the draw.

Hanover are second in the table despite losing 1-0 at home to Schalke. Schalke, who face Valencia in the last 16 of the Champions League next month, sealed the win when Spanish striker Raul hit his 10th league goal of the season when he netted in the 33rd minute. The win lifts Schalke up to 10th place.

Ex-England coach Steve McClaren picked up his first win in 10 matches when his Wolfsburg side earned a 1-0 win at Mainz, who drop to fourth.