Soccer Sports News & Betting

PARIS -Results from the third round of the French first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Saturdays Games

Auxerre 0, Lyon 3

Le Mans 2, Nancy 1

Monaco 2, Lorient 0

Montpellier 2, Sochaux 0

Saint-Etienne 0, Boulogne 1

Valenciennes 2, Paris Saint-Germain 3

Rennes 1, Marseille 1

Sundays Games

Bordeaux vs. Nice

Grenoble vs. Lens

Lille vs. Toulouse

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MILAN -Results in the Serie A, the Italian first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Saturdays Games

Bologna 1, Fiorentina 1

Siena 1, AC Milan 2

Sundays Games

Catania vs. Sampdoria

Genoa vs. AS Roma

Inter Milan vs. Bari

Juventus vs. Chievo Verona

Lazio vs. Atalanta

Livorno vs. Cagliari

Palermo vs. Napoli

Udinese vs. Parma

Saturday, Aug. 29

Bari vs. Bologna

AC Milan vs. Inter Milan

Sunday, Aug 30

Atalanta vs. Genoa

Cagliari vs. Siena

Chievo Verona vs. Lazio

Fiorentina vs. Palermo

Napoli vs. Livorno

Parma vs. Catania

AS Roma vs. Juventus

Sampdoria vs. Udinese

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ATHENS, Greece -Results from the opening round of the Greek league (home teams listed first).

Saturdays games:

Aris 1, Atromitos 0

Xanthi 1, Giannina 1

Ergotelis 0, Panathinaikos 3

Sundays games:

Asteras vs. Larissa

Levadiakos vs. Kavala

Panthrakikos vs. Iraklis

Panionios vs. PAOK

AEK vs. Olympiakos

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LONDON -Results Saturday in English football (home teams listed first).

Saturday, Aug. 22

Premier League

Arsenal 4, Portsmouth 1

Birmingham 0, Stoke 0

Hull 1, Bolton 0

Manchester City 1, Wolverhampton 0

Sunderland 2, Blackburn 1

Wigan 0, Manchester United 5

League Championship

Coventry 0, Swansea 1

Crystal Palace 0, Newcastle 2

Derby 2, Plymouth 1

Leicester 1, Barnsley 0

Middlesbrough 2, Doncaster 0

Preston 2, Peterborough 0

Queens Park Rangers 1, Nottingham Forest 1

Reading 1, Sheffield United 3

Sheffield Wednesday 4, Scunthorpe 0

Watford 2, Blackpool 2

West Bromwich Albion 2, Ipswich 0

League One

Brighton 2, Stockport 4

Bristol Rovers 1, Huddersfield 0

Carlisle 0, Exeter 1

Charlton 2, Walsall 0

Gillingham 0, Hartlepool 1

Leeds 3, Tranmere 0

MK Dons 2, Colchester 1

Norwich 5, Wycombe 2

Oldham 2, Swindon 2

Southampton 1, Brentford 1

Yeovil 3, Leyton Orient 3

League Two

Aldershot 3, Accrington Stanley 1

Bury 0, Grimsby 1

Cheltenham 4, Bradford 5

Crewe 1, Hereford 0

Lincoln City 0, Burton Albion 2

Morecambe 2, Macclesfield 2

Northampton 2, Bournemouth 0

Notts County 3, Dagenham Redbridge 0

Port Vale 1, Darlington 0

Shrewsbury 1, Chesterfield 1

Torquay 0, Barnet 1

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LONDON -Results Saturday in Scottish football (home teams listed first).

Scottish Premier League

Celtic 5, St. Johnstone 2

Falkirk 1, Hibernian 3

Hamilton 0, Aberdeen 3

Motherwell 3, Kilmarnock 1

St. Mirren 0, Dundee United 0

Division One

Ayr 0, Morton 2

Dundee 2, Inverness 2

Dunfermline 2, Airdrie United 0

Queen of the South 1, Partick Thistle 0

Ross County 0, Raith 1

Division Two

Cowdenbeath 1, Alloa 1

Dumbarton 3, Clyde 3

East Fife 1, Arbroath 1

Peterhead 2, Stenhousemuir 2

Stirling 1, Brechin 0

Division Three

Berwick 1, Livingston 0

East Stirling 1, Elgin 1

Montrose 1, Forfar 2

Stranraer 2, Annan Athletic 0

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BERLIN -Results from the third round of the Bundesliga, the German first-division football league (home team listed first).

Fridays Game

Hoffenheim 0, Schalke 0

Saturdays Games

Borussia Dortmund 1, Stuttgart 1

FC Cologne 0, Eintracht Frankfurt 0

Freiburg 0, Bayer Leverkusen 5

Mainz 2, Bayern Munich 1

FC Nuremberg 0, Hannover 2

Sundays Games

VfL Bochum vs. Hertha Berlin

Wolfsburg vs. Hamburger SV

Werder Bremen vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach

Friday, Aug. 28

Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Mainz

Saturday, Aug. 29

Stuttgart vs. FC Nuremberg

Schalke vs. Freiburg

Bayer Leverkusen vs. VfL Bochum

Hannover vs. Hoffenheim

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich vs. Wolfsburg

Sunday, Aug. 30

Hertha Berlin vs. Werder Bremen

Hamburger SV vs. FC Cologne

Alexandre Pato scored twice to lead AC Milan to a 2-1 victory over Siena on Saturday and give new coach Leonardo a winning start to the Serie A season.

Milan had struggled in the preseason with seven losses in eight games, but Patos goals in the 29th and 48th minutes provided a fairly comfortable win. Abled Ghezzal had equalized for Siena in the 34th.

We have won which is good, because we seemed to have forgotten how to, Pato said. We had a great game and I have to thank my teammates for all the chances they made for me.

The 19-year-old Pato, who scored 15 goals last season, thought he had his first of this campaign with a header in the 22nd minute, but he was offside from Ronaldinhos free kick.

However, he made no mistakes seven minutes later when played through by his fellow Brazilian, lifting the ball over Siena goalkeeper Gianluca Curci.

The lead didnt last long, as Marco Storari could only parry Lukas Jarolims shot and Ghezzal hit home the rebound.

But Pato put Milan back ahead for good after Ronaldinho picked out Mathieu Flamini in the area, who crossed to Pato for an easy tap-in into the unguarded net.

Ronaldinho showed that he wants to fill the big gap left by Kaka and seemed increasingly confident as the match wore on. In the 68th, he forced Curci to push the ball over the bar from an overhead kick, having calmly controlled Marco Borriellos header.

Hes great, one of the best around when he has the ball at his feet, Pato said. Im delighted for him because when he plays like that he makes playing football easy for the rest of us.

In Saturdays other match, Bolognas Paolo Osvaldo scored the first goal of the new season in a 1-1 draw at home against Fiorentina.

The Argentine rose highest in the penalty area in the 24th to head home Giacomo Tedescos corner.

Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino, who scored 19 times last season, had three good chances in the opening period, but Emiliano Viviano was equal to his efforts.

Captain Adrian Mutu came on at halftime and made an immediate impact, firing home Riccardo Montolivios pass from the edge of the area to level the scores.

Fellow substitute Martin Jorgensen went closest to deciding the match, but Francesco Valiani cleared his shot off the line.

We began a bit slowly, Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli said. A bit because of the heat and a bit because of Bolognas aggressiveness.

In the second half we dominated, and Im happy with our showing. At the moment our main consideration is to start the season in a good way.

Liverpool has completed the signing of Sotiris Kyrgiakos on a two-year deal after the Greece center back passed his medical examination.

The Reds have an option to extend the 30-year-old Kyrgiakos spell at Anfield by a further year.

The Premier League club paid AEK Athens a reported 1.5 million pounds ($2.5 million).

The 1.92-meter (6-foot-3) Kyrgiakos has made 50 appearances for Greece, but missed the 2004 European Championship triumph because of an injury.

Results from the third round of the Bundesliga, the German first-division football league (home team listed first).

Fridays Game

Hoffenheim 0, Schalke 0

Saturdays Games

Borussia Dortmund vs. Stuttgart

Cologne vs. Eintracht Frankfurt

Freiburg vs. Bayer Leverkusen

Mainz vs. Bayern Munich

Nuremberg vs. Hannover

Sundays Games

Bochum vs. Hertha Berlin

Wolfsburg vs. Hamburger SV

Werder Bremen vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach

Alexander Bukharov was called up to Russias squad on Friday for World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Wales next month after scoring 10 goals in 18 games for his club Rubin Kazan.

The striker, who has played for Russia at youth level but never for the senior team, has helped take defending champion Rubin Kazan to the top of the Russian league standings.

Bukharov will compete with Arsenals Andrei Arshavin, Tottenhams Roman Pavlyuchenko and Stuttgarts Pavel Pogrebnyak for an attacking spot in Russias team to play Liechtenstein at home on Sept. 5 and at Wales four days later.

Russia coach Guus Hiddink also selected midfielder Alexei Rebko, who returns after a three-year absence, to the 23-player squad. Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Diniar Bilyaletdinov and Zenit St. Petersburg goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev are back from injury.

Russia is second with 16 points in Group 4 of European qualifying, trailing Germany by four points but with a game in hand.

Russia hosts Germany on Oct. 10 in a match that could decide which team qualifies automatically to next years tournament in South Africa.

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Squad:

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Gabulov (Dinamo Moscow), Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit St. Petersburg).

Defenders: Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Aleksei Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Vasili Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Denis Kolodin (Dinamo Moscow), Renat Yanbaev (Lokomotiv Moscow).

Midfielders: Yuri Zhirkov (Chelsea), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Semak (Rubin Kazan), Igor Semshov (Dinamo Moscow), Diniar Bilyateldinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Igor Denisov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Vladimir Bystrov (Spartak Moscow), Alexei Rebko (FC Moscow).

Strikers: Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Tottenham), Alexander Bukharov (Rubin Kazan), Alexander Kerzhakov (Dinamo Moscow).

Police have detained some 150 Red Star Belgrade fans after they attacked tourists ahead of an Europa League qualifying match against Slavia Prague.

Police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova says Thursday that police confronted aggressive fans who also damaged several restaurants in downtown Prague. Officials say four fans sustained minor injuries.

On Wednesday, 29 Red Star fans were expelled from the country shortly after crossing the Czech border because they were stealing goods at a gas station. Another 19 were detained in Prague.

About a thousand Red Star supporters were expected to attend the first leg of Europa League playoff round match in the Czech capital.

Home teams listed first
Europa League
Qualifying Playoffs.

First Leg

BATE Borisov (Belarus) 0, Litex Lovech (Bulgaria) 1

Baku (Azerbaijan) 1, Basel (Switzerland) 3

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv (Israel) 0, PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) 1

CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) 0, Dinamo Moscow (Russia) 0

Guingamp (France) 1, Hamburg (Germany) 5

MFK Kosice (Slovakia) 3, AS Roma (Italy) 3

Teplice (Czech Republic) 1, Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Israel) 2

Trabzonspor (Turkey) 1, Toulouse (France) 3

NAC Breda (Netherlands) 1, Villarreal (Spain) 3

PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece) 1, Heerenveen (Netherlands) 1

Ajax (Netherlands) 5, Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) 0

Benfica (Portugal) 4, Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine) 0

Brondby (Denmark) 2, Hertha Berlin (Germany) 1

Galatasaray (Turkey) 5, Levadia Tallinn (Estonia) 0

Genk (Belgium) 1, Lille (France) 2

Lazio (Italy) 3, Elfsborg (Sweden) 0

Lech Poznan (Poland) 1, Brugge (Belgium) 0

Metallurg Donetsk (Ukraine) 2, Austria Vienna (Austria) 2

Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) 1, MSK Zilina (Slovakia) 1

Rapid Vienna (Austria) 1, Aston Villa (England) 0

Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 1, CFR Cluj (Romania) 1

Sion (Switzerland) 0, Fenerbahce (Turkey) 2

Sivasspor (Turkey) 0, Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 3

Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) 3, Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) 0

Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 3, St. Patricks Athletic (Ireland) 0

Sturm Graz (Austria) 1, Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine) 1

FC Twente (Netherlands) 3, Qarabag (Azerbaijan) 1

Vaslui (Romania) 2, AEK Athens (Greece) 1

Dinamo Bucharest (Romania) 0, Slovan Liberec (Czech Republic) 2, abandoned, fan violence

Dinamo Zagreb (Czech Republic) 4, Hearts (Scotland) 0

Everton (England) 4, Sigma Olomouc (Czech Republic) 0

Fulham (England) 3, Amkar Perm (Russia) 1

Genoa (Italy) 3, Odense (Denmark) 1

Maribor (Slovenia) 0, Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) 2

Stabaek (Norway) 0, Valencia (Spain) 3

Werder Bremen (Germany) 6, Aktobe (Kazakhstan) 3

Nacional (Portugal) 4, Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia) 3

Athletic Bilbao (Spain) 3, Tromso (Norway) 2

The upcoming season is crucial for Italian soccer at home and on the international front.

With a World Cup defense looming at the end of the season, national coach Marcello Lippi hopes the Italian league will make the world take notice before the tournament begin in South Africa.

Defending champion Inter Milan is going for a fifth straight title and is the team to beat. Juventus, coached by Jose Mourinho, appears the strongest rival.

For Inter in particular and Italys clubs in general, Europe is the big test, with clubs expected to improve on last years performances.

Last season, neither Inter, Juventus, AS Roma nor Fiorentina made it past the Champions League last 16. Udinese went further than any other Italian team in Europe, losing to Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup quarterfinals.

This year, champion Inter, Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina will play in the Champions League. Genoa, AS Roma and Italian Cup winners Lazio will take part in the Europa League.

Internationally, the league needs to bolster its image after years of corruption, dwindling crowds and now declining standards. How well Italys club perform in Europe will go some way toward improving the leagues standing.

This summer, Serie A was hurt when the leagues two biggest stars headed to Spain - Milans Kaka joined Real Madrid for $95 million and Inters Zlatan Ibrahimovic went to Barcelona for $70 million. Barcelona striker Samuel Etoo of Cameroon arrived as part of the Ibrahimovic deal.

Prime Minister and Milan president Silvio Berlusconi wasnt exempt from criticism, with fans protesting at his reluctance to part with the money the club received for Kaka.

In the future we will only buy players under 23 years of age, he declared, much to the chagrin of new coach Leonardo, before signing Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for $21 million.

Juventus bucked the trend more than any other club. Diego came in from Werder Bremen for $35 million, Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro returned to the club he left in 2006 and defensive midfielder Felipe Melo arrived from Fiorentina.

Juventus still hasnt decided how to best use 23-year-old attacker Sebastien Giovinco despite some impressive performances last year. The club also gave a two-year contract extension to 34-year-old Alessandro Del Piero.

Roma extended Francesco Tottis contract by five years, keeping him at the club till he is 37. Meanwhile, the club was happy to sell 25-year-old Alberto Aquilani to Liverpool for $33 million despite him being with the club since childhood.

On the whole, clubs have been content to pick up bargains where they can and hold onto their money. Teams like Fiorentina, Lazio and Roma seem content to wait until the end of the transfer window to see who becomes available.

While such policies make sense in financially difficult times, they will do little to improve Italian clubs performance in Europe, let alone return the luster to a league that dominated European competition in the 1990s.

Barcelona has given forward Pedro Rodriguez a contract extension that will keep him at the European champion until 2014, the Spanish club said on Thursday.

Barcelona also announced that Pedro, who came up through Barcelonas youth system, will have a buyout clause of ?75 million ($107 million).

Pedro has been a regular for coach Pep Guardiola during Barcelonas preseason, scoring three goals in six friendlies. The 22-year-old forward scored the winning goal in Barcelonas 2-1 Spanish Supercup first-leg victory over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Home teams listed first
Qualifying Playoffs.

First Leg

Tuesday, Aug. 18

Celtic (Scotland) 0, Arsenal (England) 2

Sporting (Portugal) 2, Fiorentina (Italy) 2

FC Copenhagen (Denmark) 1, APOEL (Cyprus) 0

Sheriff (Moldova) 0, Olympiakos (Greece) 2

Timisoara (Romania) 0, Stuttgart (Germany) 2

Wednesday, Aug. 19

Panathanaikos (Greece) 2, Atletico Madrid (Spain) 3

Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) 1, Debrecen (Hungary) 2

Lyon (France) 5, Anderlecht (Netherlands) 1

Salzburg (Austria) 1, Maccabi Haifa (Israel) 2

Ventspils (Latvia) 0, Zurich (Switzerland) 3