International Roundup

Besiktas secures Turkish title with 1-0 win over Galatasaray

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Besiktas clinched a Turkish league victory Sunday after defeating crosstown rival Galatasaray 1-0 in a tense match.

Besiktas sealed the championship with a 90th minute goal by Sergen Yalcin off Tumer Metin's pass. Galatasaray had pushed its defense forward in a last minute attempt to keep its championship bid alive.

"I'm very happy. A heavy burden has been lifted off our shoulders. It's the first championship of my career," Yalcin said.

One week remains in the season, but Besiktas' solid eight point advantage over Galatasaray's 74 following Sunday's match guaranteed Besiktas the Super League trophy.

It is Besiktas' first title since 1995.

Besiktas fans drove through the city honking their horns and waving black and white Besiktas flags to celebrate the victory at Besiktas' Inonu Stadium.

The match was extremely tense with several fights. Galatasaray's Umit Karan and Volkan Arslan were expelled for fighting following Yalcin's goal.

The first half of the match appeared scrappy with neither side managing to dominate for long.

The most serious scoring opportunity came in the game's 37th minute, when Yalcin managed a near breakaway, passing to Daniel Pancu, whose shot bounced off the right goal post.

The second half was more exciting.

In the game's 55th minute, Ilhan Mansiz managed a hard shot in the game's 55th minute, but his shot was blocked.

Galatasaray's Haim Revivo countered two minutes later with plenty of space in front of the goal, but his shot went over.

Ahmet Dursun missed a crucial opportunity in the game's 75th minute for Besiktas, when he stood in the center of the goal with most of the right side wide open, but his shot went wide.

Galatasaray faces Gaziantianpor and Besiktas takes on Samsunspor next week, but the results will not affect the title.

Ankara's Genclerbirligi has 66 points and is in third place.

Portugal: UEFA Cup winner Porto draws 1-1 with Braga

Porto, which won the UEFA final Wednesday in Seville against Celtic Glasgow, already secured the first place in the Portuguese championship several weeks ago.

Now the team is looking for a third trophy. In June, it will face Leiria in the Portuguese Cup final.

Sunday, Braga scored first in the 37th minute through Barroso, with a powerful shot and taking advantage of confusion on the part of Porto's defense.

In the second half, Porto's rookie striker Helder Postiga, who missed Seville's final because he had been sent off in the earlier UEFA Cup round, equalized the score with a shot to the corner of the net.

Porto (26-5-2) leads with 83 points.

Also Sunday, second-placed Benfica beat Gil Vicent 2-0.

Benfica's striker Simao Sabrosa, top scorer in the league, scored first in the 41st minute. In the second half, Roger netted a second goal for his team.

Benfica (22-6-5) has 72 points.

On Saturday, defending champion Sporting, which has already assured the third place, lost 4-3 against last-placed Setubal.

Setubal's Cameroon's striker Albert Meyong scored two goals, and his team mate Jorginho got another one. Sporting's Beto scored a goal against his own side.

Sporting's Paulo Bento, Joao Pinto and rookie star Quaresma got one each.

Sporting (17-8-8) has 59 points.

Setubal will play in the second league next season.

This was the last game in Sporting's 47-year old Alvalade Stadium. A new venue is being built next to the old stadium to host the European soccer championships that will take place in Portugal in 2004.

In other 33rd-round matches, it was: Guimaraes 0, Beira Mar 2; Varzim 0, Academica 3; Pacos Ferreira 3, Santa Clara 1; Maritimo 3, Moreirense 1; Belenenses 0, Nacional 0.

Leiria plays Boavista Monday.

Spartak edges Dynamo 2-1 in Moscow derby

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Spartak Moscow edged city rival Dynamo 2-1 in an exciting Russian premier league derby on Sunday to climb out of the relegation zone.

Spartak midfielder Dmitry Smirnov broke a 1-1 deadlock with a curving shot into the far corner in the 51st minute to give the former Russian champion its second straight win.

Russia defender Yuri Kovtun put Spartak ahead with a header in the 43rd minute, but Dynamo newcomer Erik Korchagin equalized just two minutes later. Kovtun has now scored three goals, all headers, in his team's last four games.

Spartak survived the dismissal of its Macedonian sweeper Igor Mitreski in the 76th minute and subsequent late Dynamo pressure to move up to 10th place on 13 points from 10 matches.

The loss dropped Dynamo to third place on 17 points.

It also stretched its winless streak at the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium to almost two decades. Dynamo has not won there since it beat Zenit Leningrad in the 1984 Soviet Cup final.

"Spartak were just a better team today," said Dynamo coach Viktor Prokopenko.

Despite the win, Spartak coach Sergei Pavlov once again blamed bad officiating for his team's poor start to the season.

"On Monday, we'll send an official complaint to the premier league chiefs asking them to look into the officiating," Pavlov told reporters.

"Since (former FIFA referee) Nikolai Levnikov was appointed referees' boss, the officiating has really got out of hand. We just can't take it any longer."

Across town, champion Lokomotiv Moscow continued to struggle, dropping to 14th place on 11 points after being held to a 0-0 draw by Rostov.

Saturn Ramenskoye beat premier league newcomers Chernomorets Novorossiisk 2-0 to move into second with 18 points, seven points behind leader CSKA Moscow, which earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over crosstown rivals Torpedo-Metallurg 1-0 on Saturday.

Reds beat Marinos in J-League

TOKYO (AP) -- Midfielder Koji Yamase scored in the second half Sunday to lift Urawa Reds to a 1-0 away victory over 10-man Yokohama F Marinos in the J-League's first division.

Yamase converted Emerson's pass in the 64th minute to silence a crowd of 39,483 at International Stadium Yokohama.

Japan international defender Naoki Matsuda was sent off eight minutes after Yamase put the visitors ahead.

With the victory, Urawa moved into ninth place in the 16-team J-League standings on 14 points after 10 matches.

Yokohama, meanwhile, were handed their second straight defeat and find themselves in fifth place on 17 points.

In Sunday's only other first-division match, Masashi Oguro scored in the 66th minute as Gamba Osaka defeated Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 at home for their first win five matches.

Citizen closes gap on Seongnam in K-League

SEOUL (Reuters) -- Taejon Citizen beat Taegu FC 2-0 to reclaim second place in the K-League and close the gap on champions Seongnam Ilhwa to three points on Sunday.

Kim Eun-jung scored in the 32nd minute and striking partner Han Jung-gook added a second with a brilliant solo effort just before halftime, moving Taejon on to 23 points from 12 games.

FC Taegu, struggling in its first season in the K-League, slipped to 10th on 11 points.

Seongnam, chasing its third K-League title in a row, had its match away to Pusan I.cons postponed due to heavy rain.

Chonbuk Motors dropped one place to third on 22 points after a 2-2 draw at home to Pohang Steelers.

On Saturday, bottom club Bucheon SK was held 1-1 at home by Chunnam Dragons to give caretaker manager Ha Jae-hoon a third straight draw since he replaced former Turkey coach Tinaz Tirpan.

Ulsan Tigers beat Suwon Blue Wings 3-1 in a game preceded by a public apology by Ulsan midfielder Lee Chun-soo to the visiting Suwon fans.

The South Korea playmaker apologized for making an obscene gesture in response to taunts from the crowd during the 0-0 draw between the two teams in midweek.

Lee, who was fined around US$3,000 by the K-League for his angry reaction in Suwon, was presented with a bouquet of roses from the visiting fans in return.

SK Tirana win Albanian championship

TIRANA (Reuters) -- SK Tirana has been crowned Albanian champion, winning the 20th league title in the club's history, despite losing 2-1 to Elbasani in its last match of the season.

Tirana finished 11 points clear of second-placed Vllaznia Shkoder, who were defeated 3-2 by Apollonia Fier in Saturday's final round.

Tirana's Mahir Halili was the league's top scorer with 20 goals.

Erzeni Shijak, Bylis Ballsh and Beselidhja Lezhe were relegated to the second division. Lushnja and Apollonia Fier will meet in a playoff on Wednesday to decide the fourth and final relegation place.

Dynamo Kiev wins Ukrainian Cup

KIEV (Reuters) -- Brazilian striker Diogo Rincon hit a last-minute winner to give Dynamo Kiev a hard-fought 2-1 victory over archrival Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup final on Sunday.

Ukraine forward Andriy Vorobei put Shakhtar ahead midway through the first half when he surprised Dynamo keeper Vitaly Reva with a 23-metre drive into the top corner.

But Belarus international Alexander Khatskevich levelled the score shortly after the interval with another long-range blast to set the stage for Rincon's heroics.

The Brazilian sealed the win in the second minute of stoppage time when he beat Dmytro Shutkov with a second effort after the Shakhtar goalkeeper had saved the initial shot.

It was Dynamo's second win over its bitter rival in the last four days after it also edged the Donetsk side by the same score in a league match on Wednesday.

That victory put Dynamo on top of the premier division table, a point ahead of Shakhtar with four games remaining.

Sunday's win was also a sweet revenge for losing to Shakhtar 3-2 in last year's emotional Cup final. It was Dynamo's first game since the death of its long-time coach Valery Lobanovsky on May 13 following a stroke.

A week later, Shakhtar beat Dynamo again, this time 2-0 in a league match, to clinch its first Ukrainian title and break Dynamo's nine-year championship reign.

Sunday's victory was Dynamo's sixth Cup triumph since the country claimed its independence following the break-up of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991.

Dynamo Kiev remains the most successful Soviet club ever, winning nine Cups between 1954 and 1990 and a record 13 Soviet league titles. It also won two European Cup Winners' Cups in 1975 and 1986.

Seven Bulgarian fans sentenced to 15 days in custody

SOFIA (Reuters) -- A court in the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv sentenced seven soccer supporters on Sunday to 15 days police arrest after a brawl in which two policemen were injured.

Fans of premier league clubs Botev Plovdiv and Lokomotiv Plovdiv clashed with police ahead of the game set for Saturday but played on Sunday after a postponement due to waterlogging.

Lokomotiv Plovdiv won 2-1 but there was more trouble with 19 arrests and two teenagers injured by fire-crackers, local radio station Sport said.

Dumitrescu quits as Bacau coach

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -- Ilie Dumitrescu resigned as a coach of FCM Bacau on Sunday after a poor run of results left the club in danger of relegation from the first division.

"I quit as Bacau coach because I was not able to build a good team here," the former Romania international told Reuters.

FCM Bacau lost 1-0 at home to fellow struggler Otelul Galati on Saturday and now lies 13th in the 16-team table with just a slim chance of avoiding a relegation playoff in its last match of the regular season Wednesday.

The bottom two clubs in the table go down automatically, while the 13th and 14th placed teams enter a playoff series against the second-placed teams in the two divisions beneath the top flight.

Dumitrescu, who moved from Steaua Bucharest to English side Tottenham Hotspur in 1994, also coached Romania's under-21 national team, but resigned after losing two matches last year.

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.