Sporting briefs

In France: Olympique Lyon crushed strugglers Racing Lens 3-0 to move top of Ligue 1 yesterday. Brazilian midfielder Fabio dos Santos opened the scoring from close range late in the first half. Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom made it 2-0 with nine minutes left and France striker Karim Benzema wrapped up victory with a superb goal.

Botafogo: Angry Botafogo fans threw women's underwear and popcorn at the players at Rio de Janeiro airport yesterday when the team returned from their Copa Sudamericana defeat in Argentina. Botafogo lost 4-2 to River Plate on Thursday in Buenos Aires conceeding three goals in the last 20 minutes after their opponents had been reduced to nine men. River won 4-3 on aggregate.

Sevilla lose: Real Zaragoza condemned Sevilla to their fourth consecutive defeat after winning 2-0 in the Primera Liga yesterday. Argentine midfielder Andres D'Alessandro opened the scoring for the hosts with a free kick early in the second half and, as Sevilla pressed forward, striker Sergio Garcia caught them on the break at the end.

World record: Russian Vladimir Kanaikin set the world record in the men's 20 km race walk at the Grand Prix final in Saransk yesterday. The 22-year-old clocked one hour 17 minutes 16 seconds, shaving off five seconds from the mark set by Jefferson Perez of Ecuador in 2003.