Sporting briefs

Gerrard: Steven Gerrard's absence was not the reason Liverpool failed to beat Fulham on Saturday, manager Rafael Benitez said. Gerrard missed the goalless draw at Anfield with a groin problem. However, he is expected to return for the midweek Champions League tie with Marseille. "We will always miss a player of Stevie's ability, but we did not beat Fulham because five or so players were all off form," Benitez said.

Stupid goal: Jean-Claude Blanc, the Juventus general manager, said his team went down to a soft goal in the big match against Inter on Saturday. The match was decided when Sulley Muntari tapped in a wayward Zlatan Ibrahimovic shot past Alex Manninger who stopped for offside. "We conceded the most stupid goal in the history of football, almost ridiculous, but we paid a heavy price for it," Blanc said. "Having said that, Inter deserve praise, as they played a tough game and were able to take advantage of the chances they had."

Gallas: Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, said Arsene Wenger's call to take the club's captaincy off William Gallas was the right one. The France defender was out of the squad on Saturday as the Gunners were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City. "This issue has shown that Arsene can be ruthless," Hill-Wood said. "He has to be otherwise people can run all over you... we will endorse what he decides about Gallas."

Ronaldo: Cristiano Ronaldo could miss tomorrow's Champions League game with Villarreal. The Manchester United winger limped out of Saturday evening's 0-0 draw with Aston Villa in the closing stages with a leg injury. "His leg is in a mess. He is doubtful for Tuesday," manager Alex Ferguson said.

Tiago: Tiago Mendes will be out for a month after spraining his left knee. The Juventus midfielder suffered an injury very early in Saturday's match against Inter at the San Siro and was carried off the field in evident pain. Tests yesterday confirmed there was no ligament damage, but he has sprained his left knee and will require between 30 and 40 days on the sidelines. The news means Juve are without any creative central midfielders as Christian Poulsen and Cristiano Zanetti are also injured.

Boxing: Former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis would be tempted out of retirement by the lure of a $100 million payday as well as his desire to "save the sport", he told a British newspaper yesterday. Lewis retired from the ring in 2003 after beating Vitali Klitschko but the 43-year-old said he could be ready for a title fight after six months of training. "If someone wants to pay me serious money, $100m or so, then I will fight again," he said.

Cycling: Austrian Bernhard Kohl, who tested positive for the new generation of erythropoietin, CERA, during the Tour de France, will reveal to doping officials how he got the drug, his manager said. "Bernhard is willing to co-operate and he will tell about how he got the substance and how and where he used it," his manager Stefan Matschiner said. Kohl, the Tour's best climber this year and third overall, is due to appear before the Austrian Anti-Doping Agency today.

Milan marathon: Kenya's Duncan Kibet Kirong won the Milan marathon yesterday in a course record of 2:07.53. Kibet controlled the final stages with apparent ease to finish 46 seconds ahead of his compatriot Elias Kemboi Chelimo in windy conditions. Leonard Mucheru Maina finished third to complete a Kenyan clean sweep with a time of 2:10:05. Italy's Anna Incerti repelled the challenge of last year's winner Pamela Chepchumba, another Kenyan, to win the women's race in 2:27:42.

Basket, NBA: The Oklahoma City Thunder have fired coach P.J. Carlesimo after a league-worst 1-12 start. Assistant coach Scott Brooks was named the Thunder's interim coach and took over the team for the game in New Orleans on Saturday. The move did not change the Thunder's fortunes, however, as they dropped a 109-97 decision to the Hornets for the team's 11th consecutive loss and 13th in 14 games. Carlesimo was the first NBA coach to be fired this season.

Motor racing: A race car jumped a barrier and crashed into a crowd of spectators in Thailand, killing nine people in the country's worst racing accident in years, police said yesterday. Four people were seriously injured in Saturday night's accident at Bangkok Drag Avenue, a race track in the suburb of Pathum Thani. The driver of the car survived the crash. The dead were all men aged between 16 and 41.