Hearts win: Hearts had to soak up intense pressure before securing a 3-1 win at St Mirren yesterday in the Scottish Premier League. They grabbed the first-half opener against the run of play when Andy Driver slammed a lot shot into the net after 41 minutes. Hearts made it 2-0 with a disputed penalty early in the second half after Stewart went down under a challenge by St Mirren defender David van Zanten. Stewart took the award himself to double Hearts lead. St Mirren surged back with Mark Corcoran heading in on 78 minutes. However, Hearts secured the points with a third from Andrius Velicka who squeezed a shot past keeper Chris Smith in 83 minutes.
Fans clash: Rival fans clashed in Turin last night ahead of the derby match between Juventus and Torino. The Italia 1 television channel showed footage of the clashes and reported that 15 fans had been arrested. It has been a bad week for soccer-related violence in Italy. Two Inter fans received hospital treatment for stab wounds after being attacked by Roma supporters before Saturday's game in the Italian capital. Last week's derby between Sampdoria and Genoa was marred by clashes before kick-off.
Bundesliga: Defender Christian Schulz scored twice to lead Hanover 96 to a 2-1 victory over MSV Duisburg in the Bundesliga yesterday while Energie Cottbus let slip a 2-0 half-time lead against Eintracht Frankfurt. Schulz scored in the seventh minute and got the match winner just past the hour. Nigeria's Manasseh Ishiaku scored in the 20th minute for Duisburg with his fifth goal of the season. Bottom club Energie Cottbus had a 2-0 lead at half-time in new coach Bojan Prasniker's first match thanks to early goals from Dimitar Rangelow. Greece striker Ioannis Amanatidis got one back for Eintracht Frankfurt in the 49th minute and equalised with a penalty 11 minutes from time.
Lucio: Hertha Berlin's Brazilian defender Lucio has undergone surgery for a serious knee injury and will be out of action for at least six to nine months. Lucio suffered the injury in a match at Schalke 04 on Friday. Hertha team doctor Ulrich Schleicher also said it could not be ruled out that the injury could end the career of the 28-year-old who joined Hertha in the close season on a 1.75-million euro transfer from Palmeiras Sao Paulo. "The operation was successful," Schleicher was quoted telling German sport news agency SID after the two-hour operation. "If everything goes well, he'll be out for six to nine months. Lucio has to been given all the time he needs to come back."
Keeper scores: Goalkeeper Christian Lucchetti scored his fourth goal of the competition to help Banfield beat Argentine championship leaders Independiente 2-0 last weekend. Lucchetti converted a penalty in the 78th minute after a foul on Carlos Matheu on Luciano Civelli which Independiente claimed took place outside the area. Lucchetti has taken four penalties in the championship, converting two at the first attempt and the other two from rebounds after first efforts were saved.
Spyker Cars: Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars NV said its shareholders had approved the sale of its loss-making F1 team as part of its refinancing operations. But it did not say whether the sale would go ahead. Last month Spyker announced it would sell its team to a group which includes Indian businessman Vijay Mallya for 88 million euros.