Balotelli: Controversial Italian striker Mario Balotelli and Manchester City team-mate Jerome Boateng were involved in a training ground bust-up, it was claimed yesterday. The Manchester Evening News released pictures of the confrontation between the duo, which allegedly came about after Balotelli reacted angrily to a tackle from Boateng. Balotelli was later seen making up with former Hamburg star Boateng after being separated by team-mates.
Mariners: Central Coast Mariners secured their first win in five A-League games with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Sydney FC at Bluetongue Stadium yesterday. The win means the Mariners move up to third on 29 points while Sydney are ninth. In the day’s other game, late goals from Nikolai Topor-Stanley and substitute Sasho Petrovski gave Newcastle Jets a 2-0 win at strugglers North Queensland Fury.
Postponed: Lille’s Ligue 1 match at home to Lorient last night has been postponed because of snow. The match will now be played at 3 p.m. today, provided the pitch at the Stadium Lille-Metropole passes an 11 a.m. inspection, the Ligue de Football Professionnel confirmed yesterday.
Nice: Nice have extended Colombia international goalkeeper David Ospina’s current deal by a year, until 2013, the French first division side announced yesterday. The 22-year-old Ospina has emerged as one of the best goalkeepers in the French top flight, which he joined in 2008 from Atletico Nacional Medellin, and is drawing attention from major French clubs. Nice also secured the services of Peru’s international goalkeeper Raul Fernandez earlier this week on a four and a half year deal.
Primera Liga: Levante vs Atletico Madrid 2-0; Osasuna vs Barcelona 0-3.
Basketball: Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and the Dallas Mavericks stretched their NBA win streak to eight games with a 93-81 triumph over Utah on Friday, snapping a seven-game win streak by the Jazz. Caron Butler scored 16 points and Jason Kidd added 15 points and seven assists for the Mavericks, who scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to seize a 77-62 lead as the Jazz went nearly four minutes without a basket. The Mavericks now improved to 15-4 to match San Antonio atop the Southwest division and equal the Spurs for the best record in the Western Conference.
Motor Racing: German driver Timo Glock will stay with struggling Formula One team Virgin for the 2011 season despite speculation that his place was under threat. “I will drive for Virgin in 2011. There have been a lot of rumours about my departure from the team, but there was never any question of that happening,” the 28-year-old told his website.
Golf: Tiger Woods hasn’t spent much time atop the leaderboard in 2010, but the 14-time major champion was feeling right at home there on Friday at the World Challenge tournament. Woods carded a six-under par 66 without a bogey on Friday to stretch his lead to four strokes over US Open champion Graeme McDowell. The former world number one’s total of 13-under 131 is six shots better than his best 36-hole total on the US PGA Tour this season – 137 at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Rugby Union: Jonny Wilkinson shrugged off his latest injury setback to kick 19 points in Toulon’s 29-13 French Top 14 win over Montpellier on Friday with English teammate Paul Sackey adding one of his team’s two tries. Wilkinson showed no ill-effects of the shoulder injury which sidelined him for the autumn internationals with a composed performance as Toulon moved into third place in the table, a week ahead of a crucial European Cup clash against London Irish.