Sports

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter refused to back up Franz Beckenbauer’s accusation that 2006 German World Cup organisers had to pay world football’s governing body a cash amount in order to release a bigger payment back to them, calling them absurd.

Beckenbauer, who was the 2006 world cup organising chief, has said a controversial 6.7 million euros payment to the football world governing body, currently under investigation by a German prosecutor, was made in order to release a payment of 170 million euros back to the organisers to help with preparations for the tournament.

The affair has rocked German football, with Beckenbauer, an emblematic sports figure in the country and a former world cup winning player and coach at the heart of the scandal.

Blatter, in excerpts of an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine released on Friday, said the German World Cup organisers should follow the paper trail to get to the bottom of this affair.

“This is absurd,” said Blatter, adding FIFA’s 170 million euro contribution to the World Cup organisers was never tied to any conditions.

“To pay money to get money? No. This does not exist at FIFA,” said Blatter, who has been suspended as the federation is hit by a broader corruption scandal that has seen dozens of FIFA officials arrested.

‘Meant well’

Der Spiegel said in October the 6.7 million euro payment was a return on a loan via FIFA to ex-Adidas chief Robert Louis-Dreyfus that was allegedly used in a votes-for-cash deal with FIFA voting members during the 2000 bidding campaign for the 2006 tournament, which Germany won.

Beckenbauer denies the existence of any votes-for-cash deal.

The affair has led to the resignation of German FA (DFB) president Wolfgang Niersbach, who was a world cup organising vice president at the time and is now being investigated for tax evasion in relation to this payment.

Niersbach, shortly before his resignation last month, confirmed in a press conference the existence of the payment but could not explain why it had been made.

“There have to be documents what exactly this money is and if there are no documents at the DFB then one should go to FIFA and properly clear this up,” Blatter said.

Beckenbauer, who has admitted to the payment but has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and is not formally under investigation, has twice discussed the issue with the legal firm in charge of the DFB’s own investigation.

A contract between Beckenbauer and former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, now banned from football for life, surfaced last month that was signed four days before the 2000 vote to give Germany the competition.

It offered a series of services, including friendly matches and coaching support to the head of CONCACAF, the governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, which Warner led from 1990 to 2011.

“From today’s point of view some of it may look a bit strange and maybe one would not do it like that again,” Beckenbauer said. “But it was meant well.”

Arsenal left their best performance for the last game of the Champions League group stage, advancing to the Round of 16 with a remarkable 3-0 victory at Olympiakos on Wednesday. Chelsea also went through on a good night for English football with a 2-0 home win over FC Porto.

“I told you before that it would be the greatest escape,” Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger said.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea were trying to avoid following in the footsteps of fellow Premier League club Manchester United, which was eliminated on Tuesday.

Roma’s 0-0 draw against BATE Borisov was just enough to allow the Italian club to edge Bayer Leverkusen for second place in their group. Leverkusen couldn’t manage more than a 1-1 home draw against already qualified Barcelona as Lionel Messi scored his 80th goal in the tournament.

Belgian side Gent advanced in their first ever Champions League campaign after beating already qualified Zenit St Petersburg 2-1, a result that eliminated Valencia in Gary Neville’s first game in charge of the Spanish club.

Group E

With nothing to play for, group winner Barcelona played Bayer Leverkusen with a largely reserve side bolstered by Lionel Messi. And the Barcelona captain came through again, scoring his 80th Champions League goal.

He collected a perfect through ball from Ivan Rakitic and rounded the goalkeeper to score in the 20th. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez leveled three minutes later but it was too little for Leverkusen to advance.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was without Neymar because of an injury and benched Luis Suarez to give him some rest, while Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique didn’t even travel to Germany.

“We had enough chances to win the match,” Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt said. “It’s very disappointing.”

In Rome, the hosts did the bare minimum against BATE Borisov and the 0-0 draw was enough to place them second behind Barcelona. Roma and Leverkusen each finished with six points but Roma held the edge with a better head-to-head record. BATE finished last with five points.

Group F

Olivier Giroud scored a hat trick as Arsenal advanced with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos, overturning an advantage held by the Greeks ahead of the final match.

The France striker opened the scoring in the 29th minute and struck again four minutes after halftime. He closed the scoring by converting a penalty kick in the 67th minute.

“Not many people gave us a chance but we are a real team,” Wenger said. “It is certainly one of my best European results. We had to produce a perfect performance to win and we did just that.”

Olympiakos, which beat Arsenal 3-2 in London, would have advanced with a draw.

Group winner Bayern Munich beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 with a pair of goals by striker Robert Lewandowski.

Group G

Chelsea finally had something to celebrate in their unexpectedly poor season after qualifying for the knockout phase with a 2-0 home victory over Porto.

The hosts scored through an own goal by Ivan Marcano in the 12th minute and Willian sealed the victory in the 52nd minute.

Chelsea not only avoided the embarrassment of dropping into the Europa League, but Jose Mourinho’s team advanced as the group winner. His former club, Porto, finished third and was eliminated.

Dynamo Kiev advanced in second place thanks to a 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Ukraine. The game was played in an empty stadium in the Ukrainian capital Kiev as part of Dynamo’s punishment for racist attacks by their fans in October.

Dynamo will also have to hold the home leg of their first knockout round tie behind closed doors.

Group H

Gent gave Belgium a spot in the knockout stage after beating group winner Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 with goals by Laurent Depoitre and Danijel Milicevic.

Even a defeat would have been enough for Gent because Lyon went to Valencia and beat the hosts 2-0.

“They were better than us and there’s no excuse,” said Valencia coach Gary Neville, the former Manchester United and England defender who took over the Spanish club on Sunday. “We can’t be happy with how we played and we can’t blame anyone.”

Zenit easily won the group with 15 points, five more than Gent. Valencia was third with six points and Lyon last with four.

Mourinho tracks history

Mourinho believes his Chelsea team could challenge for the Champions League this season despite their woeful form in the Premier League.

Mourinho said history showed the favourites often find it hard to excel in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

“It’s obvious a team struggling so much as we are is not obviously a candidate to win the Champions League,” he told reporters.

“But when we won in Porto in 2004 we were not candidates. When we won with Inter in 2010 we were not candidates. When we were candidates, we lost two semifinals with Real Madrid, we lost two semifinals with Chelsea. So let’s see.”

Chelsea’s only triumph in the Champions League, in 2012, came under former manager Roberto di Matteo, when the London side were having a poor domestic season.

Despite retaining the loyal support of the Chelsea fans, who chanted his name throughout Wednesday’s game, Mourinho’s position at Stamford Bridge has come under intense pressure after his side lost eight of their first 15 English league games this season.

Mourinho paid tribute to his players for playing for a win against Porto when a draw would have been enough to secure qualification for the knock-out phase.

“The thing that I am more happy with, apart from the result, is the fact that we needed one point to qualify and the players accepted the challenge to play to win and that is not easy when the moment is so bad, the results are so negative and the pressure is so high,” he said.

“They were brave to accept that.”

Mourinho said Chelsea had enjoyed a bit more luck against Porto than in their English league games after the Londoners took the lead courtesy of a fortunate rebound off Porto defender Ivan Marcano.

“That little bit of luck we never have in the Premier League,” he said.

All of Chelsea’s potential opponents are hoping to be drawn against the Premier League side in the last 16 of the Champions League, manager Jose Mourinho has said.

Mourinho’s men face one of six group runners-up over two legs in the competition’s first knockout round.

The Blues will learn their next opponents after Monday’s draw and could face either Paris St Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma or Gent.

Arsenal and Dynamo Kiev are the two other runners-up, but cannot be drawn against Chelsea as the rules bar teams from the same country and those that have already played each other in the group stages from facing off in the next round.

“Every team finishing second wants to play us or Zenit St Petersburg,” Mourinho said.

AMMAN — Jordan’s Wihdat and Faisali will represent the Kingdom in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup next season.

Round 1 matches will kick off on February 23 and run until May 24. Wihdat were drawn in Group A alongside Lebanon’s Al Ahed, Altyn Asyr from Turkmenistan and a play-off winner.

Faisali were drawn in Group B, alongside Iraq’s Nafit Al Wasat, Turkmenistan’s Istiklol and a play-off winner .

This season, Jordan’s Wihdat will also play Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad on February 9  in the premier Asian competition — the 2016 Asian Champions League (ACL) in the West’s play-off stage. If they advance past the preliminary round, Jazira will replace them in the AFC. Last year, Wihdat were knocked out in the ACL preliminary round by former titleholders Kuwait’s Qadissieh. In 2014, Shabab Urdun were eliminated by Bahrain’s Al Hidd.

Two-time AFC Cup champs Faisali declined to play last season and were replaced by Jazira, who took part for the first time. In 2013, first time AFC Cup competitors Jordan Cup champs That Ras exited the round of 16.

The 13th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 2015 will have 41 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two from each group going on to the Round of 16.

Jordan’s Faisali won titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won in 2007.

Jordanian teams competing in AFC Cup:

2005Faisali, Hussein 

2006Faisali, Wihdat 

2007Faisali Wihdat, Shabab Urdun, 

2008Wihdat, Shabab Urdun 

2009Faisali, Wihdat 

2010Wihdat, Shabab Urdun 

2011Faisali, Wihdat 

2012Faisali, Wihdat 

2013Faisali, Ramtha 

2014That Ras, Shabab Urdun

2015Wihdat, Jazira 

AMMAN — Three-time Olympian Nadin Dawani is one of 24 athletes from across the world to have been approved to run for the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Athletes Commission, according to a statement by the Jordan Olympic Committee.

The election, with four places available, will take place during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with Dawani’s name approved on Wednesday by the IOC Executive Board. Dawani is a Jordan taekwondo champion and has competed at the past three editions of the Olympics and will be chef de mission for Team Jordan at next summer’s Rio Games.

Perhaps Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t aware that Real Madrid’s match against Malmo was mostly meaningless.

More likely, he just didn’t care — especially with a record in reach.

Whatever the case, Ronaldo scored four goals and set up two others Tuesday as Madrid routed Malmo 8-0, making him the first player with 10 goals or more in the group stage of the Champions League.

The Portuguese striker reached 11 goals in six games, surpassing the nine scored by Luiz Adriano with Shakhtar Donetsk last season. Ronaldo also scored nine times in the 2013-14 season group stage.

Madrid had already secured first place in Group A, but the convincing victory helped ease the pressure on coach Rafa Benitez and club President Florentino Perez.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s former club Manchester United was relegated to the Europa League after getting beaten 3-2 by Wolfsburg, as the German side advanced to the round of 16 for the first time.

The loss, coupled with PSV Eindhoven’s 2-1 home victory over CSKA Moscow, dropped United to third place in Group B.

Wolfsburg won the group and PSV also advanced.

Atletico Madrid won Group C by beating Benfica 2-1 to leapfrog the Portuguese host, who took second.

In Group D, Manchester City scored three late goals in a five-minute span to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-2 and finish top for the first time. Juventus, last season’s runner-up, wasted a chance to finish first with a 1-0 loss at Sevilla, although still advanced.

Group A

Ronaldo’s exploits overshadowed a hat trick by Karim Benzema at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

It was the second straight game in which Benzema scored at least two goals after a brace in the team’s 4-1 win over Getafe in the Spanish league on Saturday. Those were his first goals since being implicated in a blackmail case in relation to an alleged extortion scam over a sex tape featuring his French national teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

“We are very satisfied and happy for all of the Madrid fans who didn’t lose faith in this team,” said Benitez, who was in command of Liverpool when it routed Besiktas in 2007. “This is football, things change week after week. It’s important for us to keep winning.” 

Mateo Kovacic also scored for Madrid.

Also, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lucas set each other up for goals as Paris Saint-Germain beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0.

PSG was already guaranteed to finish second behind Madrid.

Madrid advanced with 16 points and PSG with 13. Shakhtar finished third with three points and dropped into the Europa League while Malmo came last, also with three points but with only one goal scored and 21 conceded.

Group B

Central defender Naldo scored a brace as Wolfsburg advanced to the knockout stage for the first time when it beat three-time winner Manchester United 3-2. United dropped to third place in the group when PSV Eindhoven came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 and join Wolfsburg in the round of 16.

Wolfsburg won the group with 12 points and PSV finished with 10, two more than United, who will now have to play in the Europa League. CSKA finished last with four points.

PSV advanced for the first time since 2006. Veteran defender Sergei Ignashevic converted a 76th-minute penalty to give CSKA the lead, but PSV captain Luuk de Jong equalized just two minutes later, and midfielder Davy Proepper’s low shot sealed the win in the 86th minute.

In Wolfsburg, Anthony Martial put United ahead in the 10th minute, but Naldo volleyed in the equaliser in the 14th minute. Vieirinha regained the lead for Wolfsburg in the 29th minute, before an own goal by Joshua Guilavogui in the 82nd minute tied the score. But two minutes later Naldo scored his second with a header to seal Wolfsburg’s victory.

Group C

Luciano Vietto scored one goal and set up another as Atletico Madrid won 2-1 at Benfica to win the group.

Playing at the same stadium where it lost the 2014 final, Diego Simeone’s side avenged a 2-1 loss to Benfica from earlier this season.

Vietto passed for midfielder Saul Niguez to convert Atletico’s aggressive start into a goal after half an hour, before he added a strike of his own early in the second half.

Benfica substitute Kostas Mitroglou halved the difference in the 75th minute.

Galatasaray was held to 1-1 at home by Astana in the other Group C match. The Turkish side finished third and will join the Europa League.

Atletico finished with 13 points, Benfica with 10, Galatasaray with five and Astana with four.

Group D

Raheem Sterling netted in the 80th and 81st minutes and Wilfried Bony scored in the 85th minute to spark Manchester City’s late turnaround in a 4-2 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach

To qualify in first place, City also needed Juventus to lose in Sevilla and last season’s runner-up was beaten 1-0.

Sevilla secured a berth in the Europa League as Fernando Llorente scored against his former team.

On the two previous occasions City reached the knockout stage, it was runner-up in the group and drew Barcelona both times. The English club is likely to get an easier draw in the last 16 this time.

City finished with 12 points, Juventus with 11, Sevilla with six and ‘Gladbach with five.

TOKYO — Lionel Messi is the most famous of a variety of characters at the Club World Cup which includes Auckland City’s part-timers, former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and bunny-hopping Congolese goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba.

Messi’s Barcelona are runaway favourites to win the somewhat quirky tournament which, as much as anything, serves as reminder of the chasm which separates club football in Europe from the rest of the world.

The Catalans head a field which also includes South American champions River Plate, CONCACAF’s America, African champions TP Mazembe, Scolari’s Guangzhou Evergrande, the champions of Asia, and Oceania’s Auckland City.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who qualified as champions of host nation Japan, complete the line-up.

The tournament, successor to the sometimes volatile games in the Intercontinental Cup, is largely unloved and ignored in Europe, yet regarded as the pinnacle for teams in other parts of the world.

South American sides, in particular, spend months preparing and are invariably followed by thousands of fans who travel halfway around the world.

“My feeling is that even though they’re finals, the European teams feel that they’re going to end up winning,” said River Plate midfielder Lucho Gonzalez.

“When they start out feeling relaxed they often end up having a tougher test than they expected. For us, though, these kinds of games are like touching the sky.”

Modern football

The dynamics of modern football means that the top South American players will be playing against, rather than for, their region’s representatives.

While European champions Barcelona will be fielding Brazilian Neymar, Uruguayan Luis Suarez and Argentine Messi in a dream strikeforce, River Plate will have to make do with mainly journeymen professionals.

River Plate’s team is fairly typical of South American club football where, for many players, a career in Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East or Australia can be preferable to staying in the ramshackle domestic game.

River have three types of players in their squad — youngsters still hoping to move abroad, veterans who have returned home to play out their careers and those who are not good enough to make the move.

Their nickname, the “Millionaires”, is especially ironic given that their entire squad is worth less than Neymar or Messi alone.

Despite this, River, who have enjoyed a stunning revival under former Argentina midfielder Marcelo Gallardo, are still seen as the main challengers to Barcelona.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Auckland City, a team largely made-up of part-time professionals who last year reached the semifinals and took South American champions San Lorenzo to extra-time, kick-off the tournament on Thursday.

The winners will progress to the quarter-finals — of which there are two — where they will face TP Mazembe in Osaka on Sunday with River Plate awaiting in the semifinals.

Bouncing Kidiaba

Mazembe, from Democratic Republic of Congo, became the first African team to reach the final in 2010 when they stunned Brazil’s Internacional.

Their most easily identifiable player is Kidiaba, who celebrates goals by bouncing around his goalmouth on his back-side.

In the other quarter-final, also on Sunday, America face Guangzhou where Scolari is attempting to revive a career which has been blighted by Brazil’s 7-1 defeat by Germany at the World Cup on home soil last year.

The winners of that match meet Barcelona in the semifinal. Scolari, an old hand in knockout games, would like nothing more than a chance to try and knock the European champions out of their stride with some of his well-documented spoiling tactics.

Winning the Asian Champions League has already helped Scolari put his awful 2014 behind him.

“I’d like to summarise my answer in one sentence: the winners are those who will not give up,” the man known as Big Phil said after Guangzhou beat Al Ahli over two legs to win the Asian trophy.

“My next target is the Club World Cup, and why not? Because I have such a great team, great players and a great club and so, of course, we can realise that dream.”

Jose Mourinho’s job could be on the line when Chelsea host Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Alex Ferguson has urged the Londoners not to jettison their manager even if the result goes against them.

Woefully out-of-form Chelsea have already lost 11 matches in all competitions this season, but need only a draw against Porto to qualify for the knockout stages.

Former Manchester United great Ferguson said Russian owner Roman Abramovich must ignore the criticism the club are receiving and keep faith in Mourinho.

“He has sacked so many coaches in the last 10 years that I am sure he has learned by it,” Ferguson was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.

“He has to trust and have confidence Jose can turn it around. There is no point in sacking one of the best coaches of all time, he’s won the European Cup twice, he’s won the league in each country he’s managed in, he’s won the big trophies.

“It would be foolish to take that step to sack him. That would be bad management,” added Ferguson.

Defeat on Wednesday and a consequent drop into the Europa League for Chelsea would certainly test Abramovich’s patience.

After a 1-0 home defeat by promoted Bournemouth on Saturday, Mourinho said for the first time that finishing in the top four of the Premier League to qualify for next season’s Champions League was looking unlikely.

Chelsea, who are 14th in the Premier League with only four wins from 15 matches, are likely to have captain John Terry back after injury.

With Dynamo Kiev expected to win at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv, who have lost all five group matches so far, a draw for Porto would eliminate the Portuguese side unless the Ukrainians fail to win.

It was at Porto that Mourinho made his reputation, winning the 2003 UEFA Cup and the 2004 Champions League.

Although the Chelsea fans have remained supportive, the stadium is likely to be tense, at least until their team make a breakthrough.

“It’s difficult for us to score,” said Mourinho after the Bournemouth game. “Scoring goals is a lot about individuals.”

Spain forward Diego Costa netted their only goal in the previous three Premier League games but he has been lacklustre and did not start either of the last two matches, with Eden Hazard playing as the main striker.

Porto, who beat Chelsea 2-1 on matchday two, had hoped to tie up qualification in the previous round of games but slumped to a 2-0 home defeat by Kiev.

They are second in the Portuguese League, two points behind Sporting Lisbon, after coming from behind at the weekend to beat Pacos de Ferreira 2-1 with goals by Jesus Corona and Miguel Layun who is on loan from Premier League Watford. 

Arsenal will put one of the best Champions League records on the line when they face Olympiakos Piraeus in a showdown for second spot in Group F on Wednesday.

As well as competing in the tournament for the 18th season in a row, the London club have qualified for the second stage in each of the past 15 campaigns.

That run is in jeopardy, not so much due to a 5-1 hammering by group winners Bayern Munich but because Arsenal were beaten in their opening two games including a shock 3-2 defeat at home to Olympiakos.

Now they must reverse that scoreline or improve on it to preserve their proud record under Arsene Wenger, who will be missing seven players including Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere.

Wenger was particularly pleased with Saturday’s 3-1 win at home to Sunderland, a victory that lifted Arsenal to second place in the Premier League.

“For our confidence it was vital,” the French coach told reporters. “I was very nervous because I knew it was a very important game for our season.

“It is better to prepare for the [Olympiakos] game knowing we have won. The one positive thing is we know exactly what to do.

“Most of the time when we have been to Olympiakos we have not had a lot to do because we had already qualified. This time it is the opposite,” added Wenger.

It is Arsenal’s fourth visit in seven seasons and each time the game has come on matchday six.

Defining moment

For Olympiakos the match is being billed by local media as a defining moment in a breakthrough year for Portuguese coach Marco Silva.

The 38-year-old has led the Greeks to 12 successive Super League victories since the season kicked off as they chase a host of club records.

Silva has also won widespread praise for the European performances.

Greece midfielder Kostas Fortounis, one of the outstanding players for Olympiakos this season, is relishing the game with Arsenal.

“This is a showdown, no doubt about it, out of which only one team can claim qualification to the next stage,” he said after the 4-3 win at Panthrakikos at the weekend, a result that gave them a 10-point lead at the top of the Super League.

Olympiakos are relatively injury-free but Silva must decide whether to include fit-again Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso in place of Luka Milivojevic or Pajtim Kasami.

Brown Ideye, who spent last season at West Bromwich Albion, will come back into the attack after being rested at the weekend.

Bayer Leverkusen’s place in the Champions League is hanging by a thread going into its home game against Barcelona, and Omer Toprak admits his side only has a slim chance of qualification for the knockout stages.

Leverkusen has to secure a famous win if it is to progress to the knockout stages, with three outcomes still possible — qualification, a third-place finish and Europa League spot or complete elimination from continental football.

The Bundesliga side is third in Group E on five points, level with Roma, which has a superior head-to-head record. BATE, which travels to the Italian capital in the group’s other match, is also still in contention on four points.

Bayern Munich look to finish their Champions League group-stage campaign with a flourish against Dinamo Zagreb.

There is little to play for in Wednesday’s Group F clash at the Stadion Maksimir with Bundesliga champions Bayern guaranteed top spot, while Dinamo are consigned to a fourth-placed finish and elimination from Europe for this season.

However, Bayern will be keen to make an impression after finding themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to bounce back from defeat following an abject showing at Borussia Park on Saturday.

AMMAN — Faisali will be aiming to take the lead atop the 64th Jordan Professional Football League standings when week 10 kicks off Wednesday.

The former champs will play Baqa’a, who are having one of their worst seasons and are now last with no wins. Faisali beat Hussein Irbid to maintain second place on points behind titleholders Wihdat, who were held 0-0 with Ramtha and next play Jazira.

Jazira are now 8th after a 2-0 win over That Ras, who dropped to 10th and next play 9th placed Kufrsoum, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Sarih.

Shabab Urdun are up to 3rd after they beat Baqa’a 1-0. They next play Ahli, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Asala and maintained 5th place.

Ramtha who dropped to 9th next play Asala, while Hussein Irbid play Sarih. 

So far this season, Jordan Cup titleholders Faisali beat Wihdat 1-0 to win the 33rd Super Cup. Apart from conceding the Super Cup, Wihdat were also knockout the Jordan Cup this season.

Wihdat have been league champions for the past two consecutive years. Faisali finished at a disappointing 7th place in the league last year as runner-up and third places went to Jazira and Ramtha.

League Standings
(Last week’s position in parenthesis) 

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Charlotte moved within half a game of the NBA Southeast Division lead with a 104-84 win over Detroit on Monday while division leader Miami was beaten at home by Washington.

Cody Zeller scored 20 points for the Hornets, who have won seven of nine to climb up the standings.

Miami’s Chris Bosh was ejected as the Heat was defeated by Detroit, costing the Florida team the overall lead in the Eastern Conference, which was taken by idle Cleveland.

In another key result, Dallas survived a withering finish by New York to beat the Knicks on their home court.

Charlotte’s Marvin Williams scored 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Kemba Walker had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who won the rebound tally 57-41 despite the absence of injured centre Al Jefferson.

The Pistons, who had won their previous four games, were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 16 points.

Washington’s John Wall scored 26 points one night after leaving a game with a sore knee, leading the Wizards to a 114-103 win at Miami.

Gary Neal added 21 including a debated 3-pointer with just over a minute left, with Miami claiming Bradley Beal had travelled on the play. Neal’s three put the Wizards up by five points and effectively sealed the result.

Bosh was ejected soon after for arguing calls and non-calls; the second ejection of his 13-year career.

Dwyane Wade led Miami with 26 points.

Dallas survived a comeback attempt sparked by Kristaps Porzingis and won 104-97 at New York.

Porzingis finished with 28 points in his first matchup with Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, the German great he has been compared to for his perimeter shooting skills by a 7-footer. Nowitzki scored 25 points.

The Latvian rookie made consecutive 3-pointers as the Knicks cut what had been a 23-point deficit to 101-97 with 43 seconds left, then blocked Deron Williams’ shot. But Carmelo Anthony was called for an offensive foul as the Knicks were trying to get the ball to Porzingis for another shot, and Nowitzki followed with a free throw before Williams made two more to close it out.

Los Angeles’ DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Clippers to a 110-106 win at Minnesota and their fifth victory in six games.

The Clippers trailed 98-95 with a minute to play, but Jordan threw down an alley-oop and then blocked a shot. Blake Griffin scored on a layup for a 99-98 lead with 25 seconds to play. The Clippers won a free throw shooting contest to close it out.

Griffin had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Paul made a surprise return to the line-up after missing the previous two games with a rib injury.

Los Angeles went 26 for 29 at the free throw line and even Jordan was 4 of 6.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range for the Timberwolves.

Phoenix came from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to stun Chicago and win 103-101.

Mirza Teletovic scored 21 points, including a follow basket with 0.3 seconds left, to cap the victory.

Brandon Knight had 17 of his 21 points in the fourth to snap a four-game skid. The Suns outscored Chicago 42-24 in the final period.

Pau Gasol scored 22 points to lead the Bulls.

San Antonio dismantled hapless Philadelphia 119-69, providing a sobering experience for new 76ers executive Jerry Colangelo sitting courtside.

Milwaukee’s Greg Monroe sank a layup to the Bucks ahead with seconds left and John Henson swatted away a potential game-winning shot, securing a 90-88 win against Portland.

Boston won 111-93 at struggling New Orleans, led by 22 points from Isaiah Thomas.

Toronto ended a three-game losing trot with a 102-93 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, with Kyle Lowry scoring 27 points.

The Golden State Warriors improved to 22-0 on Sunday with a 114-98 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, with guard Stephen Curry scoring 11 of his 28 points in the final 2:10 of the third quarter.

The Warriors opened the game with a 25-8 lead and held a 15-point lead with 1:49 remaining in the first half, but Curry went on his scoring spree after Golden State faced a trio of five-point deficits.

His timely spree featured a mix of aggressive moves and effective perimeter play.

“It’s pretty purposeful just trying to see if I can get some room and figure out a way to impact the game,” Curry said.

“Things started to click. We were down three at the time or something like that, so we just needed a little life. We like to close quarters out strong, and we were obviously able to do that, get a nice lead and not look back from there.”

A minute after Shane Larkin’s three-pointer gave the Nets a 75-70 lead, Curry hit a driving bank shot for a 76-76 deadlock.

On the next possession, Curry gave the Warriors the lead for good with an uncontested three-pointer.

He finished the quarter by finding centre Festus Ezeli for an alley-oop dunk before converting a three-point play and knocking down a three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left for an 87-80 edge.

“It’s a show,” Golden State reserve forward Marreese Speights said of Curry’s performances. “We’re just like fans on the bench enjoying the show every time he gets going.”

“When he needed to, he stepped up and put the dagger in us. He’s a great player,” said Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins.

The Warriors did not look back, seizing control early in the fourth due to their reserves.

Curry and backcourt mate Klay Thompson sat for the first six minutes as the Warriors took a 106-89 lead, getting their first 19 points of the quarter from the second unit.

Curry and Thompson returned but neither player was needed on the second night of a back-to-back.

While Curry helped the Warriors finish off the win, Thompson got it started. He scored 12 of his 21 points when Golden State appeared on its way to a runaway in the opening quarter. Forward Draymond Green finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

“We got stops and got out and ran,” Green said. “Once we run, it’s tough to stop us, and 30 [Curry] was 30 (Curry).”

Ezeli scored 12 points and guard Leandro Barbosa contributed eight of his eleven early in the fourth.

Golden State shot 51 per cent and made 14 of 33 3-pointers while getting a standing ovation from most of the fans at Barclays Center after the final buzzer. The Warriors posted their 26th consecutive regular-season victory dating to April 9 and 12th road win of the season.

The Nets (5-15) started the Sunday game as a duplicate of Friday’s ugly loss to the New York Knicks. After falling behind 17 in the opening quarter, Brooklyn scored the final 12 points of the first half, getting within 57-54 on a three-pointer by forward Joe Johnson in the final seconds.

Forward Thaddeus Young led the Nets with 25 points, with two of his baskets giving the Nets leads of 66-61 and 68-63 a few minutes before Curry’s flurry.

“We’ve got to calm the flame down,” Young said. “Once he starts to get going, starts to get in his rhythm, it’s hard to stop the whole team. They’re a good team. They wouldn’t be 22-0 if they weren’t a good team.”