Clan-Members » cultural center.Unless CSKA turns its seaso

PARIS -- After two seasons of misery in Englands Premier League, striker Radamel Falcao is proving his worth again in France.His first-half goal helped league leader Monaco on its way to a 3-0 home win against Rennes on Saturday.Falcao pounced with a firm downward header from midfielder Adama Traores cross in the 42nd minute. He ran out of steam and was replaced with about 15 minutes left by Guido Carrillo, but he had done his bit by then.Midfielder Thomas Lemar hit two late goals, the first set up by Carillo and the second a fine strike from 25 meters out.Monaco, which has won seven straight games domestically and in Europe, is three points ahead of defending champion Paris Saint-Germain, which won 6-0 at Caen on Friday with striker Edinson Cavani scoring four.Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim says PSG remains the favorite, but is confident Monaco will make things difficult at the top.The favorite for the title, which is a competition over a long period of time, is Paris, Jardim said. Weve made a good start to the season, our team is more balanced. We have more options and this will even things in the league.FALCAO BOUNCING BACKFalcao joined Monaco in May 2013 after two prolific seasons with Atletico Madrid in a deal worth a staggering 60 million euros ($67 million). But a serious knee injury in a French Cup game at the start of 2014 cost him both pace and a place at the World Cup later that year.He struggled for form and fitness in England, scoring once in 12 appearances with Chelsea and only four in 29 with Manchester United during spells on loan.With two seasons left on his Monaco contract, he returned to the Principality side this season but with a major question mark as to whether he could be a success in France.But Falcao made a strong start this season, scoring in both legs of a Champions League qualifier against Turkish side Fenerbahce, before limping off with a thigh injury in the return leg on Aug. 3.He missed five games.After coming on as a substitute against Lille last weekend, Falcao underlined his new-found commitment to the club by wearing the captains armband as Monaco won 2-1 at Tottenham in a Champions League group game on Wednesday.OTHER ACTIONPromoted Metz continued its encouraging start to the season and is in provisional third place after a 0-0 draw at Dijon.Martin Braithwaites fourth goal in four games helped Toulouse beat Guingamp 2-1 and move up to sixth place, one spot behind Bordeaux after it slipped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to Angers.Mariusz Stepinski grabbed his first goal since joining Nantes this summer in a 1-1 draw at promoted Nancy, and Lorient beat Lille 1-0 but the Brittany-based club remained last.On Sunday, all eyes will be on Mario Balotelli when Nice travels to play Montpellier. The controversial striker scored twice on his league debut in a 3-2 win against Marseille last weekend, surprising most observers with his sharpness.Also, Saint-Etienne hosts Bastia, and Marseille takes on Lyon, with no away fans permitted to travel after extremely violent confrontations between rival fans at a highway service station last season.Paul George Shoes Cheap .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Nike Air Max Plus Wholesale .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-max-720-shoes.html . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Air Max Plus Clearance .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Cheap Nike Shoes Online Paypal . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon.MOSCOW -- When Antonio Conte took over at Chelsea, his longtime assistant seemed to have been cast aside.After following Conte through his time with Juventus and Italy -- including a spell in charge of Juventus when Conte was banned for failing to report match-fixing -- Massimo Carrera was stranded, and took a relatively obscure post as assistant coach with Spartak Moscow.Four months later, however, Carrera is on the rise. Since being promoted to head coach in mid-August he has turned Spartak, a sleeping giant without a title since 2001, into the Russian league leaders and underlined that success Saturday by dominating rival CSKA Moscow 3-1 in a chaotic derby.Spartak, a team which failed even to progress through Europa League qualifying under Carreras predecessor, was incisive on the counterattack against reigning Russian champion CSKA and ruthlessly exploited the oppositions injury-depleted midfield. Cape Verde forward Ze Luis scored two goals and constantly battled for the ball.Its about the growth of the team, who are getting better every day and giving their heart and soul on the pitch, Carrera said after the game, adding that he has tried to bring an intelligent Italian style to Russia, where football is less tactical and teams are less organized.The derby took place against a backdrop of fire and smoke as rival fans burned captured banners and scarves, boasted of past hooligan victories on Moscows streets, waved flares and threw pyrotechnics into sectors packed with opposing supporters.Though there were no violent clashes inside the stadium and no injuries were reported from the flare-throwing, the chaos and thick smoke forced the referee to stop the game for five minutes. The sheer quantity of pyrotechnics used is likely to prompt questions over how so many banned items were allowed through security screening at a 2018 World Cup venue.Carrera said the intense atmosphere reminded him of the Milan or Turin derbies, but complained CSKA fans had spoiled thhe atmosphere with aggressive antics.ddddddddddddussia has given Carrera a fresh start in football as well as personal matters, with little mention in Moscow of his involvement in a fatal car crash in the early hours of New Years Day in 2011. His easy-going manner has won him friends among Russian fans and journalists, unlike fellow Italian Fabio Capello, whose brusque manner alienated many during his tenure of the national team.As Carreras fortunes rise, those of CSKAs Leonid Slutsky plummet. In May, he had just won his third Russian title in seven years with CSKA and was on the way to the European Championship as Russia coach. Since then, its been all downhill.Slutsky quit the national team after failing to get out of the group stage, and now he is under pressure at CSKA. Injuries, an aging defense and a lack of funds to replace departed forward Ahmed Musa have all limited Slutskys options. With CSKA seven points off the Russian league lead and last in its Champions League group, Slutsky is being criticized for tactics which once seemed pragmatic but are now derided as overly defensive.With anti-Slutsky banners appearing at games, a leading CSKA fan group issued a statement slamming his tactics and his personal conduct, a charge which some observers link to Slutskys recent appearance in a PR campaign for a Jewish cultural center.Unless CSKA turns its season around soon, it looks like a straight fight for the title between Spartak and Zenit St. Petersburg, which matched Spartak on points following Sundays 1-0 win over Tom Tomsk.FC Rostov, the team labeled a Russian Leicester for its charge to second last season, is mired in mid-table, as is Rubin Kazan, with nothing to show for big offseason spending.The circumstances look good for Spartak to end its long title drought, and for a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of its coach. ' ' '