Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes in-form striker Luis Suarez should be named player of the year after the Uruguayan grabbed a hat-trick in the 4-0 win at Wigan.

Suarez took his Premier League goal tally for the season to 21 -- and 28 in all competitions -- as the Merseysiders moved into seventh spot in the table.

Rafael Benitez tried to end his war with Chelsea's fans after the Blues interim manager ended a turbulent week by leading his side to a 1-0 victory at home to West Bromwich Albion.

Since arriving at Stamford Bridge earlier this season, Benitez has been barracked by a section of the home support, who have never forgiven him for comments made about the club when he was in charge of Liverpool.

Novak Djokovic won his fifth title in six tournaments and extended an unbeaten run to 18 matches as he clinched a fourth Dubai Open title with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych on Saturday.

The world number one from Serbia underlined his pre-eminence in the world game with an athletically aggressive performance against the world number six from the Czech Republic, who knocked out Roger Federer, the titleholder, in the semi-finals.

Barcelona's recent slump continued as Sergio Ramos' header nine minutes from time handed Real Madrid a 2-1 success for their second win over the Catalans in five days Saturday.

Karim Benzema had given the hosts the perfect start as he stabbed home Alvaro Morata's cross after just six minutes, but Barca were level just 12 minutes later when Lionel Messi equaled Alfredo di Stefano's record for goals scored in Clasicos as he rifled in his 18th strike in clashes between the two.

World number two Choi Na-Yeon emerged from a two-and-a-half-hour storm delay to birdie the last hole and dramatically snatch a share of the HSBC Women's Champions lead alongside Stacy Lewis on Saturday.

Choi, who is eyeing the number one ranking of Taiwan's Tseng Yani, holed a 10-footer in front of a big gallery on the damp 18th green to card five-under-par 67 for a total of 14-under 202 at Singapore's par-72 Sentosa Golf Club.

Tina Maze won the women's downhill here on Saturday to break Hermann Maier's 13-year-old record for the most World Cup points collected in a season.

Maze's tally of 2024 bettered Maier's record of 2000 points, set by the Austrian legend in the 1999-2000 season, for the highest tally of World Cup points having already been confirmed as the season's overall winner.

Nile Ranger has left Newcastle after his contract was canceled by mutual consent, the English Premier League club announced on Friday.

The 21-year-old striker was released on bail in late January after being arrested on suspicion of rape.

Controversial plans to extend Roland Garros, the home of the French Open, were put on hold on Friday as residents living near the venue in the capital's leafy 16th arrondissement scored a crucial victory in their opposition.

The administrative tribunal of Paris condemned the plan, launched in 2011 by the city council, as "illegal", complaining that the plan contained insufficient information and that the financial contribution from the French Tennis Federation (FFT) was too low.

Germany company GoalControl became the fourth supplier of goal-line technology (GLT) to receive its FIFA licence, world football's governing body announced Friday.

The GoalControl system utilizes 14 high-speed cameras installed around the pitch that continually track the position of the ball in three dimensions -- using X, Y and Z co-ordinates -- once it nears the goal-line.

About 20,000 runners took part in Jerusalem's third annual marathon on Friday, with 1,000 police deployed to provide security along the route, police said.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation had called for a boycott of the marathon, part of which went through annexed, mainly Arab east Jerusalem.