Real move to third spot

LONDON: Charlton Athletic beat Fulham 1-0 to record a club record ninth successive league win and move seven points clear at the top of the English first division on Tuesday.

John Robinson scored after 63 minutes to give his side a well-deserved home victory over their London rivals. Charlton have 68 points from 31 games. Second-placed Manchester City have 61 from 30 and Ipswich Town have 60 from 31.

Charlton have now won 11 successive league and cup games and look well placed for an immediate return to the Premier League after being relegated last season. Charlton play Bolton Wanderers of the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday.

Marseille win

PARIS: Olympique Marseille scored an exhilirating 4-1 home victory over bitter rivals Paris St Germain in the French first division after both sides were reduced to 10 men early on.

PSG remain 10 points behind leaders Monaco having played one more game. Monaco play champions Girondins Bordeaux on Wednesday. Earlier, relegation-threatened Nantes crushed fourth-placed Olympique Lyon 6-1.

Marseille, humiliated 4-3 at home by second division Gueugnon in the French Cup on Saturday, conceded an early goal to striker Christian, the Brazilian8217;s 14th league goal.

Both sides were reduced to 10 men in the 19th minute when Marseille midfielder Jerome Leroy and his PSG namesake Laurent Leroy were sent off for fighting after a bad tackle by the Marseille man.

Marseille enjoyed the extra space as they fought back to equalise with a header by defender Sebastien Perez in the 24th minute.

Striker Cyrille Pouget and mid-fielder Jacques Abardonado, profiting from a blunder by PSG goalkeeper Bernard Lama who failed to hold a corner, put the game beyond PSG in an eight-minute spell midway through the second half.

Former PSG striker Florian Maurice killed them off 12 minutes from time.

Marseille climbed to sixth place in the standings.

Slovakia shock Chile

VALPARAISO, Chile: Chile was surprised 2-0 by Slovakia in a four-nation friendly tournament hosted by the South American nation after the European side struck twice inside 16 minutes.

Yesterday Balis hit an unstoppable high drive from the edge of the box in the sixth minute to give Slovakia the lead and Smelko extended the score 10 minutes later with another precise low shot after he out-flanked defenders down the right.

Trinidad advance

LOS ANGELES: Manchester United8217;s Dwight Yorke scored one goal and assisted on two more to lead Trinidad to a 4-2 victory over Guatemala in a Group C match in the Gold Cup soccer tournament.

The victory elevated Trinidad into a tie with Mexico for the Group C lead. Guatemala would have to beat Mexico by at least three goals on Thursday night to qualify for the quarter-finals.

English lazy8217;

MANCHESTER: Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich labelled English players lazy and hit back at claims that foreign players were ruining the game in England.

8220;I think it8217;s just a lot of high-handed moaning because they don8217;t want competition,8221; Australian Bosnich told MUTV on Tuesday.

8220;If the English lads are good enough, they8217;ll get in the team. That8217;s the way it works. A lot of people over here don8217;t want the competition, to have to go and work that little bit harder to make themselves better. A lot of it is just pure laziness.8221;