Real Madrid's Ronaldo (l) vies with Espanol's Serrano (c) and Ito during a Spanish League match in Barcelona, Saturday. (AFP Photo)

MADRID, Spain,
Sept. 19--Ronaldo missed a penalty and Walter Samuel and Michel Salgado were both sent off as Real Madrid lost 1-0 at Espanyol on a night of self-inflicted misery on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Three days after a humiliating 3-0 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen, Real went behind to a 42nd minute goal from Maxi Rodriguez but missed a chance to equalize early in the second half when Ronaldo's spot kick was turned away.
Samuel, the Argentine center back signed for 25 million euros ($30.45 million) from Roma, received a second yellow card in the 74th minute and Salgado followed him off in injury-time after landing an elbow on Ivan de la Pena.
Victory for Espanyol gave the Barcelona-based club seven points from three games and a three-way share of the provisional lead, with seven matches to be played on Sunday.
Valencia joined them at the top with a 3-1 win at home to Real Sociedad. Marco Di Vaio scored the opening two goals for the champions and Mista added a third before Mikel Arteta pulled one back from the penalty spot.
Osasuna also have seven points after edging past Real Betis 3-2.
Real, who had eked out 1-0 wins in each of their first two league games, slipped to sixth on six points.
With Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo missing through injury, and Raul and David Beckham dropped from the starting line-up, the nine-times European were desperately short of ideas against a confident Espanyol side.
Michael Owen never so much as hinted at marking his first start with a goal and the England international striker made way for Fernando Morientes just past the hour mark.
By that time, Real were already looking down and out.
Raul Tamudo should have scored after 28 minutes when he was put through on goal but he Spanish striker's shot was bundled away.
Second-choice keeper Cesar, playing after Iker Casillas dislocated a finger in the warm-up, was adjudged to have pushed Tamudo at the resulting corner and the referee awarded a penalty.
However, Cesar saved from Tamudo, then repeated the feat when the referee ordered the penalty retaken, and Espanyol continued to press, making the breakthrough three minutes before the break.
With Roberto Carlos way out of position, Dani was able to win the ball on the right of the area and his cross was met by a powerful Maxi header. Cesar saved the first attempt but with no covering defender Maxi was able to turn in the rebound.

England's Andrew Flintoff hits the ball on his way to a half century as Sri Lanka's wicket keeper Kumar Sangakkara looks on in their ICC Champions Trophy one-day series cricket match at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Saturday. (Reuters Photo)

SOUTHAMPTON, US, Sept. 19- Andrew Flintoff steered England into a Champions Trophy semifinal clash against old enemy Australia here on Saturday with a blistering Rose Bowl century to see off Sri Lanka, AFP said.
Flintoff hit 104, after being dropped in the slips after scoring only one, as England, resuming after a rain-hit first day, advanced from an overnight 118-3 to 251-7 at the end of their 50 overs allocation.
Sri Lanka then stuttered to 95-5 at the end of the 24th over when rain drove them from the field, never to return and England celebrated a 49-run win under the Duckworth/Lewis system.
Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu admitted that the big all-rounder had made the difference.
When England batted in bright sunshine on Saturday morning, they soon lost Marcus Trescothick for 66 but Paul Collingwood and then Geraint Jones kept Flintoff company in two big stands which wrested control from the the Sri Lankans.
Flintoff went from 50 to 100 in 19 balls, hitting three sixes and nine fours in a 91-ball innings as Sri Lanka ran out of ideas to contain him.
Sri Lanka needed a good start as rain clouds gathered on a difficult Rose Bowl wicket - and they did not get it. Steve Harmison, extracting pace and bounce, dismissed Avishka Gunawardene and Marvan Atapattu to catches at the wicket in his second and third overs and England never looked back. Flintoff, continuing his glorious season, then sent back Sanath Jayasuriya with his third ball thanks to a catch by Darren Gough at mid-off and there was nothing Sri Lanka could do to halt their decline.
Flintoff struck again at 73 when Sanath Jayantha was caught at the wicket by Jones for 23 and, as the rain started, Mahela Jayawardene gave Ashley Giles a return catch.
As Sri Lanka fretted in their dressing room the rain tumbled and after two hours' interruption, the game was called off.
Harmison finished with two for 21, as did Flintoff from five overs but the real damage was done in the field where Flintoff was put down twice and Trescothick, who made 66, once.

ATHENS, Greece, Sept. 18--Three world records fell at the cycling track on the opening day of competition at the Paralympics on Saturday, Reuters said.
Britain's Aileen McGlynn and pilot Helen Hunter won the first gold of the Games, in the women's B1-3 tandem one-km time trial, with a world record of one minute 11.160 seconds.
Britain also won the second cycling gold when Darren Kenny took the CP 3/4-km time trial in a world record time of 1:08:196. The third world record on the track went to Australian Kieran Modra and pilot Robert Crowe who took first place in the men's qualification round of the tandem four-km individual pursuit in 4:21:451.

NEW YORK, Sept 19--Bernard Hopkins defended his undisputed world middleweight championship for the 19th time on Saturday, knocking out Oscar De La Hoya in the ninth round of their scheduled 12-round bout in Las Vegas, Nevada, Reuters said.
The tentative contest came to a sudden end 1:38 into the round when Hopkins hit De La Hoya with two body shots, knocking the challenger to the canvas in obvious pain.
When De La Hoya rolled over onto his back, referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight, which had been fairly uneventful until the knockout.
Both men appeared conservative in the early going, with neither willing to take any risks until Hopkins connected with his two shots to the liver area to end the bout.
De La Hoya never came close to beating the count, giving Hopkins the biggest win of his career and his biggest payday.
However, the challenger earned the lion's share of a purse believed to be worth around $40 million, the richest non-heavyweight fight in boxing history.
While Hopkins celebrated in the ring, De La Hoya pounded on the canvas in frustration after being knocked out for the first time in his career.
He was fighting as a middleweight for just the second time.
"I felt the urgency," Hopkins said. "I knew Oscar was boxing a good boxing game, and I knew I had to turn it on. I give him credit, he didn't run and he came to box. It surprised me."
Two judges had Hopkins ahead (79-73 and 78-74) on their scorecards at the time of the knockout while the other judge had De La Hoya in front (77-75).
The 39-year-old Hopkins remains undefeated in the past 11 years and justified his tag as hot favourite.
He improved his record to 45-2-1 with 32 knockouts while the 31-year-old De La Hoya fell to 37-4 with 29 knockouts.

Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb competes in the Rally of Great Britain on Saturday. (AFP Photo)

CARIDFF, UK, Sept. 19--Overnight leader Sebastien Loeb stayed in charge of the Rally of Great Britain on Saturday on a day overshadowed by disruption caused by pro-hunting protestors, AFP said.
The world championship leader, who had led Subaru driver Petter Solberg, the reigning world champion, by 17.02 seconds after two stages, eventually finished the day 7.1sec ahead with Markko Martin, in a Ford, in third spot.
Finland's Marcus Gronholm, driving a Peugeot, was forced out of the race when he lost a tyre after slippery and muddy conditions ended his challenge as he attacked from the front during the 13.3km ninth special stage.
He had been sitting third at the time. "On Friday, I thought it might be difficult to stay at the top of the leaderboard but when I realised that I could, I attacked," said Loeb who went into the race with a 30-point lead in the championship standings over Solberg.
But the action in the race was disrupted from the end of stage 10 to the start of stage 11. The protesters formed a human shield to block cars from passing through the small village of Llanfinangel Nant Bran.
The protesters delayed the first 12 cars on the road before moving aside to allow the event to continue. Stage 11 was delayed by 25 minutes as a result.
Protesters arguing against a ban on hunting with hounds this week invaded the House of Commons and clashed with police outside Parliament.
The incident comes after Swedish driver Daniel Carlsson was forced out of the race during Friday's SS6 after being stopped by Welsh police during an untimed section because of the condition of the tyres of his Peugeot 307.
"The policeman considered that my tires were not road worthy," he said.
"As the four tires were damaged he wouldn't let me drive. A superior then came and decided to escort me to a place where my team could change the wheels."
Over zealous Welsh police, who have in the past cautioned competitors for speeding, have lead to threats from Max Mosley, the president of motor racing's governing body the FIA, to find another venue for the event than Cardiff.

PARIS, Sept. 19--Olympique Marseille beat French league leaders Toulouse 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a first-half strike by Peguy Luyindula at the Stade Velodrome, Reuters reported.
In-form Toulouse, who were previously unbeaten, deserved more from the game as Marseille goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was forced into several fine saves in the first half.
Luyindula scored the winner in the 34th minute, converting a fine cross from Habib Bamogo, to hand Marseille their first victory in three outings.
In a tense contest both sides played the second half with 10 men after Marseille defender Johnny Ecker and Toulouse midfielder Eduardo were sent off for fighting in the 40th minute.
Marseille's victory was a great relief after defeats against Metz and Sochaux in their last two league games. But they owed much to Barthez who denied Toulouse strikers Nabil Taider and Daniel Moreira.
"Fabien did a great job tonight," said coach Jose Anigo. "He proved again if it was needed that he is still one of the best in his position.
"We must thank him. The win was a relief as we badly needed it. But I must admit that Toulouse gave us a lot of trouble."
Despite the success, the Marseille fans were still not happy, booing their team off the pitch.
Olympique Lyon and Bastia take over as co-leaders after they drew 0-0 in a match Lyon dominated for 90 minutes.
The title holders appeared tired after their 2-2 draw against Manchester United in a midweek Champions League clash.
"They (Lyon) dominated for most of the match but we managed to hang on," said Bastia defender Alexandre Song. "This is a pretty good result for us."
Lyon's best chance came when substitute Sidney Govou volleyed wide from Florent Malouda's cross just after the hour.
Troubled Paris St Germain, still chasing their first victory of the season, host Monaco at the Parc des Princes on Sunday while Metz go to AJ Auxerre.

TOKYO, Sept. 19--Andrea Dovizioso rode his Honda to victory in the 125cc race of the Japanese Grand Prix at theTwin Ring Motegi Circuit on Sunday as Italians took the top four places, Reuters said.
The teenager extended his lead in the championship over rivals Hector Barbera of Spain and Italy's Roberto Locatelli after his victory in the crash-marred race.
Officials were forced to stop the race on the ninth lap after Imre Toth of Hungary flew over the bike of Andrea Ballerini, who had crashed moments earlier at the beginning of the home straight.
The race was reduced to 13 laps and restarted but Barbera had engine problems with his Aprilia during the break and had to pull out of the race eight laps into the second running of the race, leaving him on 163 points to Dovizioso's 208.
Locatelli put pressure on his compatriot both before and after the restart, but in an echo of events at Estoril two weeks ago, a disastrous lapse of concentration on the final lap saw him slide into the gravel. He restarted, but could only manage to finish in 14th place on his Aprilia.
Gilera rider Fabrizio Lai finished second with Honda's Simone Corsi third and Mirko Giansanti fourth on an Aprilia.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, USA, Sept. 19--The US team were left needing a final-day miracle escape after Europe maintained their stranglehold of the 35th Ryder Cup on Saturday, Reuters said.
With three wins from the afternoon foursomes, Europe secured their biggest-ever lead of 11-5 going into final-day singles at Oakland Hills.
That left Europe needing just three wins out of 12 to retain the trophy, 14 1/2 points would win it outright for the fourth success in the last five matches.
The Americans famously overhauled a 10-6 deficit at Brookline in 1999 but the Europeans are universally acknowledged to have a far stronger team in depth this year and US skipper Hal Sutton's line-up face a virtual mission impossible.
The US had trailed overnight 6 1/2-1 1/2 points after a record European opening-day points haul on Friday but they reduced the lead to 8-4 after taking 2 1/2 points from the Saturday morning fourballs.
It could have been better for the Americans but Europe's rookie pair of David Howell and Paul Casey won the final two holes to snatch a crucial point in the final fourball, one-up.
Bernhard Langer's European team regrouped in the afternoon and Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood snatched the first point of the foursomes when they cruised to a 5&4 win over Jay Haas and Chris DiMarco.
Haas had a short but slick four-foot putt at the 14th but it sneaked by the cup to sum up the 50-year-old's round in which he missed a string of chances.
Behind them, Mickelson and David Toms of the U.S. salvaged some of their lost form--both were dropped for Saturday morning fourballs--and beat Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Levet by 4&3 to make the overall score 9-5.
Elsewhere, though, there was nothing but a bleak picture for the Americans who last won the Ryder Cup in 1999.
Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald of Europe were taken to the final green by Jim Furyk and Fred Funk but won by one hole.
Tiger Woods and Davis Love completed a miserable afternoon for the US by crashing 4&3 to Irishmen Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley after leading at one stage by two holes.