I WON’T QUIT, SAYS DEFIANT MOURINHO
MADRID: Defiant Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho insisted on Saturday that he would not be resigning despite his team crashing to a 3-2 loss at Malaga which left the champions 16 points behind leaders Barcelona.

The disappointment of the defeat was compounded by Mourinho’s controversial decision to drop goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas from the starting line-up. Mourinho appeared incredulous when asked if he was worried about his job.

FALCONS WIN FOR PLAYOFF BYE WHILE JOHNSON SETS MARK
DETROIT, Michigan: Atlanta’s Matt Ryan threw four touchdown passes and the Falcons clinched a first-round National Football League playoff bye with a 31-18 victory over the Detroit Lions on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). Detroit’s Calvin Johnson broke the NFL record for most receiving yards in a season in a losing cause with one game to play, earning a standing ovation from home supporters who saw the Lions, 4-11, suffer their seventh defeat in a row.

WEST BROM BRING NORWICH RUN TO END
WEST BROMWICH, United Kingdom: West Bromwich Albion brought Norwich City’s 10-match unbeaten run in the English Premier League to a crashing halt with a 2-1 win at the Hawthorns on Saturday. Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku headed the winner with eight minutes to go to leave West Brom sixth in the table, five points ahead of Norwich.

SANGAKKARA POISED TO JOIN 10,000 CLUB
MELBOURNE: Sri Lankan veteran Kumar Sangakkara is poised to join the exclusive 10,000-run club in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne against Australia, a landmark he plans to build on. The prolific batsman needs just 40 more runs in his 115th Test to join the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis to complete the milestone.

NBA RESULTS
Atlanta 92, Chicago 75; Detroit 96, Washington 87; Miami 105, Utah 89; Houston 121, Memphis 96; Indiana 81, New Orleans 75; Cleveland 94, Milwaukee 82; Denver 110, Charlotte 88; Portland 96, Phoenix 93; La Lakers 118, Golden State 115 (OT). AFP