Football news in brief

Bellamy settles South Wales derbyCRAIG Bellamy was the toast of Cardiff after his wonder strike clinched a 1-0 South Wales derby win over Swansea.

The on-loan Manchester City striker crashed in a superb 25-yard strike five minutes from time as the Bluebirds moved up to third in the npower Championship. Swansea, who used Craig Beattie and Stephen Dobie as subs, could have moved up to second with a victory but were instead leapfrogged by their rivals.

Adebayor rounds off Real's rout

A CRISTIANO Ronaldo double, a sweet finish from Kaka and a late Emmanuel Adebayor strike gave Real Madrid a 4-1 home win over Real Sociedad last night that trimmed Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga to seven points. The champions went ten points clear after World Player of the Year Lionel Messi netted his fourth hat-trick of the season in a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

Edgy Milan held to goalless draw

SERIE A leaders AC Milan slipped up for the second straight game in a 1-1 draw at Genoa yesterday which opened the door for Napoli to cut the gap at the top to three points. Napoli failed to take advantage when Milan drew 0-0 with Lazio in midweek but red-hot striker Edinson Cavani helped make sure they did this time in a 2-0 home victory over lowly Cesena.

Emotional triumph for Olympiakos

OLYMPIAKOS Piraeus marked the 30-year anniversary of the Karaiskaki stadium disaster with a record-breaking 1-0 win over Skoda Xanthi. A minute's silence was observed before the Super League leaders' record tenth consecutive victory preserved their seven-point lead over Panathinaikos. Twenty-one Olympiakos supporters died on 8 February 1981 in Greek football's worst stadium tragedy.

Super Saturday is a record-breaker

THERE were 41 goals scored in Saturday's eight Barclays Premier League games, the most on a single day since 8 May, 1993 (47). Five of those games saw four or more goals scored, with eight apiece in Newcastle's remarkable 4-4 draw with Arsenal and Everton's 5-3 win over Blackpool and seven as Wigan beat Blackpool 4-3. There were also a Premier League record seven penalties scored across the eight games.