Football: Relations strained

THE Anglo-Italian Cup is doing little for Anglo-Italian relations. There were four more dismissals last night, with two at Portsmouth, and one each at Birmingham City and Bristol City.

At St Andrews, the Ascoli defender, Rosario Pergolizzi, was shown the red card for punching Birmingham's Paul Tait during their 1-1 draw. Bristol City lost David Thompson for violent conduct 15 minutes from the end of their

2-1 defeat by Reggiana.

Joe Allon continues to repay Brentford's faith. The former Chelsea striker, rescued from the Blues bench by the Bees, scored another goal for his new club in their 1-0 win at Cesena.

Newcastle United fared less well in Italy, falling 3-0 at Bari, where only 2,000 - still 1,550 more than at Cesena - bothered to turn up.

Isaias steered Benfica into the Uefa Cup quarter-finals with the first goal in their 2-0 win over Dynamo Moscow in Lisbon. Isaias, who scored twice in the 2-2 draw in the first leg, headed home Vitor Paneira's cross from close range in the 51st minute. Sergei Yuran added the second six minutes later.