Sporting Digest: Football

A brawl involving players, directors, riot police and security men held up play for 15 minutes in a heated Libertadores Cup quarter-final which saw three players sent off. The first-leg game became embroiled in violence after an incident in which the Gremio midfielder Dinho was accused of head-butting an opponent, who responded by punching him in the face. Dinho left the pitch with his face covered in blood following the altercation with the Palmeiras striker Valber in the 20th minute. Both players were sent off but clashed again as they left the pitch.

SOUTH AMERICAN LIBERTADORES CUP Quarter-final, first leg: (Porto Alegre, Br): Gremio (Br) 5 Palmeiras (Br) 0. (Buenos Aires): River Plate (Arg) 1 Velez Sarsfield (Arg) 1. (Guayaquil, Ec): Emelec (Ec) 3 Sporting Cristal (Peru) 1. (Medellin, Col): Atletico Nacional (Col) 2 Millonarios (Col) 1. (Second-leg matches to be played 2 August).

FRIENDLY MATCHES: Aylesbury 3 Sheffield United 2; Southport 0 Cliftonville 0; Harrogate Town 1 Scarborough 7; Altrincham 3 Liverpool 3; Berwick Rangers 1 Celtic Select 0; Dagenham and Redbridge 0 West Ham United 1; Amersham Town 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 11; Derry City 0 St Mirren 1; Enfield 0 Birmingham City 4; University College Dublin 1 Queen's Park 1; Darlington 1 Middlesbrough 2; Walton & Hersham 3 Barnet 2.

UNITED BANK CHALLENGE (Pretoria, SA) Semi-finals: Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Madida, 76) Benfica 0; Sundowns 1 (Niemach, 89) Leeds United 0.