EUROPEAN ROUND-UP Four off in French flare-up

EUROPEAN ROUND-UP

Nantes held on to their unbeaten record in the French league with yesterday's 1-1 draw at Lens, but they had three men sent off in the last four minutes, writes Rupert Metcalf.

Japhet N'Doram of Nantes and Lens' Frederic Dehu were expelled in the 86th minute after a brawl, Christian Karembeu appeared to slap Eric Sikora after his 90th-minute equaliser for Lens, and then Reynald Pedros saw red in injury time for dissent. Eddy Capron had scored for Nantes, who lead the league by 10 points from Lyon.

In Spain, Real Zaragoza, who meet Chelsea in the last four of the Cup- Winners' Cup on Thursday, enjoyed a 3-0 home win over Real Betis. The Argentinian, Juan Esnaider, struck the first on the half hour; Francisco Higuera made the game safe with a pair of second-half goals.

Tenerife, playing with 10 men for 65 minutes, came from behind to beat Barcelona 2-1 with an 86th-minute goal, which allowed Real Madrid to increase their lead to six points after a 1-1 draw at Compostela.

The Portuguese champions, Benfica, are losing their grip on the title after their second successive loss to lowly opposition: 4-1 at Farense.