Sporting briefs

Fanni out: Stade Rennes defender Rod Fanni will be out of action until the end of the season, the Ligue 1 club said. Full-back Fanni, a regular starter for the Brittany side, fractured his ankle during training on Tuesday.

Morientes back: Valencia striker Fernando Morientes is back in training after three months out with injuries. The Spain international's last appearance for the club was in their 3-0 defeat by Barcelona on Dec. 15 last year. Valencia have won just two of 11 league matches in his absence.

Fathi moves: Spartak Moscow have signed German international defender Malik Fathi on a four-year contract from Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin. The 24-year-old Fathi, whose father is Turkish, represented Germany U-20 at the 2003 World Youth Cup and also played at the European U-21 championship in 2006.

Tarnat injured: Hanover 96 defender Michael Tarnat will not play again this season due to a partially torn tendon, adding to the Bundesliga club's injury woes. Other Hanover players who are injured or sick include Vinicius, Frank Fahrenhorst, Steven Cherundolo, Gaetan Krebs, Altin Lala and Jan Rosenthal. The 38-year-old Tarnat was injured during Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.

Clemente: Javier Clemente, who took charge of relegation-threatened Real Murcia last week, has criticised the quality of football in the Primera Liga this season and in particular that played by Real Madrid and Barcelona. "In a horrible season we are seeing that two teams that are having awful campaigns can win the league," Clemente said. "They (Real and Barca) aren't playing at all. It's a very poor season."

Mutu: Key striker Adrian Mutu, who is nursing a knee injury, will miss Romania's Euro 2008 warm-up against fellow finalists Russia in two weeks time, coach Victor Piturca said. Piturca did not include Mutu, who could return on the bench for Fiorentina this weekend, among 11 foreign-based players he picked for the friendly in Bucharest on March 26.

Scottish Premier: Celtic vs Dundee Utd 0-0; Hibs vs Motherwell 1-0.

Lampard: England midfielder Frank Lampard struck four goals last night as Chelsea rebounded from their FA Cup reverse at Barnsley at the weekend to defeat Derby County 6-1 in the Premier League. Lampard's fellow England international Joe Cole and Ivory Coast's Salomon Kalou scored the other goals while David Jones notched a late consolation for struggling Derby.

MFA Div. Two: Sta Venera vs San Gwann 2-4; Mgarr vs Lija 1-2.