Sporting briefs

Carvalho: Chelsea' s injury crisis deepened yesterday after the club confirmed defender Ricardo Carvalho is expected to be out of action for at least a month. But the centre-half could be out for longer, possibly the rest of the season, if he requires corrective surgery on the injury he sustained in the first-half of Wednesday's 5-0 victory over Portsmouth.

Aragones: Former Spain coach Luis Aragones has turned down an offer to take over at top flight side Sevilla following the sacking of Manolo Jimenez, the club said. It said an assistant to Jimenez, Antonio Alvarez, will take charge of the team for Sunday's match at Villareal. Sevilla fired Jimenez on Tuesday following a string of poor results.

Villa: Valencia striker David Villa spent the night in hospital after receiving a blow to the head in a 1-0 win over Malaga and will be out of action for three to four days. The Spain international scored the only goal, his 18th in La Liga this season, at the Mestalla on Wednesday but after finishing the match he suffered dizziness and vomiting and was taken to hospital.

In Turkey: Former Turkey defender Fatih Akyel was charged and remanded in custody by a Turkish court yesterday in connection with match-fixing, his lawyer said. Akyel, part of the Turkey team which came third at the 2002 World Cup, was among 46 people including footballers from the country's top division detained on Wednesday. His lawyer Sezgin Guraslan said he was being held on charges of fraud and gang membership.

Primera Liga: Getafe vs Real Madrid 2-4.

Tennis: Justine Henin cruised into the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open with a speedy 6-2 6-2 victory over American Jill Craybas. Former world number one Henin, who entered the tournament as a wild card, needed only 62 minutes to advance in the $4.5 million event on a bright, breezy day in Key Biscayne, Florida. She will now face Russian Elena Dementieva, who Henin beat in the Australian Open this year en route to a runner-up finish after 16 months away from the game.

Basketball, NBA: LeBron James led Cleveland to an eighth consecutive victory yesterday, scoring 38 points in the Cavaliers' 105-92 win over the New Orleans Hornets. James tallied five of his nine assists in the third quarter, where the league-leading Cavaliers (57-15) went on a 16-4 run to build a 16-point lead. Second-year forward J.J. Hickson scored 20 for the Cavaliers, who welcomed back center Zydrunas Ilgauskas for the first time since he was traded to Washington last month before being released and re-signing with Cleveland.

Motor Racing: Ferrari have extended their deal with long-standing fuel and lubricant supplier Shell until 2015. "The extension of our relationship with Shell up to the end of 2015 is yet another step in the team's plan to strengthen its long term future," team principal Stefano Domenicali said. "Shell has been with the team from the year it was established in 1929 and has played a significant role in many of our successes."

Figure Skating: Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir flashed some Flamenco flair to strengthen their grip on the ice dance competition at the world figure skating championships yesterday. The Canadian duo, who topped the compulsory dance on Tuesday, maintained their lead by again finishing first and setting a season's best with an original dance filled with complicated lifts and Spanish hand claps. With just Friday's free dance remaining, Virtue and Moir have 114.40 points overall ahead of Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White.