Briefs | Soccer: Liverpool extends English Premier League lead

Soccer

Liverpool routs Newcastle: Liverpool beat host Newcastle 5-1 Sunday to extend its English Premier League lead to three points after second-place Chelsea was held to a 2-2 draw at Fulham.

Captain Steven Gerrard scored twice for Liverpool, which has 45 points from 20 matches. Chelsea has 42 points.

American Clint Dempsey scored his second goal of the match to lift Fulham to a tie with Chelsea.

"We need to work hard again and start again," Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "The championship is not finished today. It will be finished in the last two or three games. It is normal in England. The Premier League is difficult."

Ronaldo works out: An overweight Ronaldo was able to kick a ball in a gym as he prepares to debut with Brazilian team Corinthians.

Ronaldo, a three-time FIFA player of the year, said he wants to lose the 10 or so pounds he gained during the nearly 10 months of inactivity prompted by his latest knee injury. The 32-year-old has yet to practice on the field with teammates.

Hockey

Byfuglien plays starring role for Blackhawks: Dustin Byfuglien led Chicago to its franchise-record ninth consecutive victory, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the Blackhawks' 4-1 decision over the host Minnesota Wild.

Chicago surpassed the team record of eight victories in a row set in 1971 and matched in 1981.

Canucks blank Ottawa: Curtis Sanford made 18 saves for his fourth career shutout — and first since January 2006 — as the host Vancouver Canucks beat Ottawa 3-0.

Henrik Sedin, Pavol Demitra and Alex Edler scored as the Canucks snapped a two-game losing streak. The Senators have lost their last 12 road games.

U.S., Canada each improve to 2-0 at junior worlds: The United States beat the Czech Republic 4-3 and Canada routed Kazakhstan 15-0 in games at the IIHF world junior championship in Ottawa.

The United States and Canada each moved to 2-0 in the tournament for players under 20 years old.

Jordan Schroeder scored twice for the U.S. team.

Canada goaltender Chet Pickard, who plays for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League, made 11 saves for the shutout.

Auto racing

Alonso reportedly might join Ferrari: Fernando Alonso, who won the Formula One championship in 2005 and 2006 while competing for the Renault team, might start driving for Ferrari in 2011 or sooner if Kimi Raikkonen doesn't excel, Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta Sportiva reported.

Last month, the 27-year-old Alonso signed a two-year extension that will keep him with Renault through the 2010 season.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said, "We have [Felipe] Massa and Raikkonen under contract for the next two years. As for the future, we'll see. Alonso is a great champion, but life is long. He's young."

Slim denies bid for Honda's F1 team: The Telmex racing team owned by Carlos Slim has denied reports the billionaire from Mexico will buy Honda's Formula One team.

Honda officials have announced their intention to pull out of F1 racing because of the crisis in the auto industry.

Track and field

Creator of Bolt dance is shot to death: The creator of a dance step made famous by superstar sprinter Usain Bolt at this year's Olympics has been slain in Jamaica.

Police say David Alexander Smith, 36, was shot to death at a Kingston nightclub early Friday. No arrests have been made.

Smith was a dancer known as the creator of the Gully Creeper, a crouching move Bolt performed after his world-record victories in the 100 and 200 meters at the Beijing Games. Bolt was also part of Jamaica's 400-meter relay team that earned gold.

Awards

Morneau honored: Minnesota Twins slugger Justin Morneau was honored as Canada's male athlete of the year by The Canadian Press, beating out Pittsburgh Penguins standout Sidney Crosby for the Lionel Conacher Award.

The first baseman from New Westminster, B.C., had a .300 average, 23 home runs and drove in 129 runs this year.

"Any time you can beat out a hockey player in anything in Canada, it's an accomplishment," Morneau said. "It's pretty cool."

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