Rafael Nadal was dreaming of a seventh French Open title on Sunday after clinching his eighth successive Monte Carlo title by ending a seven-final losing streak to Novak Djokovic.

Nadal, who came into Monte Carlo with more question marks over whether or not his suspect knees would bear the stress of another grueling claycourt campaign, gave the perfect response with a swaggering 6-3, 6-1 defeat of world number one Djokovic.

Kobe Bryant scored six of his 26 points in the second overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half for a 114-106 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.

Metta World Peace scored 12 points before getting ejected late in the second quarter for a vicious elbow to the back of James Harden's head while celebrating a dunk.

The Miami Heat, led by LeBron James's 32 points, ended Houston's slim NBA playoff hopes with a 97-88 victory over the Rockets on Sunday.

The Heat were without stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Wade sidelined by a dislocated left index finger suffered on Saturday in a loss to lowly Washington.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was left with a familiar feeling after seeing his side fail to take their chances in a 1-0 Premier League defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion.

Albion's Peter Odemwingie scored the only goal of Sunday's game 15 minutes from time to give the visitors a first win at Anfield 45 years to the day since their previous victory at the ground.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said the upcoming clash with Premier League title rivals Manchester City represents the most important derby match of his career.

United will go into the match on the back of a stunning 4-4 draw at home to Everton at Old Trafford here on Sunday that has revived a seemingly moribund title race.

Juventus took control of the Serie A title race with a 4-0 victory over Roma on Sunday as AC Milan slipped up again in a 1-1 draw at home to Bologna.

It was Juve's sixth win in a row and opened up a three-point lead at the top with five games left.

Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba has said he wants to play football again and thanked God for the "miracle" that allowed him to survive suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch.

"It would be great to play football again and I hope that will happen. But it's even greater just to live life and love my family. I'm a lucky man," he told Britain's Sun on Sunday newspaper in his first interview since his collapse.

Devin Harris scored 21 points with seven assists and a crucial block on Saturday as the Utah Jazz downed Orlando 117-107 in over-time to boost their NBA playoff bid.

Al Jefferson also scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Utah, who strengthened their hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Roberto Di Matteo is increasingly confident Didier Drogba will win his fitness battle and face Barcelona next week.

The Chelsea striker has a knee problem and was left out of the squad that held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium.

Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed his 54th goal of the season as Real Madrid moved closer to a 32nd La Liga title with a 2-1 win at Barcelona for whom Lionel Messi was reduced to a bit-part role.

"It was an important goal but the win for the team is more important, we have four matches left and with the seven-point gap (over Barcelona) we are in a comfortable position," said Ronaldo.