A spokesman for boxing great Muhammad Ali says the former heavyweight champion's condition has "vastly improved" since he was admitted to a hospital with a mild case of pneumonia during the weekend.

Ali spokesman Bob Gunnell said Monday that Ali's doctors hope to discharge him soon from the hospital where he was admitted on Saturday.

Bayer Leverkusen says Germany midfielder Christoph Kramer will return to the club next season and has signed a two-year contract extension through 2019.

The 23-year-old Kramer, currently on loan at Borussia Moenchengladbach, was part of Germany's World Cup winning team this year. He played in the final against Argentina for the opening half-hour before going off injured.

Six players scored in double figures as the Toronto Raptors used a balanced attack to beat the New York Knicks 118-108 on Sunday.

Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams led the charge with 22 points each for Toronto who have won six-straight NBA contests.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers felt his players demonstrated the character necessary to revitalize their challenge for a top-four Premier League finish in their last-gasp 2-2 draw with Arsenal.

After Philippe Coutinho's opener was swiftly canceled out by Mathieu Debuchy in first-half stoppage time at Anfield on Sunday, Olivier Giroud struck in the 64th minute to set Arsenal up for an opportunistic victory.

Adam Johnson played the decisive role in Sunderland’s 1-0 win at Newcastle United in the Premier League, but only after persuading manager Gus Poyet to let him stay on the pitch.

Poyet was preparing to substitute the winger after he missed an excellent chance in the closing stages, but changed his mind and was rewarded by Johnson’s excellent goal in the 90th minute.

A first-half brace from Felipe Anderson was enough to secure third place for Lazio in Serie A prior to the festive break on Sunday in a hard-fought 2-2 draw away to Inter.

Inter only claimed their maiden win under Roberto Mancini, their first in six games, last week but had the worst possible start at the San Siro where Anderson hit the first of his goals after just two minutes.

Brazilian football legend Roberto Carlos on Sunday resigned as coach of Turkish top flight side Sivasspor after a succession of poor results, reports said.

The board met immediately after Saturday's 0-2 defeat to Istanbul's Basaksehir and then with Carlos himself on Sunday morning where it was mutually agreed he should quit, Turkish sports daily Fanatik said.

Bayern Munich will start 2015 with a record 11-point lead in the Bundesliga, sparking debate over how to stop Germany's top flight becoming boring.

Pep Guardiola's Bayern have brushed off their domestic rivals with ease and are poised to become the first team to go through a Bundesliga campaign unbeaten on their way to what would be a third consecutive title.

Ronald Koeman is confident Southampton can rediscover the form that took them to second place in the Premier League after ending a run of five straight defeats with a 3-0 win over Everton.

Koeman's side surprised almost everybody with their impressive start that came to an abrupt halt when they were beaten at home by Manchester City last month.

Louis van Gaal fears Manchester United's failure to beat Aston Villa will prove a major blow to their hopes of winning the Premier League title.

United's slim chance of reviving their bid to become English champions suffered a setback on Saturday as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at 10-man Aston Villa.