Lewis Hamilton has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year after winning his second Formula One title.

The 29-year-old Mercedes driver says "I honestly was not expecting this" after beating top-ranked golfer Rory McIlroy, who won two major titles in 2014, to the prestigious British award on Sunday. Long-distance runner Jo Pavey was third in the public vote.

Patrice Evra scored his first goal in Serie A but Juventus was held 1-1 at home by Champions League hopeful Sampdoria on Sunday, and had its lead cut to one point.

Radja Nainggolan scored as second-place Roma won 1-0 at 10-man Genoa to bounce back from its Champions League elimination and set up a title fight with three-time defending champion Juve with the second half of the season approaching.

Villarreal ended Atletico Madrid's streak of 27 straight home games without a loss in the Spanish league after striker Luciano Vietto scored late to grab a 1-0 win on Sunday.

Vietto received a pass and used a quick change of foot to shed Diego Godin before firing the winner past goalkeeper Miguel Moya with six minutes to play.

Manchester United's unlikely title challenge in the Premier League gained further momentum with a 3-0 win over great rival Liverpool on Sunday, plunging last season's runner-up into more disarray.

Goals by Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie sealed a sixth straight win for United, which has recovered from a disappointing start to the campaign to climb to third place and within eight points of leader Chelsea.

Two late Cristiano Ronaldo goals helped Real Madrid make it 20 consecutive victories in all competitions as they saw off Almeria 4-1 at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos on Friday.

In their final La Liga game of 2014, Los Blancos stretched their lead over Barcelona, who travel to Getafe on Saturday, at the top of the table to five points.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini wants to extend Frank Lampard's loan spell with the Premier League champions.

Lampard, who was released by Chelsea at the end of last season, has made a positive impression after joining Pellegrini's side on a short-term loan from sister club New York City.

Manchester United and Liverpool will remind themselves what top billing in the Premier League feels like when they lock horns for the 191st time at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Chelsea and Manchester City seem destined to duke it out for this season's title, but contests between United and Liverpool often serve to show why it is their rivalry that remains the most enduring in English football.

Slumping attendances, a rising tide of debt and a home World Cup thumping by Germany. Brazilian football has not had the best of years amid signs the national game is losing its luster.

On May 18, just a few short weeks before the Germans dealt out a 7-1 hiding to the Selecao to bury dreams of a sixth World Cup triumph, the domestic game reached a nadir when the top flight match between Atletico Paranaense of Curitiba and Chapecoense attracted a crowd of just 766, the worst ever first-division gate.

Sometime between Ed Davis' phantom basket and his short jumper that rattled around the rim and out, Kobe Bryant realized this wasn't going to be his milestone night.

The Los Angeles Lakers star came into Friday's NBA game needing 31 points to pass Hall of Famer Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list as he seeks to finally escape Jordan's shadow.

Short-course 1500m world champion Spain's Mireia Belmonte broke the discipline world record by almost three seconds at her national championships on Friday.

The new mark of 15 minutes, 19.71 seconds set during the Spanish short-course national championships at Sabadell takes over from New Zealander Lauren Boyle's previous world record mark of 15min 22.68sec.