Nancy scored in the dying minutes to keep the French league title race alive heading into the three-week winter break with a thrilling 1-1 draw against leaders Lyon on Saturday.

The draw keeps the status quo at the top of the table with Pablo Correa’s surprise package this season just four points off Alain Perrin’s six-time champions at the half-way stage.

Former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Milan Baros looked to have wrapped up the tie for Lyon with just ten minutes to full time, and against the flow of play, when the Nancy defence were caught too high on a counter attack.

Czech international Stanislav Vlcek has signed a one and a half season deal with Belgian champions Anderlecht from Slavia Prague, the Czech club announced on Friday.

The 31-year-old striker is Slavia’s top scorer so far this season with seven goals from 13 games and has been capped eight times for his country, who have qualified for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

“The medical exam (in Brussels) was quite thorough and lasted all of Thursday. On Friday evening I signed the contract,” the player announced on the club’s website.

David Beckham is close to finalising a deal which will see him prepare for England’s next game in February by training with Arsenal.

The Gunners’ manager Arsene Wenger revealed the unexpected arrangement that Beckham as a former Manchester United star could never have contemplated emerging, walking into the north London side’s training centre at London Colney.

“We will help him to get fit and prepare for the season,” Wenger told BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday.

“There’s a good chance that he will come in January, but it’s not decided,” he added.

Ma Xiaoxu, dubbed China’s female “Wayne Rooney” because of her prodigious talent, may miss playing in next year’s Olympics after seriously injuring her knee, a press report said Friday.

Ma is likely to be sidelined for at least six months with what team doctors fear may be a ruptured ligament in her right knee, after she fell awkwardly while playing against New Zealand on Wednesday, the China Daily reported.

England’s Football Association gave the go-ahead Thursday for a national football centre to be built following a board meeting.

The FA said its “preferred” option was for the centre to be built in Burton, central England - a scheme that has already been on the drawing board for several years - but stressed a “detailed exploration of the business and funding plans” would have to be carried out before final approval was given.

Some FA chiefs have questioned the viability of the Burton project and there have been calls for any new centre to be based nearer England’s Wembley home ground in north London.

Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann says he can still make an impression with English giants Arsenal, despite the shot-stopper being prefered to Spaniard Manuel Almunia, according German press reports.

“I still believe I will return to the Arsenal goal as the first-choice,” the 38-year-old told the Hamburger Abendblatt in Thursday’s edition.

“At the end, the higher quality will always rise to the top.”

The German goalkeeper said he had had a frank discussion with Arsenal’s boss Arsene Wenger about the situation.