The best sports images from the last 24 hours

Harbhajan Singh emerged as India's unlikely batting hero when he scored his maiden hundred to bail the hosts out of a tight situation for a draw in the first Test against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, on Monday.

The right-handed batsman, who had hit a career-best 69 in the first innings, combined in a 163-run partnership with VVS Laxman for the seventh wicket, and put paid to any hopes the visitors had of winning the Test match.

A fiery spell of fast bowling by Chris Martin had reduced India to 15 for five on Sunday, and it required a dogged innings from the dependable Laxman (91) and the unlikely Harbhajan (115) to arrest the collapse.

Resuming on a precarious 82 for six, India finished their second innings on 266, setting New Zealand an improbable target of 295 runs from 24 overs.

Harbhajan brought up his maiden Test century by lofting New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori over the long-off boundary to bring the sparse crowd for the final day's action at the Sardar Patel Stadium to their feet.

He then celebrated by mimicking the batting stance of his team-mate and scorer of 49-Test centuries Sachin Tendulkar, much to the amusement of the rest of the team, who were seen laughing on the dressing-room balcony.

Photographs: Reuters

Arsenal were beaten 1-0 at home by Newcastle United courtesy of Andy Carroll's header late in the first half at the Emirates stadium, in London, on Sunday.

Arsenal dominated but though they twice hit the bar through Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott they lacked the killer finish.

Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was at fault for the goal when he was outjumped by Carroll, whose header looped into the empty net.

"It was a big disappointment because our performance was not good enough," said manager Arsene Wenger. "We knew on set pieces we couldn't afford these kind of mistakes."

David Beckham created both goals as L.A Galaxy beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 on Sunday to earn a place in Major League Soccer's Western Conference final, where they will take on FC Dallas.

Galaxy, leading 1-0 from the first leg in Seattle, doubled their aggregate advantage in the 19th minute when a Beckham corner was headed in by US international striker Edson Buddle.

Eight minutes later, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder, whipped in a free-kick from the left which defender Omar Gonzalez headed past Sounders keeper Kasey Keller.

Seattle struggled to get back into the game and the 35-year-old Beckham went close to a goal himself with a trademark free-kick which curled just wide.

Beckham was sidelined for six months by an Achilles tendon injury and only returned to action for L.A in September.

"His return from injury has been phenomenal, for him to be playing like this is fantastic," said Galaxy coach Bruce Arena.

Ethiopian world marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie announced his retirement on Sunday after dropping out of his first New York City marathon

"I am retiring," the twice Olympic 10,000 metres champion told a news conference. "It's time to step away and give chances to the youngsters."

Gebrselassie, 37, who set 27 world records in his illustrious career, pulled out after the halfway stage. A medical examination on Saturday had revealed fluid and tendinitis in his right knee.

"I never thought about retirement," he said. "But for the first time, this is the day. Let me stop and do other work after this.

"Let me do another job. Let me give a chance to the youngsters. I did very hard work to win this race, it didn't work."

After retiring from the track, Gebrselassie clocked two hours four minutes 26 seconds to break Kenyan Paul Tergat's world marathon at the 2007 Berlin race.

In the following year he became the first man to run under two hours four seconds when he clocked 2:03:59 in Berlin.

Francesco Molinari maintained his blistering form to hold off world number one Lee Westwood and clinch the HSBC Champions tournament on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Italian held his nerve on the 18th hole to beat Englishman Westwood by one shot.

Molinari, who turns 28 on Monday, held his nerve on the final hole to card a 67 and a combined 19-under-par total of 269 to land him his second European tour title.

"It was a great day of golf for everyone and for the two of us, me and Lee," said Molinari, who partnered his brother Edoardo to win the World Cup at Mission Hills in 2009.

"I'm obviously amazed at the way I played. It was not easy to have the No. 1 player in the world trailing you by one shot. I just played really well, and behaved really well on the golf course. So just feels fantastic now."

He finished more than three and a half hours behind the champion, yet Chilean miner Edison Pena won the hearts of spectators with an inspiring effort at the New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Pena, the 12th miner brought to the surface last month after being trapped with 32 companions for 69 days, ran daily through the tunnels of the mine until the rescue and was invited to New York by race organisers.

Coping with aching knees during his 26.2-mile trip through the five boroughs of New York, Pena completed the journey in five hours 40 minutes 51 seconds to sustained cheers from crowds of more than two million who lined the course.

"It was worthwhile for me to come this far to run a marathon, because I want to motivate people," Pena, 34, told reporters. "I want to convince them that they can do what they set out to do in life.

"In this marathon I struggled. I struggled with myself, I struggled with my own pain, but I made it to the finish line. I want to motivate other people to also find the courage and strength to transcend their own pain."

Real Madrid extended their dominance over city rivals Atletico and maintained their one-point lead at the top of La Liga when Ricardo Carvalho and Mesut Ozil scored in a comfortable 2-0 home win on Sunday.

The Madrid derby was potentially Real's first genuine test of the season after they had swatted aside mostly mid- to lower-table opposition in their previous matches of the campaign.

However, Atletico strikers Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero saw too little of the ball and wingers Jose Antonio Reyes and Simao threatened only rarely down the flanks.

After his Portugal defensive partner Pepe had gone close with a header at a packed Bernabeu stadium, Carvalho burst through from the back to fire Real ahead in the 13th minute.

German international Ozil, a firm favourite with the Real faithful following his move from Werder Bremen, then bamboozled Atletico goalkeeper David De Gea with a low, swerving free kick from wide on the right to make it 2-0.

Red Bull won the Formula One constructors' championship and denied Fernando Alonso a third drivers' crown on Sunday after Sebastian Vettel led team mate Mark Webber in a one-two finish in Brazil.

Vettel turned title teaser after putting himself back in the Formula One championship mix with victory in Brazil.

The 23-year-old German's fourth win of the season left him 15 points behind Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso and seven adrift of his own Australian team mate Mark Webber, who finished second, with one race remaining.

The points mean that another Vettel-Webber one-two in Abu Dhabi next weekend would hand the title to Alonso even if the Spaniard finished as low as fourth.