Indiana wins its 8th national title

Nikita Kotlov scored off a header pass from Eriq Zavaleta midway through the second half to give Indiana a 1-0 victory over Georgetown to win the NCAA men’s soccer championship in Hoover, Ala. It is the eighth championship for the Hoosiers (165-3), and their first since 2004.

Indiana midfielder Patrick Doody lofted a crossing pass to the right of the goal that brought Georgetown goalkeeper Tomas Gomez out from the net. Zavaleta got to the ball before the Hoyas’ Jimmy Nealis, sending a header to Kotlov that he easily kicked into the open net.

The best scoring opportunity for Georgetown (19-4-3) came in the first half when Tyler Rudy sent a straight-on shot that diving Indiana goalkeeper Luis Soffner barely stopped with his fingertips.

The Hoyas nearly tied the game with a minute left in regulation, but a header by Ian Christianson hit the post.

“Sometimes you just need a little bit of luck,” Soffner said. “We’ll definitely take it.”

■ Lionel Messi broke German great Gerd Mueller’s 40-year-old record for most goals in a year by scoring for the 86th time in 2012. The Argentine forward scored twice to lead Barcelona to a 2-1 win at Real Betis in the Spanish league match. Messi has scored 74 goals for Barcelona and 12 times for Argentina this year, and he has three more games in which he can add to his tally before the end of the year. Mueller scored 85 for Bayern Munich and West Germany.

■ Crowd disorder marred the Premier League’s Manchester derby, with United defender Rio Ferdinand injured after being struck by a coin and police arresting a spectator for racist chanting.

In a volatile end to the match at City’s Etihad Stadium where Robin Van Persie clinched a 3-2 win for United, Ferdinand was left bleeding from a cut above his left eye after being struck by an object.

“Whoever threw that coin, what a shot!” Ferdinand wrote on Twitter.