Middlesbrough advanced to the semifinals of the UEFA Cup on Thursday by scoring four straight goals, including a 90th-minute decider.
Draws were enough for Steaua Bucharest, Sevilla and Schalke to get through.
Massimo Maccarone scored in the 90th minute to give host Middlesbrough a 4-1 win over FC Basel in the second leg of the quarterfinals and a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Steaua, the 1986 European Cup champion, advanced on away goals after holding crosstown rival Rapid Bucharest to a 0-0 draw. The two teams drew 1-1 last week in the first leg.
Sevilla rallied to draw 1-1 with Zenit St. Petersburg, giving the Spanish team a 5-2 win on aggregate and putting it into the semifinals of the UEFA Cup for the first time. Schalke also drew 1-1, but beat Levski Sofia 4-2 on aggregate.
In the semifinals, Sevilla will face Schalke, while Steaua takes on Middlesbrough.
Maccarone beat Pascal Zuberbuehler in the final minute of regulation time after the Basel goalkeeper blocked Fabio Rochemback's initial shot.
"We said before the game it would take a monumental display to come through this," Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren said. "And once we got the second goal, we thought we could get two in the last 20 minutes."
Eduardo gave Basel the lead in the 23rd minute, making the aggregate score 3-0 and putting pressure on the English team, which needed to score four goals to advance.
Mark Viduka started things by equalizing in the 33rd off a pass from Aiyegbeni Yakubu. The Australia international added another in the 57th minute, again taking a pass from Yakubu and beating Zuberbuehler.
In the 73rd minute, Basel was reduced to 10 men when defender Daniel Majstorovic was sent off with his second yellow card.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink then made it 3-1 in the 79th by sending a curling shot from the edge of the penalty area over Zuberbuehler and into the top corner.
"It was a fantastic performance, full of character, grit, great football, opportunities," McClaren said. "This is a historic night and what a way to do it. There's no better way to win a game than how we just won that."
Rapid nearly took the lead in its match at Steaua in the 32nd minute, but Mugurel Buga missed from close range. Dorel Goian had Steaua's best chance in the 48th when he headed wide.
Rapid had another late chance to win the match and advance, but substitute Emil Dica had his shot deflected wide by a Steaua defender.
"I am sorry for Rapid as both teams could have played in the semifinals," Steaua coach Cosmin Olaroiu said.
The match in Bucharest was played amid tight security, with the city dispatching more than 3,000 police to prevent violence between rival fans, which have a bitter history.
No serious incidents were reported Thursday, unlike in recent league matches when fans threw stones and chairs on the field.
Blanco Kepa scored Sevilla's equalizer in the 66th minute at Zenit, beating goalkeeper Viacheslav Malafeev one-on-one on a wet field at Petrovsky stadium.
Hyun Young-min had given Zenit the lead in the 50th in his UEFA Cup debut.
One minute after Sevilla scored, the team was reduced to 10 men when Kepa was red-carded for arguing with the referee. Zenit's advantage lasted only one minute, however, as defender Ivica Krizanac was sent off for tackling Vicenzo Maresca in the 68th minute.
Sevilla reached the quarterfinals of the European Cup in 1957-58, and won its only Spanish league title in 1946.
Levski took the lead at Schalke in the 25th minute when Emil Angelov scored from close range off a pass from Valeri Domovchiyski.
Lincoln equalized for the hosts in the 58th after Levski's defense failed to clear a throw-in by Levan Kobiashvili.
Schalke, the only German club still in a European competition, won the UEFA Cup in 1997.
■ English Preview
After eliminating Juventus to reach its first ever Champions League semifinal, Arsenal has no time to relax.
Next up: a visit to 70,000-capacity Old Trafford to face Manchester United in a game which could have a big impact on the Premier League title race.
By the time the two powerhouses kick off Sunday in front of a Premier League record crowd, Manchester United hopes it has the chance to cut Chelsea's lead to four points.
Chelsea, which was 18 points ahead less than a month ago, will already have played its game at home to West Ham earlier Sunday. Alex Ferguson's players are relying on the Hammers to do them a big favor at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester United is on a run of eight victories in a row, while Arsenal is unbeaten in seven league and cup games and has conceded just one goal. The Gunners' 0-0 tie with Juventus on Wednesday also set a Champions League record of eight shutouts in a row.
"I am happy for the club and the players because every year we were expected to do well in the Champions League, but were not there in the final four," manager Arsene Wenger said.
"This year nobody expected us to be there and we are there. We have been in positions which were easier to get through before and did not. But this year we have."
After his team's big performance against Juve, Wenger could be tempted to rest some of his stars against Manchester United and recall the likes of Sol Campbell, who has been out of action for two months, Dennis Bergkamp and Robin van Persie. But Arsenal is chasing a fourth-place finish in the Premier League to guarantee a shot at next season's Champions League.
That place is held by north London neighbor Tottenham, and the Gunners are only two points behind Spurs with a game in hand.
Meetings between Manchester United and Arsenal are often bad-tempered, especially at Old Trafford, and Ferguson and Wenger have had a running feud for several years.
When players and officials from the two clubs scuffled in the tunnel after Manchester United ended Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten streak in January last year, Ferguson had food thrown over him.
A year before, Arsenal players surrounded and pushed Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy after the Dutch star had missed a penalty in a 0-0 tie, accusing him of cheating to get the spot kick.
Now the sides meet again at an Old Trafford which has been increased to more than 70,000 capacity. A sellout crowd will beat the current Premier League record 69,522 set when Manchester United beat West Ham 1-0 on March 29.
If Manchester United fails to catch Chelsea, Ferguson's team still has to make sure it fends off third-place Liverpool. The runners-up spot guarantees a place in the Champions League group phase next season, and Rio Ferdinand says the players believe it is a more realistic goal.
"In my mind, and in a lot of the lads' minds, we are still concentrating all our efforts on finishing second," the England centerback said. "If anything happens above and beyond that, it would, of course, be fantastic.
"Winning the title is a massive achievement, no matter how you win it. If you do it when you have been behind, then there is no better fairytale. But I don't want to even talk about that because I don't want to tempt fate."
Liverpool, which hosts Bolton on Sunday, has to make up five points on Manchester United and has played a game more.
The weekend's Premier League schedule has five games on Saturday and five on Sunday.
Saturday's matches are Tottenham-Manchester City, Charlton-Everton, Portsmouth-Blackburn, Sunderland-Fulham and Wigan-Birmingham.
Last-place Sunderland, which is 17 points off the safety zone, will go down it if fails to beat Fulham.
Sunday's other games are Aston Villa-West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough-Newcastle.
With Reading already crowned League Championship winner, the race is still on for the other automatic promotion spot.
Neil Warnock's Sheffield United holds a seven-point advantage over Watford and Leeds with five games to go. Sheffield United hosts Hull on Saturday when Leeds welcomes Plymouth and Watford has a home game against Luton on Sunday.
■ Spanish Preview
Having secured a Champions League semifinal berth, FC Barcelona aims to bring the Spanish league title even closer Sunday when it visits struggling Racing Santander.
Barcelona beat Benfica 2-0 on Wednesday as it continues its attempt to emulate 1992 feat of becoming European and Spanish champion. But while, it has a tough Champions League semifinal against AC Milan to come, Barcelona is near certain to win the league.
Eleven points clear atop the standings, coach Frank Rijkaard's side requires 10 points from its final seven games to secure an 18th league title.
■ Italian Preview
Juventus must try to put its Champions League elimination behind it and refocus on Serie A when it hosts Fiorentina on Sunday.
It shouldn't be too difficult. With six rounds left and a nine-point lead over second-place AC Milan, the Turin powerhouse is considered a certainty for a record 29th league title.
Juventus, eliminated from European competition Wednesday after a 0-0 home draw with Arsenal, is aiming for a first win in three last Serie A matches. If it beats against fourth-place Fiorentina, it could stretch its lead over Milan, which has a tough home game against Chievo Verona.
Third-place Inter is at Ascoli.
■ German Preview
Werder Bremen has an opportunity to put itself back into contention for the Bundesliga title Saturday when it hosts leader Bayern Munich.
Defending champion Bayern has 66 points with five games remaining, seven more than second-place Hamburg and 10 more than third-place Bremen.
While a 29th-round win for Bremen would still leave it needing Bayern to undergo an unlikely meltdown, Bremen has at least bounced back from a brief slump to challenge Hamburg for second place and a direct berth in next season's Champions League.
■ French Preview
Paris Saint-Germain is on a roll at last, although it could be too late to save its season.
PSG has posted consecutive home wins -- beating Auxerre 4-1 second-place Bordeaux 3-1 -- but still languishes in eighth place with five games remaining. The first of those games comes Saturday at Lens.
A French soccer ethics panel this week docked PSG one point after a clash over ticketing arrangements for a home game against Marseille, leaving it five points off a Champions League spot.
"It's going to be complicated, but it's at times like there when you find out if the players have character," coach Guy Lacombe said.
PSG's home form is the fourth-best in the league, but its away record is among the worst.
Armenia's footbal federation said Thursday it would not extend coach Henk Wisman's contract and would appoint a replacement to lead the team in qualifying for the 2008 European Championship.
"The football federation of Armenia refused to extend its contract with Henk Wisman, head coach of the national team," Araik Manukian, spokesman for the federation, told APs.
Wisman, of the Netherlands, took over in May 2005 and was contracted until the end of the World Cup qualifying last October, with an option to extend his term for another two years.
Wisman replaced France's Bernard Casoni and was Armenia's fourth foreign coach in three years, but Armenia lost five matches under him and finished next-to-last-last in its World Cup qualifying group.
Luis Figo fined
Inter Milan's Portugal midfielder Luis Figo was fined 5,000 euros for alleging that an Juventus official met with the referee ahead of February's league match between the teams.
Inter, which lost 2-1, was fined the same amount.
The Italian league's disciplinary commission fined Figo because he could not support his claims about the "forbidden" meeting before kickoff. Referee Gianluca Paparesta and Juventus officials both denied the meeting took place.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier