Jermain Defoe broke Tottenham Hotspur’s European goal-scoring record on Thursday as he steered his side into the knockout phase of the Europa League with a tough 2-1 victory over Moldova’s Sheriff Tiraspol.
Spurs join Valencia, Red Bull Salzburg, Esbjerg fB, ACF Fiorentina and Dninpro Dnipropetrovsk in the last 32 who all booked their places with two matches still remaining in the group phase. Defoe’s clinical 67th minute penalty, which not only makes him the competition’s top scorer with five goals from four matches, also gave him 23 European goals, one more than former England international Martin Chivers. Chivers, who scored 13 goals in 24 matches for England, helped the side win the same competition in 1972 when it was known as the UEFA Cup.
“Some things are written, I couldn’t get a lot of space in the first half, but I just tried to stay patient and top of the list now, I’m delighted,” England striker Defoe said. “I saw Martin [Chivers] at half-time, he’s a legend and he just told me to get it so it’s special for me.”
Photo: Reuters
Valencia, who won the tournament in 2004 and were twice beaten Champions League finalists, are also into the next round after a Sergio Canales’ goal five minutes from time gave them a 3-2 victory at Swiss side St Gallen.
Premier League club Swansea City blew a victory chance against Kuban Krasnodar for the second time when they conceded a last-gasp equalizer, but need only avoid defeat when they play St Gallen in their final game or beat Valencia at home in their next to ensure their passage to the knock-out stages.
Despite playing the last 15 minutes with 10-men following defender Xandao’s red card at the Kuban Stadium, the Russians netted two minutes into injury-time through Ibrahima Balde to earn a 1-1 draw.
Photo: AFP
Ivory Coast forward Wilfried Bony had given the Welsh visitors an early lead, but just as Djibril Cisse’s penalty at the Liberty Stadium had cost them a win last month, so too this time Senegal forward Balde’s clever lofted finish broke the Swans’ hearts.
Fiorentina, who lost the 1990 final against Serie A rivals Juventus, continued their progress by making it four wins out of four when two goals in the last four minutes from Ryder Matos and Borja Valero gave them a 2-1 win at Romanian side CS Pandurii Targu Jiu.
Austria Wien also cruised into next year’s knockout phase, despite a 2-2 home draw against Belgian club KRC Genk.
Denmark also have a representative in the draw, which will be made on Dec. 13, after Esbjerg edged Swedish neighbors Elfsborg 1-0 thanks to Mick van Buren’s winner.
Ukraine’s Dnipro are also through after brushing aside Portuguese club Pacos de Ferreira 2-0.
In a second Anglo-Russian clash, Rubin Kazan opened a clear gap at the top of Group D with a 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic. Full-back Oleg Kuzmin hit the winner midway through the first period after escaping down the right and finding acres of space behind the Wigan backline.
Wigan remain second after Belgium’s SV Zulte Waregem won 1-0 at NK Maribor of Slovenia.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB