AC Milan became the first team into the Coppa Italia semi-finals after holding on for a 2-1 win over Carpi at the San Siro on Wednesday.
The seven-time European champions, who have fallen on hard times in recent seasons, took a two-goal halftime lead through Carlos Bacca and M’baye Niang, but Matteo Mancosu’s strike early in the second period kept things interesting until the final whistle.
Milan should have won by more, but with just one goal in it, they remained vulnerable.
Photo: AP
Milan were well on top in the first period, taking the lead on 14 minutes when Bacca finished from Japanese playmaker Keisuke Honda’s pass to notch his 10th goal of the season.
Slovak Juraj Kucka should have doubled the advantage five minutes later, but Serbian goalkeeper Zejlko Brkic, who had earlier parried a Honda free-kick, made a wonder save to deny him.
Bacca turned provider just before the half-hour mark as he teed up Niang to fire home the second.
Photo: AP
The hosts appeared to be in cruise control, but five minutes into the second period, Kevin Lasagna played Mancosu into a one-on-one with goalkeeper Christian Abbiati and the forward finished with aplomb.
Kucka could have extended Milan’s advantage, but again he came up short, firing off target just past the hour mark.
Milan kept wasting chances to kill the game as Giacomo Bonaventura blazed off target late on, while Honda’s shot was deflected behind for a corner with Brkic AWOL.
However, the Rossoneri held on to reach the last four.
The three other quarter-finals are to be played next week, with SSC Napoli hosting Inter and Juventus traveling to SS Lazio.
There will be one lower-league outfit in the semi-finals, with second-division Spezia to host third-tier US Alessandria 1912.
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