Teenage goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on Thursday produced a last-gasp stop to save AC Milan’s blushes in a scoreless draw with relegation-haunted Carpi that complicated the Serie A giants’ Europa League hopes.
A win against the league’s new boys would have pulled Milan to within four points of fifth-placed ACF Fiorentina and kept them firmly in contention for a place in next season’s Europa League.
However, Milan failed to fire, completely missing their few opportunities on goal and had to rely on Donnarumma to produce a great stop in the dying minutes when Marco Crimi unleashed a left-footed curler that was heading for the top corner.
Photo: EPA
Feted by the club last week when Milan claimed their first win under his control, newly appointed coach Cristian Brocchi dropped his first points since replacing sacked Sinisa Mihajlovic barely two weeks ago — and fans were quick to respond by whistling the misfiring Rossoneri off the San Siro pitch.
Milan remained in sixth place on 29 points behind leaders and champions-in-waiting Juventus, who beat SS Lazio 3-0 on Wednesday to maintain their nine-point cushion on SSC Napoli with four games remaining.
Qualification for the second-tier competition in europe — once unthinkable for a club who have been crowned European champions seven times — is becoming difficult, especially with US Sassuolo only four points adrift in seventh.
Now six points behind Fiorentina, Milan have two chances to play European soccer next season: beating Juventus in the Coppa Italia final — the victors of which are given a spot in the Europa League — or making sure they finish in sixth place.
If Juventus, who have already qualified for the Champions League, win the final in Rome on May 21, the Europa League spot will go to the sixth-placed finisher in Serie A.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set