Sevilla were unable to capitalize on their dominant performance in a 2-1 Champions League win over Leicester City on Wednesday as Jamie Vardy scored a crucial goal — his first of the year — to keep the English champions alive in the round of 16.
Vardy capped a spirited second half for Leicester in the first leg with a 73rd-minute goal in one of the few chances created by the visitors at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville.
Pablo Sarabia and Joaquin Correa scored in each half for Sevilla to leave the Spanish club a draw away from reaching the quarter-finals of the European competition for the first time in nearly 60 years.
Photo: Reuters
“We were far superior, with some 10 clear chances, but we were not able to earn the advantage that we wanted,” Sevilla manager Jorge Sampaoli said. “We deserved more.”
Only 15 minutes into the game Correa missed a penalty for the hosts, who are three-time defending champions in the Europa League, but have not advanced past the last 16 in the Champions League since 1958.
“We suffered,” Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said. “In the end we improved a bit and the goal leaves it open for the return match. That was crucial for us. We know they are favorites, but we have played some great games at home in what has been a very strange season for us.”
Sarabia opened the scoring with a firm header into the far corner after a cross by Sergio Escudero from the left side and Correa made up for his missed penalty by adding to the lead from close range after a pass by Stevan Jovetic in the 62nd minute.
“They had 22 shots or something like that and we knew today was going to be tough and we’d have to ride our luck a couple of times and I was going to have to come up with some saves here and there, but everyone deserves great credit for today,” said Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who easily stopped Correa’s weak penalty shot.
Struggling to stay out of the relegation zone in their Premier League title defense, Leicester scored the important away goal when Vardy got to a low left-side cross by Danny Drinkwater.
“We knew we had to be patient, but we also knew we could hurt them if we got through their first press and hit them a bit quicker, and that’s exactly what we did,” Vardy said.
Drinkwater “got through and put it on a plate for me and I’ve managed to slot it in,” he said.
Sevilla almost claimed a third goal after an 88th-minute header by Adil Rami struck the crossbar.
“We had several opportunities, we had to score more goals,” Jovetic said. “You have to score in every chance you get, especially in a Champions League game like this, otherwise it becomes difficult.”
Sampaoli watched from the stands as part of a two-match touchline ban when he was sent off in a group-stage game against Juventus.
In Wednesday’s other Champions League match, Juventus defeated hosts Porto 2-0 with second-half goals by substitutes Marko Pjaca and Dani Alves.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was