Newcastle, CSKA Moscow and AZ Alkmaar picked up victories Thursday in the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarterfinals.
Alan Shearer gave Newcastle the only goal it needed in a 1-0 victory over visiting Sporting Lisbon. AZ won 2-1 at Spain's Villarreal, handing the Spaniards their first home loss this season in the competition.
In the landslide of the night, CSKA Moscow overpowered Auxerre 4-0.
In the fourth quarterfinal, Austria Vienna rallied to draw 1-1 with Parma. The second legs are next Thursday with the semifinals set for April 28 and May 5.
The final of Europe's No. 2 club competition is May 18 in Lisbon.
At Newcastle, England, Shearer's first-half goal lifted Newcastle over Sporting. Shearer scored with a header in the 37th minute, his 19th goal of the season, off a free kick from Laurent Robert.
It was Shearer's 192nd goal for the club. The 34-year-old striker has scored in every European match he has played this season.
Newcastle coach Graeme Souness started midfielder Kieron Dyer, but left fellow midfielder Lee Bowyer on the bench. In the 63rd, Bowyer came on when Dyer picked up a leg injury.
The two got into a fight with 10 minutes remaining in the club's 3-0 loss to Aston Villa last weekend. Bowyer was apparently angry that Dyer didn't pass the ball to him enough.
Bowyer was banned for four domestic games, and Dyer was banned for three. Bowyer was also fined six weeks wage, about ?210,000 (305,000 euros ).
At Villarreal, Spain, Denny Landzaat and Robin Nelisse scored in each half to lead AZ Alkmaar over Villarreal 2-1. Juan Roman Riquelme scored for the hosts, but also missed a penalty which could have averted Villarreal's first home defeat in the competition.
It was also the first home game in the competition in which the Spaniards have given up a goal.
Villarreal, the only Spanish team to reach the last eight of either the UEFA Cup or the Champions League, fell behind in the 11th when Landzaat scored from the edge of the penalty area.
Lacking ineligible leading scorer Diego Forlan, Villarreal leveled three minutes later. Nelisse scored the winning goal in the 74th minute, following Jan Kromkamp's run and low pass from the left.
At Moscow, Yuri Zhirkov set up two goals and Sergei Ignashevich converted a penalty kick to lift CSKA Moscow to a 4-0 win over Auxerre, giving the Russians a big edge going into next week's second leg.
CSKA dominated early and had several more chances to score before taking the lead when Chidi Odia's shot from inside the box deflected in off Auxerre midfielder Lionel Mathis in the 21st minute.
Ignashevich doubled the lead, converting a penalty attempt in the 62nd. Nine minutes later, Vagner Love made it 3-0 from close range, and Zhirkov set up the final goal, working to the line and rolling it across to Rolan Gusev, who scored in the 78th.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Pascal Mignot was sent off in the 83rd on his second yellow card.
At Vienna, Austria, Sebastian Mila equalized in the 60th minute to help Austria Vienna hold Parma to a 1-1 draw. Mila scored at the near post after a pass from Stepan Vachousek.
Andrea Pisanu gave the Italian team the lead -- and an important away goal -- in the 34th minute. Pisanu beat goalkeeper Szabolcs Safar with a deflected shot.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,