Enzo Maresca's penalty two minutes from the end salvaged a 2-2 draw for defending UEFA Cup champion Sevilla against Shakhtar Donetsk in a game with three successful spot kicks on Thursday.
Top of the Spanish league, Sevilla seemed to be moving confidently toward a place in the last eight when Jose Luis Marti scored with an eighth-minute penalty at Stadio Pizjuan. But the Ukrainian side hit back with Tomas Hubschman's 19th-minute equalizer and a 60th-minute penalty by Brazilian midfielder Matuzalem.
Maresca, who started his pro career with West Bromwich Albion in England and then moved to Italian soccer powerhouse Juventus, made it 2-2 from the spot two minutes from the end after he was fouled by Olexiy Gay. But Shakhtar have the advantage of two away goals when the teams meet again in Donetsk next Thursday.
PHOTO: AP
"I don't like the result but that's what we've got," Sevilla coach Juande Ramos said. "It's not positive because it obliges us to win or draw with a lot of goals. I'm not surprised because our opponent is Champions League level."
On a poor night for the four Spanish clubs trying to reach the last eight, Osasuna conceded an injury time-equalizer to finish 1-1 at Rangers and Celta Vigo lost 1-0 at home to Werder Bremen.
Espanyol earned a 0-0 draw at Maccabi Haifa, the home side's substitute Shlomi Arbaitman having a goal disallowed for offside 10 minutes from the end.
PHOTO: AFP
Hugo Almeida scored for Bremen with six minutes remaining, leaving Celta to deal with a home defeat and a tough ask to reach the last eight.
Osasuna led at Ibrox through Raul Garcia after 16 minutes but Rangers hit back through French midfielder Brahim Hemdani in injury time.
Robbie Keane's second goal was an injury-time winner as Tottenham won 3-2 at Sporting Braga. He beat the Braga offside trap to net the winner after Braga had come back from 2-0 down and appeared to have snatched a draw.
Aaron Lennon's improvised, flicked-up lob set up Keane on the volley from 18m in the 57th minute. In the 72nd, Lennon ended a dribble with a shot that goalkeeper Paulo Santos couldn't hold, and Steed Malbranque netted the rebound for Spurs' second.
Paulo Jorge replied for Braga in the 75th by scoring from the rebound after Spurs' England goalkeeper Paul Robinson blocked his penalty. Ze Carlos Silva made it 2-2 with a long-range, near-post header in the 81st.
Newcastle beat Louis van Gaal's AZ Alkmaar 4-2 in a thrilling end-to-end game in which five goals were scored in the first half with Obafemi Martins scoring twice.
An own goal by Gretar Steinsson and two goals in a minute by Kieron Dyer and Martins gave the Magpies a 3-0 lead inside the first 23 minutes. Shota Arveladze hit back with a powerful diving header for the Dutch club in the 31st but Martins made it 4-1 in the 37th.
Danny Koevermans scored a second for AZ in the 72nd from the rebound after Moussa Dembele's poorly taken free kick was blocked by goalkeeper Shay Given.
Paris Saint-Germain rallied from a goal down to edge Benfica 2-1.
After Simao Sabrosa gave the visitors a ninth-minute lead, Portugal international striker Pauleta equalized in the 36th minute and then began the move that led to Alain Frau scoring the second in the 41st.
Lens edged Bayer Leverkusen 2-1.
Olivier Monterrubio gave Lens the lead in the 17th with a lob over goalkeeper Rene Adler, and was fouled which led to Daniel Cousin sealing the win with a penalty in the 70th. Karim Haggui, who fouled Monterrubio and was sent off, scored for the visitor in the 51st.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
RSS