Italian striker Luca Toni inspired Bayern Munich to a 6-0 rout of Greek side Aris to book their berth in the UEFA Cup knock-out round on Wednesday as English side Bolton advanced without kicking a ball.
Two goals in either half from Toni maintained Bayern Munich's decade-long unbeaten UEFA home record and defenders Christian Lell and Philipp Lahm completed the rout of Aris as the under-pressure Germans finished comfortably on top of Group F.
Both Toni's first-half goals, on 25 and 38 minutes, came from Franck Ribery's creativity in midfield and after the break the French striker again combined with the Italian for his hat-trick on 64 minutes.
PHOTO: AFP
Lahm set up Toni's fourth just two minutes later before Lell bagged Bayern's fifth and then Lahm completed the rout on 81 minutes.
"I am glad that we could reward our fans with an end-of-year goal feast," Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said.
"The last few weeks have been difficult, there has been a lot of speculation [about his future] but that's part of my job. We played well and dominated the opposition. Now we can prepare the second half of the season calmly which is the most important," Hitzfeld said.
Bolton's hopes of qualification were out of their hands, and the Premier league side, who had been leading the group after playing all their matches, could have been eliminated if results did not go their way.
But Sporting Braga's 2-0 win over Red Star Belgrade thanks to goals from Roland Linz (11) and Wenderson Wender (66) ensured the Portuguese qualified at the expense of Aris with Bolton claiming the third qualifying spot.
Bayern finished with eight points from four games with Braga and Bolton on six each.
Bolton manager Gary Megson warned his side against premature celebrations as they join the British contingent already qualified for the last 32 -- Tottenham, Everton and Rangers.
"We are pleased to go through to the knock-out phase of the UEFA Cup," Megson said.
"It's a testament to the hard work of the players and we now look forward to the draw on Friday. However it's important that we don't get carried away with our progression as we have some very important Barclays Premier League fixtures coming up over the festive period -- we cannot lose focus of that," he said.
In Group G, Spanish side Getafe finished top ahead of Tottenham after their 2-1 win over Belgian outfit Anderlecht, who nevertheless took the third qualifying spot after Hapoel Tel Aviv fell 3-1 at home against already-eliminated Aalborg of Denmark.
Panionios Athens threw away their chance to qualify from Group H as they let a two-goal lead slip to fall 3-2 at already-qualified Bordeaux.
The Greek club's defeat allowed Turkish side Galatasaray, the 2000 champions, to grab the third berth despite a goalless draw at home to tailenders Austria Vienna.
Bordeaux had already qualified as group leaders ahead of Swedish club Helsingborgs and the French lined out with a second-string team.
Rafik Djebbour put Panionios ahead from the penalty spot after six minutes and then set up Grigoris Makos for their second after 20 minutes.
But a Fernando Cavenaghi double after 40 and 75 minutes brought the French level and Wilfried Moimbe netting the winner three minutes from time.
In Group E, where there was nothing to play for but pride, already-qualified Bayer Leverkusen finished top after a 5-0 rout at Swiss side FC Zurich, who also advance.
Previous leaders Spartak Moscow qualified second despite falling 2-1 at Toulouse as the French achieved their first win thanks to a double from Tunisian international Francileudo Santos.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS