Everton, Benfica, Hamburg, Fenerbahce and Red Bull Salzburg confirmed their places in the knockout phase of the Europa League on Wednesday, but Lazio and Celtic crashed out of European competition.
Hamburg SV made sure of their spot in the last 32 with a 2-0 victory at home to Rapid Vienna, thereby rendering Celtic’s 2-0 win against Hapoel Tel-Aviv at Celtic Park immaterial and also securing the progress of the Israeli side.
Georgios Samaras’ flying 22nd-minute header and a stylish free-kick by Barry Robson earned Celtic their first win in the competition against Hapoel.
PHOTO: AFP
The 2003 runners-up needed Hamburg to lose to stand any chance of going through though, and the Bundesliga outfit secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Rapid Vienna with second-half goals by Marcell Jansen and Marcus Berg.
Benfica won 2-1 at Belarusian outfit BATE Borisov to seal top spot in Group I, with Everton making sure of second place by beating Greece’s AEK 1-0 via a well-taken goal by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov in the sixth minute.
“I am pleased with how the young boys who came on did,” said Everton coach David Moyes, who lost both Dan Gosling and Sylvain Distin to injury inside the first 15 minutes and had to hand a debut to 17-year-old defender Shane Duffy. “It’s great experience for them.”
Javier Saviola and Fabio Coentrao were both on target for Portuguese giants Benfica, who are assured of the top berth in the group with one game remaining because of a superior head-to-head record against Everton.
Red Bull Salzburg’s 2-1 victory over AS Lazio was their fifth straight win in the competition.
It sent the Austrian champions through as Group G winners and Lazio cannot catch second-placed Villarreal after the Spanish side won 2-0 at Levski Sofia.
Somen Tchoyi’s fine solo goal with 12 minutes remaining proved the difference between the sides after Lazio midfielder Pasquale Foggia had canceled out Rabiu Afolabi’s 52nd-minute opener.
Giuseppe Rossi and Marcos Senna were the scorers in Villarreal’s victory in Sofia and the Spanish side are guaranteed to finish second in their group despite being only three points ahead of Lazio with a game to play because of a better aggregate record against Davide Ballardini’s charges.
Valencia took over the Group B summit by defeating previous pool leaders Lille 3-1 thanks to a brace from Joaquin and a second-half Juan Mata strike, with the other game in the group between Genoa and Slavia Prague ending in a 0-0 draw that eliminates the Czech side, but keeps the Italians in the hunt.
In Group H, Fenerbahce made sure of qualification by beating second-placed FC Twente 1-0, while Moldova’s FC Sheriff Tiraspol remain in contention after a 1-1 draw at home to Steaua Bucharest ended the Romanians’ hopes.
Ajax were already assured of their progress from Group A before they won 2-1 at FC Timisoara. Dinamo Zagreb won 1-0 at Anderlecht to keep their hopes alive.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
BRING THE NOISE: Brazil’s Fonseca attracted a boisterous crowd that brought such dominant soccer-style energy the referee switched to Portuguese to ask for quiet Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Monday put an end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca’s challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest. Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout the day, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca’s match, complete with Brazilian flags and soccer-style chanting. Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with blistering forehands and a partisan crowd. Such was the dominance of Fonseca’s raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet. However, De
RSS