■SOCCER
Barcelona lose King’s Cup
Holders Barcelona crashed out of the King’s Cup on Wednesday when they won a thrilling last-16, second-leg match at Sevilla 1-0 but were eliminated on the away goals rule after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate. The Andalusians beat Barca 2-1 at the Nou Camp in the first leg and Pep Guardiola’s side can no longer match last year’s feat of winning an unprecedented six titles. After a closely fought first half on a sodden Sanchez Pizjuan pitch, a superb strike from midfielder Xavi in the 64th minute gave Barca hope and Lionel Messi fired a shot against a post in the 69th. Guardiola brought on forwards Bojan Krkic and Pedro with five minutes of regular time remaining and Barca pressed for the goal that would send them through, but Sevilla held firm.
■SOCCER
Milan advance, Juve recover
Mathieu Flamini scored the winner nine minutes from time as a second-string AC Milan team beat third-division Novara 2-1 at the San Siro on Wednesday to reach the Coppa Italia quarter-finals. The rossoneri were joined by Juventus and Catania after they recorded victories over Napoli and Genoa respectively. Milan coach Leonardo made 11 changes to the team that won 3-0 at Juventus on Sunday with Ronaldinho, loan signing David Beckham, Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Nesta not even included on the bench. Juventus bounced back from their weekend humbling as an Alessandro Del Piero brace, one from the spot, helped them to a 3-0 victory in Turin. Diego scored the first as a full-strength and attacking Juve blew away Napoli’s 14-match unbeaten run under coach Walter Mazzarri, although he did rest many first team regulars in a competition few teams take seriously in Italy. Catania recorded an impressive 2-1 win away to Genoa to reach the last eight. Inter Milan and AS Roma had previously also qualified for the quarters, with the final three qualifiers to be decided yesterday.
■SOCCER
PSG out of League Cup
A comical own goal from Paris Saint-Germain defender Mamadou Sakho handed second-division Guingamp a 1-0 victory and a place in the quarter-finals of the French League Cup on Wednesday. The promising 19-year-old defender horribly sliced an attempted clearance over his own goalkeeper Apoula Edel and into the net in the 80th minute after Brazilian forward Gilmar had seen his attempted lob parried. Second-division Metz were unable to repeat their 3-1 victory over Lyon at the same stage of last season’s competition as they were well beaten 3-0 at the Stade Gerland. Marseille needed a last-minute goal from Mamadou Niang to secure a 3-2 win at Saint-Etienne. Holders Bordeaux’s tie at Le Mans was postponed for the second time in two days after local authorities deemed the home side’s snowbound pitch unplayable.
■GOLF
Porter leads qualifying
Australian Ewan Porter shot a four-under-par 68 to take a one-stroke lead after yesterday’s first round of an Australasian qualifying tournament for this year’s British Open. Three players from the 44-man field contesting this 36-hole event at Kingston Heath in the Melbourne suburbs will qualify for the 139th Open Championship at St Andrews from July 15 to 18. Peter Senior and Aaron Townsend were another shot back with 69s, followed by fellow Australians Kurt Barnes and Kim Felton with 70s. Michael Wright shot 71 and seven golfers were tied with 72s.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
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