Benfica’s Paraguay forward Oscar Cardozo converted two second-half penalties to help them come from behind and beat 10-man Liverpool 2-1 as the Europa League dished up more drama in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
The other three first-leg ties also produced plenty of twists and turns on another exciting night in a competition often derided as the poor relation of European club soccer.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s winner gave Hamburg SV a 2-1 success at home to Standard Liege, the Germans also coming from behind, while David Villa scored a late equalizer to help Valencia draw 2-2 at home to Atletico Madrid in an all-Spanish clash.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Fulham — who thumped Juventus 4-1 at home in the last round to reach their first European quarter-final — continued their fine run with a 2-1 victory over German champions VfL Wolfsburg whose late goal took the gloss off the home side’s performance.
“We have got to be happy that the European adventure is very much alive here at Craven Cottage and we have taken another very famous scalp along the way,” Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said.
The match was billed as one of the west London club’s biggest, but Liverpool felt very differently about their trip to the Estadio da Luz to face Benfica in a clash of two former European champions.
Rafael Benitez’s team, in real danger of missing out on qualifying for next year’s Champions League, are looking on the Europa League as a mere consolation in a miserable season.
Liverpool were given a great start when Daniel Agger’s skilful flick silenced the home crowd after nine minutes.
However, their evening began to unravel after half an hour when their Netherlands forward Ryan Babel was sent off for a shove in the face of Benfica defender Luisao.
The hosts, starting with seven South Americans, equalized in the 59th minute when Cardozo buried a harshly awarded penalty after Emiliano Insua tangled with Pablo Aimar.
Cardozo produced a repeat 20 minutes later, again finding the bottom right corner of Pepe Reina’s goal after Jamie Carragher had blocked an Angel di Maria cross with his arm.
Valencia and Atletico Madrid produced a thriller for the 55,000 crowd at the Mestalla.
Uruguay forward Diego Forlan broke the deadlock in the 59th minute for Atletico, tapping in after Sergio Aguero had done the hard work.
Manuel Fernandes replied for Valencia with a long-range effort in the 67th, but Atletico captain Antonio Lopez headed the visitors back in front five minutes later.
Villa, set to lead Spain’s attack at the World Cup and scorer of a brilliant hat-trick in the previous round at Werder Bremen, swept home Vicente’s cross in the 82nd to equalize.
Striker Bobby Zamora belted Fulham in front after 59 minutes at Craven Cottage and Ireland winger Damien Duff struck again soon afterwards following further good work by Zamora.
Alexander Madlung headed Wolfsburg’s reply in the 89th minute.
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
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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,
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS