Anderlecht kept up their 100 percent record in the Europa League with a 2-0 win at Sturm Graz, while Udinese struck late to sink Atletico Madrid by the same score in Thursday’s top match.
Anderlecht sprung to life midway through the second half when Guillaume Gillet’s opening goal was quickly followed by a red card for Sturm’s Thomas Burgstaller.
Matias Suarez then grabbed his fifth goal of the competition to keep the twice European Cup Winners’ Cup holders and former UEFA Cup winners top of Group L with nine points from three games.
Photo: Reuters
Group C leaders PSV Eindhoven, who won 1-0 at Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Group D leaders Sporting of Portugal, who beat Vaslui 2-0, are the only other sides with maximum points after three games.
Mehdi Benatia gave Udinese an 89th-minute lead against Atletico despite mishitting his close-range shot and Floro Flores fired in from Emmanuel Badu’s pass in the fourth minute of stoppage-time to take the Italian side top of Group I.
Former European champions Steaua Bucharest had two players sent off as they lost 5-0 at Maccabi Haifa in Group J, with leaders Schalke 04 winning by the same score at AEK Larnaca.
Group G leaders Metalist Kharkiv won 4-1 at Malmo, despite playing more than half the game with 10 men. Argentine Jonathan Cristaldo was hero and villain for the Ukrainians as he scored their first goal, but was sent off five minutes later.
Fernando Llorente converted two penalties in six minutes to give Athletic Bilbao a 2-2 home draw with Salzburg after the Group F leaders had trailed 2-0.
Twice UEFA Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur beat visitors Rubin Kazan 1-0 thanks to a sizzling free-kick from their Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko to take control of Group A.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
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
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