Valencia rallied to beat Rayo Vallecano de Madrid 2-1 in a first-leg match of the round-of-16 in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
Alex Moreno capitalized on a Lucas Orban error as the Valencia defender mishit a clearance straight to him inside the penalty area for an easy 27th-minute tap-in.
Rayo goalkeeper David Cobeno failed to hold a ball in the penalty area and Francisco Alcazer pounced to equalize in the 70th minute.
Five minutes from time, Rayo lost possession in their own half and Valencia midfielder Rodrigo de Paul sprinted up the right flank to fire a powerful shot inside the far post.
Also on Thursday, goals by Gerard Moreno and Matias Nahuel secured Villarreal a 2-1 win against Cadiz.
Moreno opened the scoring for Villarreal when he controlled Jose Naranjo’s pass and skillfully dribbled past two defenders to shoot in the 17th minute.
Villarreal’s 18-year-old Argentine midfielder, Nahuel, shot inside goalkeeper Riki Alonso’s far post from Gerard’s assist four minutes later.
Cadiz pulled one back in the 47th minute when defender Aitor Arregi raced forward to pounce on a loose ball in the area after Villarreal defenders failed to clear a corner-kick taken by Kike Lopez.
Villarreal defender Adrian Marin was ejected for a straight red card after a clumsy challenge from behind on Cadiz forward Enrique Lopez in the 58th minute and the team then went down to nine men when central defender Israel Puerto had to leave the field hurt after coach Marcelino Garcia made all the substitutions allowed.
Elsewhere, new coach David Moyes’ Real Sociedad drew 0-0 with Real Oviedo, although striker Alfred Finnbogason missed a chance for Sociedad when his shot went just wide of the right post in the 56th minute.
Third-tier Oviedo coach Sergio Egea was ejected for vociferously calling for a penalty in the 66th minute.
Oviedo goalkeeper Esteban Suarez was happy with his team’s performance.
“Now we have to wait to see if we can win away, but what this club really wants is to get promoted out of this division,” Suarez said.
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
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
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
RSS