Marcos Reus scored a hat-trick as Borussia Dortmund cruised into the Europa League group stage on Thursday, with Athletic Bilbao and Ajax also advancing alongside Azerbaijani clubs Qarabag and Gabala, but England’s Southampton crashed at the first hurdle.
Dortmund went on a goal spree in Germany to continue their dream start to the season under new coach Thomas Tuchel in a 7-2 rout — 11-5 on aggregate — over Norwegian side Odds BK.
Ole Jorgen Halvorsen had put the Norwegians ahead after 19 minutes, but six minutes later Henrikh Mikhiaryan leveled, with Reus scoring two goals in five minutes and a third after the break.
Photo: AP
Ilkay Gundogan and a Shinji Kagawa double gave the German side a seventh win in all competitions under Tuchel.
Southampton failed in their bid to join Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in the group stage, falling behind following a 28th-minute goal from former Celtic striker Morten Rasmussen, which send Danish champions Midtjylland through 2-1 on aggregate. Ronald Koeman’s side were unable to break through in heavy rain at the CH Arena with a sloppy Jay Rodriguez pass allowing Rasmussen to slot in the decider.
Athletic Bilbao turned around a 3-2 loss to Slovak side MSK Zilina with a first-half goal from Gorka Elustondo giving the beaten 2012 finalists a 1-0 win, 3-3 on aggregate and victory on away goals. The win was a boost for Ernesto Valverde’s side following a loss in their opening match of La Liga, falling 1-0 at home to Barcelona last weekend.
In Istanbul, Fenerbahce earned a 3-0 win over Greek side Atromitos with a double from Brazilian Fernandao. It gave the 2013 semi-finalists a 4-0 aggregate win having an away-goal advantage after Robin van Persie scored his first goal for the club since joining the Turkish club from Manchester United last month.
Dutch giants Ajax advanced 1-0 on aggregate following a goalless draw against Czech minnows Jablonec. Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen saved a penalty and Frank de Boer’s side played the last half an hour with 10 men after Dutch teenage midfielder Riechedly Bazoer was sent off for a second yellow card. Ajax go through thanks to Arkadiusz Milik’s second-half penalty in Amsterdam a week ago.
French clubs Girondins de Bordeaux and AS Saint-Etienne joined Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco in the group stage. An Enzo Crivelli backheeled goal secured Bordeaux’s passage on away goals despite a 2-1 loss against Kairat Almaty.
A first-half Benjamin Corgnet header saw Saint-Etienne through with a 1-0 win at home over Moldova’s Milsami Orhei and a 2-1 aggregate score following a 1-1 draw.
Azerbaijan have two teams through with Qarabag and Gabala both advancing at the expense of Swiss club Young Boys (1-0, 3-0) and Greek club Panathinaokos (0-0, 2-2) respectively.
In other aggregate second-leg results after playoff games on Thursday, Belenenses beat Altach 1-0; Legia Warsaw beat Zarya Luhansk 4-2; Athletic Club advanced on away goals against Zilina 3-3; Dinamo Minsk beat Salzburg 3-2; Molde beat Standard Liege on away goals 3-3; Viktoria Plzen beat Vojvodina Novi Sad 5-0; AZ Alkmaar defeated Astra 4-3; and PAOK Salonika beat Brondby 6-1.
Elsewhere, Fenerbahce beat Atromitos Athinon 4-0; Slovan Liberec beat Hajduk Split 2-0; Rosenborg Trondheim defeated Steaua Bucharest 3-1; Sparta Prague beat Thun 6-4; Krasnodar downed HJK Helsinki 5-1; Lech Poznan beat Videoton 4-0; and Rubin Kazan defeated Rabotnicki Skopje 2-1.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
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
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