Rangers on Thursday stunned Borussia Dortmund 4-2 in the UEFA Europa League, while Barcelona had to come from behind to draw 1-1 at home to SSC Napoli in their playoff first leg.
In Dortmund, James Tavernier gave Rangers the lead with a 38th-minute penalty after a handball by Dan-Axel Zagadou from a corner.
Three minutes later, Dortmund again failed to cope with a Rangers corner when Joe Aribo nodded the ball to the far post where Alfredo Morelos was unmarked and scored from close range.
Photo: AP
Four minutes after halftime, Ryan Kent, who tormented Dortmund all night, found John Lundstram, who scored with a powerful strike.
Jude Bellingham replied for the hosts with a rasping left-foot shot, but two minutes after that Rangers scored again, as Zagadou, attempting to deprive Morelos of another tap-in, deflected the ball into his own goal.
Pedro Guerreiro cut the deficit with eight minutes left with a ferocious long-range shot, but Rangers survived without further scares.
“It is a great night, but only a great night,” Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said. “We are not through to the next round, which is what we want. We know we have to have a good performance next week.”
Napoli gained a 1-1 draw in Barcelona.
The visitors, challenging for the Serie A title, opened the scoring at the Camp Nou against hosts who are scrambling just to finish in the top four in La Liga.
Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski ran onto his own rebound to slam the ball home after 29 minutes.
Barcelona increasingly dominated possession, but needed one of four penalties awarded for handball by the video assistant referee in the Europa League on Thursday to level.
Adama Traore’s cross hit Juan Jesus on the arm after 59 minutes. Ferran Torres converted the penalty with confidence for his first goal at the Camp Nou for Barcelona, but his cool deserted him as he hit two good chances over the crossbar with Barcelona dominating the closing stages.
“We played very good football, but of course, it’s not a friendly, it’s the Europa League. The result is insufficient, but I am very happy with the performance,” Barcelona coach Xavi said.
Real Betis Balompie, who won 3-2 at Zenit St Petersburg, and Sevilla, who beat visiting Dinamo Zagreb 3-1, both stayed on course for the final in their home city.
Ivan Rakitic gave Sevilla the lead from the penalty spot.
The next three goals came in four minutes just before halftime. Mislav Orsic leveled for the visitors, but Sevilla quickly replied through Lucas Ocampos and Anthony Martial, his first goal since arriving from Manchester United.
Zenit, who have played only friendlies since their last Russian League game on Dec. 12, looked rusty at the start conceding to Guido Rodriguez and Willian Jose in the first 18 minutes.
Artem Dzyuba and Malcolm brought Zenit level with goals three minutes apart, but the hosts then presented Betis with the winner in the 41st minute.
Aitor Ruibal ambushed Yaroslav Rakitskyy and found Andres Guardado, who curled the ball into the goal.
Real Sociedad grabbed a 2-2 draw away to RB Leipzig.
The Basque sided led twice, first with a goal by defender Robin Le Normand. before Christopher Nkunku leveled for Leipzig.
Mikel Oyarzabal restored the lead with a penalty, but Emil Forsberg leveled from the penalty spot with eight minutes left.
Atalanta BC came from behind to edge Olympiacos 2-1 in Bergamo, Italy.
Albanian defender Berat Djimsiti, who had not scored since November 2018, struck twice within two minutes following corners.
In Tiraspol, SC Braga dominated possession and had more goal attempts, but Sheriff won 2-0.
Midfielder Sebastien Thill scored a first-half penalty and with Braga pressing, Sheriff sealed the victory on the counterattack in the 83rd minute with a goal by Adama Traore.
Toni Martinez scored a brace as Porto rallied from a goal down to beat SS Lazio 2-1.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS