Four-time European champions Ajax on Thursday cruised to a 4-1 victory in Bulgaria in UEFA Europa League qualifying, while Aberdeen returned to the scene of their European triumph and fought back for a draw.
For their Europa League playoff round first leg, Aberdeen went to Gothenburg, where they beat Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup final in 1983, and salvaged a 2-2 draw as Swedish champions Hacken imploded in the final 15 minutes.
A penalty from Ibrahim Sadiq put the hosts two goals up after 69 minutes. Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski turned his defender and fired home after 75 minutes. The North Macedonian then set up Nicky Devlin, bursting into the penalty area for the rightback’s first Aberdeen goal four minutes later.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Hacken’s Johan Hammar earned a second yellow card for blocking Miovski in the 90th minute. Aberdeen then went close twice and a had a strike ruled out for offside in stoppage-time.
Ghana international Mohammed Kudus scored a hat-trick as Ajax won 4-1 away at Ludogorets in Bulgaria. Brian Brobbey hit the other Ajax goal and defender Olivier Verdon scored a late reply for the hosts.
KI Klaksvik, already sure to become the first Faroese club to secure a place in the group stage of a European competition, drew 1-1 with Moldovan side Sheriff in Torshavn.
Danish defender Patrick da Silva gave the hosts a 52nd-minute lead. Jerome Ngom Mbekeli, who plays as a defender for Cameroon, but as a striker for Sheriff, replied in the 73rd minute.
Last season’s surprise quarter-finalists Royale Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium beat Lugano 2-0.
In the Europa Conference League, Manfred Ugalde gave Twente a 20th-minute lead in Istanbul, but Fenerbahce hit back with a 30th-minute goal by former Twente defender Jayden Oosterwolde. The hosts scored four times in the final 30 minutes to win 5-1.
On a good night for Turkish clubs, Kazakhstan international Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov scored five minutes into stoppage-time to give Besiktas a 3-2 victory over Dynamo Kyiv in Bucharest.
Kolo Muani put Eintracht Frankfurt, the 2021-2022 Europa League winners, ahead away to Levski Sofia, but Hassimi Fadiaga leveled in the dying seconds of five minutes of stoppage-time.
In Lille, France, 17-year-old defender Leny Yoro scored in the 89th minute as Lille OSC fought back for a 2-1 victory over HNK Rijeka of Croatia.
CA Osasuna’s European reprieve might prove short-lived as they lost 2-1 at home to Club Brugge.
The team from Pamplona qualified for Europe for the first time since 2006 only to be banned by UEFA for match-fixing allegations dating back to 2013. Their place was restored by the Court for Arbitration in Sport.
Andreas Skov Olsen gave the Belgian side a 50th-minute lead. Ezeqiuel Avila hit a 78th-minute equalizer, only for Maxim de Cuyper to restore Brugge’s lead two minutes later.
AZ, leading the Dutch league, were held 1-1 at home by Norwegian Cup holders SK Brann.
Chile international Niklas Castro gave the visitors a 59th-minute lead. Centerback Pantelis Chatzidiakos replied 12 minutes later.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
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