Bruno Fernandes on Thursday netted a hat-trick as Manchester United beat Real Sociedad 4-1 in their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 second leg, while Tottenham Hotspur bounced back to edge AZ 3-2 on aggregate and Rangers knocked out Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce 3-2 on penalties.
Two spot-kicks and a late arrowed finish from Fernandes sent United into the quarter-finals by a 5-2 aggregate margin against 10-man Sociedad.
“We need to help him win titles, because he deserves it,” United head coach Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports of his captain. “It was a good performance. The physicality was there... Even without the sending-off, you felt that the team were going to win this game.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
A 10th-minute penalty gave the visitors the lead at Old Trafford, before Fernandes converted from 12 yards in the 16th and 50th minutes.
Jon Aramburu saw red shortly after the hour and United took full advantage with Fernandes rifling in a third three minutes from time and Diogo Dalot rubber-stamping an emphatic victory in stoppage-time.
Amorim’s side are to meet Olympique Lyonnais in the next round.
Photo: AFP
Goals in either half from Wilson Odobert and James Maddison in London earned Spurs a 3-1 win against AZ.
Odobert scored following sloppy AZ defending to get Spurs level on aggregate in the 26th minute, after the first leg finished 1-0 to the Dutch side.
Maddison put the hosts 2-0 up three minutes into the second half with an arrowed finish, before Peer Koopmeiners responded after the hour to level the tie.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Odobert grabbed his second and Spurs’ third on the night in the 74th minute to set up a quarter-final meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt.
“We’ve progressed, which is the main thing,” Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou said. “We played pretty well, I thought we were really in control of the game, but we were our own worst enemies at times. It got a bit nervy towards the end, but we thoroughly deserved to progress.”
After losing the first leg in Istanbul 3-1, Fenerbahce fought back at Rangers to win 2-0.
Polish winger Sebastian Szymanski produced two cute finishes in the 45th and 73rd minutes to force extra-time with the aggregate score locked at 3-3, but three missed spot-kicks by the Turkish side handed Rangers a 3-2 win in the shoot-out and a last-eight clash with Athletic Bilbao.
“We deserved to win over 90 minutes, we deserved to win after 120 minutes, we were the best team by far,” Mourinho said. “We did everything to win. The ref and the VAR [video assistant referee] decided that we should go to penalties. Congratulations to Rangers, but I think my team deserves everything from me, from our supporters and even from Turkey as a country.”
Euro 2024 winner Nico Williams grabbed a vital brace as Athletic Bilbao overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit to progress 4-3 on aggregate against AS Roma, who lost centerhalf Mats Hummels to an early red card.
It was a better evening for fellow Italian capital club SS Lazio, who progressed 3-2 on aggregate against Viktoria Plzen after a 1-1 draw in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Mario Goetze netted a brace as Eintracht Frankfurt won 4-1 at home against Ajax, claiming a handsome 6-2 victory over both legs.
Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt lost 2-1 against Olympiakos in Athens, but went through 4-2 on aggregate.
Olympique Lyonnais scored four without reply at home to thump Romania’s FCSB 7-1 on aggregate.
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
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to