COPPA ITALIA
Dallinga scores brace
A Thijs Dallinga double on Tuesday helped Bologna to a 3-0 win against Empoli in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final as the visitors remained on course to end their more than 50-year wait to lift the trophy. The relegation-threatened hosts were outclassed by UEFA Champions League-chasing Bologna, who took the lead in the 23rd minute when Jens Odgaard crossed from the left to find Riccardo Orsolini unmarked. The visitors doubled their advantage six minutes later with Dallinga tucking away a perfect through-ball from Dan Ndoye and six minutes after the interval the pair combined again with Dallinga sliding in to finish off Ndoye’s pass across goal.
Photo: Reuters
COUPE DE FRANCE
PSG avoid upset
Paris Saint-Germain avoided a huge upset on Tuesday when they rallied from two goals down to beat second-tier USL Dunkerque 4-2 and reach the Coupe de France final. It seemed a mismatch between unbeaten Ligue 1 leaders PSG and Dunkerque, who are fifth in Ligue 2, but PSG’s fourth goal only came deep into stoppage-time and on the counterattack with Dunkerque pushing hard for an equalizer. The final is scheduled for May 24, with the other semi-final — to be played after press time last night — between AS Cannes and Stade de Rennais.
Photo: AFP
BUNDESLIGA
Supporters buy stake
St Pauli supporters have raised more than 27 million euros (US$29.1 million) for a majority stake in the club’s stadium after taking part in German soccer’s first fan cooperative, the Hamburg-based club said on Tuesday. More than 21,000 people joined the fundraising cooperative after its near five-month subscription period ended at a minute to midnight the night before, the club said. St Pauli said there had been a “huge rush” of people buying shares to be part-owners of the Millerntor Stadium in the final hours. They each spent 850 euros for each share they bought, with 100 euros of that going on fees and contributions. Each purchase entered the buyer in a draw for prizes including a dinner with team captain Jackson Irvine, VIP packages, signed jerseys and more.
ARGENTINA
Maradona’s heart explained
Experts involved in Diego Maradona’s autopsy on Tuesday testified at the trial of seven health professionals accused of negligent homicide that the star had an abnormally large heart, suffered from cirrhosis and showed no traces of alcohol or drugs at the time of is death. Forensic expert Alejandro Ezequiel Vega told the court that Maradona’s heart was “enlarged” and weighed about 503g, when the average weight is between 250g and 300g. Maradona, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in 1986, died on Nov. 25, 2020. He was 60. Vega said that the examination of Maradona’s heart showed that the former star had “ischemia,” with “lack of blood flow and oxygen.” The autopsy concluded that Maradona died of acute pulmonary edema secondary to congestive heart failure.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
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