Harry “Slabhead” Maguire headed in the winner on Thursday as Manchester United produced an astonishing extra-time comeback to beat Olympique Lyonnais and set up a UEFA Europa League semi-final against Athletic Bilbao, while Tottenham Hotspur are also through to the last four after beating Eintracht Frankfurt.
Maguire’s header in stoppage-time in extra-time gave United a 5-4 win on the night at Old Trafford, and a 7-6 triumph on aggregate.
They appeared to be cruising toward the last four when, after a 2-2 first-leg draw last week in France, Manuel Ugarte turned in an Alejandro Garnacho cutback on 10 minutes and then Diogo Dalot fired home in first-half stoppage-time.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Bruno Fernandes had hit the bar with a brilliant volley in between and United had chances to kill the tie before Corentin Tolisso headed in on 71 minutes to give Lyon hope.
Nicolas Tagliafico then leveled the scores on the night, and in the tie, with 12 minutes of normal time remaining, his shot crossing the line before goalkeeper Andre Onana got a hand to it.
Lyon then had Tolisso sent off for a second yellow card just before the end of normal time, but they went 3-2 up when Rayan Cherki fired in following a fine run by Malick Fofana in the 105th minute.
The French side looked to be going through when Alexandre Lacazette netted a penalty to make it 4-2 on the night, and 6-4 on aggregate, five minutes into the second half of extra-time following a foul on Fofana by Luke Shaw.
However, almost from the restart the hosts were awarded a penalty of their own following a video assistant referee check for a foul on Casemiro and Fernandes converted to give them renewed hope.
A fine finish by substitute Kobbie Mainoo leveled the tie again in the 120th minute, seemingly setting up a shoot-out, but Maguire had the last word as he headed in Casemiro’s cross to spark delirium on the pitch and in the Old Trafford stands.
“It was a great night,” United head coach Ruben Amorim told broadcaster TNT Sports. “Here everything is possible, you feel the environment. At 4-3, after the Bruno Fernandes penalty, we felt we could change the game.”
United are to play Athletic in the last four, with the first leg in Bilbao, in their first European semi-final since losing the 2020-2021 Europa League final on penalties to Villarreal.
In Bilbao, Athletic beat Rangers 2-0 to progress to the last four following a goalless draw in the first leg in Glasgow.
Athletic went ahead on the night, and in the tie, in first-half stoppage-time when Oihan Sancet converted a penalty after Maroan Sannadi was fouled in the penalty area by John Souttar.
Nicolas Raskin struck the post for Rangers early in the second half, before Athletic secured the victory, and their qualification, when Nico Williams headed in a cross by Oscar de Marcos.
The Basque club are determined to go all the way to the final which is to be played in their home stadium, San Mames, on May 21.
Spurs, struggling in the English Premier League, beat 2021-2022 Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 on the night in Germany to advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Dominic Solanke scored the only goal of the game, netting a penalty two minutes before halftime after James Maddison was clattered by home goalkeeper Kaua Santos.
“Our fans have been through a tough time. Hopefully this gives them something to look forward to,” Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou said of his team’s victory.
It is Tottenham’s first European semi-final since their run to the UEFA Champions League final in 2018-2019 and they are to play Bodo/Glimt in the last four.
The Norwegian side beat SS Lazio 3-2 on penalties in Rome after another remarkable tie finished 3-3 on aggregate.
Lazio needed to overturn a 2-0 defeat from last week’s first leg and went ahead on the night through Taty Castellanos, before a Tijani Noslin goal deep in stoppage-time leveled the tie on aggregate and forced extra-time.
Boulaye Dia then headed Lazio into the lead in the 100th minute, only for Andreas Helmersen to pull it back to 3-1 on the night and even up the tie again.
He was then sent off, but Bodo/Glimt won the shoot-out when Castellanos became the third Lazio player to fail from the penalty spot.
They are the first Norwegian side to reach a European semi-final.
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
RSS