COPPA ITALIA
Juventus reach quarters
Juventus on Tuesday advanced to the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Udinese after teenage defender Matteo Palma scored an own-goal and conceded a penalty. Juventus, who hold the record for the most Cup trophies with 15, next face either Atalanta BC or Genoa, who were to play after press time last night. The Bianconeri took the lead midway through the first half when US international Weston McKennie did well down the right flank before putting in a low cross that Palma turned into his own net as he tried to anticipate Jonathan David. A video review in the second half spotted that the 17-year-old Palma had fouled Juan Cabal in the penalty area. Substitute Manuel Locatelli struck the resulting spot-kick straight down the middle.
Photo: EPA
LA LIGA
Barcelona boost lead
Barcelona on Tuesday increased their lead in the league by coming from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 3-1, with Dani Olmo scoring the go-ahead goal, but hurting his shoulder in the process. Olmo injured his left shoulder in a fall after sending a left-footed strike into the net in the 65th minute for Barcelona’s second goal at the Camp Nou. Atletico had opened the scoring with Alex Baena. Raphinha equalized for the hosts in the first half. Olmo was in visible pain after going down and could not celebrate the goal that left Barcelona four points ahead of Real Madrid. The Barcelona playmaker was immediately substituted and had to be assisted off the field by the club’s medical staff. Tempers flared late in the first half, with Barcelona’s Gerard Martin booked for a rash sliding tackle on Giuliano Simeone during an Atletico counterattack. The visitors called for a red card, but referee Ricardo de Burgos deemed the challenge deserving of only a yellow. Ferran Torres, who replaced Olmo, sealed the victory for Barcelona deep into stoppage-time. “It was a key match and these three points were important,” Raphinha said after Barcelona’s fifth straight league win. “They could help decide the league in the end.”
DFB-POKAL
Leverkusen advance
Ibrahim Maza’s first-half strike on Tuesday was enough for Bayer 04 Leverkusen to knock Borussia Dortmund out of the Cup with a 1-0 win in their third-round encounter. Maza scored in the 34th minute after a team move from the back. Alex Grimaldo played the 20-year-old Algeria forward through, and though Waldemar Anton blocked Maza’s first effort, he curled the ball in with his second after beating Anton and another Dortmund defender to the ball. Elsewhere, Hertha BSC enjoyed a 6-1 rout of second-division rivals Kaiserslautern, Louis Oppie scored the winner for St Pauli, who beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1, and Christoph Baumgartner scored twice as RB Leipzig won 3-1 against second-division side Magdeburg. Fans across all of the games stayed quiet for the first 12 minutes to protest a German government proposal to increase security measures around games. The mooted changes include personalized tickets, increased surveillance — including facial-recognition software — and centralized stadium bans for alleged troublesome fans. The proposals were to be discussed at a three-day conference from yesterday.
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
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
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
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
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