Everton, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Hamburger SV and FC Basel all won on Wednesday to advance to the UEFA Cup's round-of-32.
Everton became the first English club to advance past the group stage when Tim Cahill scored in the 85th minute for a 1-0 win over 10-man Zenit St. Petersburg.
Russian champions Zenit played the final 60 minutes down a man after Nicolas Lombaerts was sent off for handball. Everton striker Mikel Arteta had the subsequent penalty kick saved by Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev.
PHOTO: AFP
FC Nuremberg kept their hopes alive by rallying to beat AZ Alkmaar 2-1, with substitute Marek Mintal scoring in the 83rd and 85th minutes. Demy De Zeeuw gave AZ the lead in the 29th minute with a right-footed shot from 12m.
Mintal finished a run down the right by Ivan Saenko for the equalizer and scored the winner by completing a similar sweeping move by Nuremberg on the right with another left-footed effort.
"We always fight until the very last minute and now we have a good chance of going through," Mintal said.
Everton improved to nine points, followed by Zenit with five. AZ and FC Nuremberg have four each with Larissa on zero. All but Zenit have one game to play.
Atletico Madrid have joined Panathinaikos in advancing from Group B with a 2-0 victory at FC Copenhagen.
Simao Sabrosa put Atletico ahead in the 21st minute after exchanging passes with Sergio Aguero, who added Atletico's insurance in the 62nd minute.
Panathinaikos won their third straight without conceding a goal by winning 2-0 over Lokomotiv Moscow, who were eliminated. Dimitrios Salpigidis scored in the 70th minutes and 74th minute for Panathinaikos.
Salpingidis, who replaced Dame Ndoye in the 63rd minute, put Panathinaikos ahead with a shot off a pass from Alexis Tziolis. Four minutes later, he headed in a lob from Lucas Vyntra.
The last spot from Group B will either be FC Copenhagen or Aberdeen, who face off on Dec. 20 in Scotland.
Jon Dahl Tomasson scored twice to lead Villarreal past Elfsborg 2-0 and send the Spanish side through from Group C. He turned in a low cross from Nihat Kahveci in the second minute and doubled the score in the 51st minute.
AEK Athens beat Mlada Boleslav 1-0 with a 46th minute goal from Tamandani Nsaliwa to keep their qualifying chances alive.
Villarreal improved to seven points, two more than both AEK and Fiorentina. Mlada have three and Elfsborg one.
Hamburg scored twice in the final minutes to beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in Group D. Nigel de Jong headed in a free kick from Rafael van der Vaart in the 88th minute and Piotr Trochowski sealed the win from the penalty spot in injury time.
FC Basel joined Hamburg in advancing from Group D with a 1-0 win over SK Brann.
Carlos Alberto Carlitos converted a free kick for Basel in the 40th minute.
Brann, Dinamo Zagreb and Rennes are in contention for the last qualifying berth from Group D.
Helsingborg are the only other team to have advanced and they were scheduled to play at Bordeaux late yesterday.
The top three clubs in each of the eight UEFA Cup groups will advance to the next round. Those 24 clubs will be joined by the eight clubs that finish third in their UEFA European Champions League groups.
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday pulled off a major upset in the DFB-Pokal by defeating defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in their semi-final. The third-division team came from behind after Jonathan Tah gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead. Marius Worl replied three minutes later and Maximilian Groser scored Bielefeld’s second goal just before the break. The home team looked more likely to add to that tally as the Leverkusen players looked jaded. “I’m just proud of this team,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat said as most of the fans the small stadium sang around him. “No one will sleep in the city tonight.” Patrik Schick went
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that