■ITALY
Lazio rally to down Juve
Lazio came from behind to beat Juventus 2-1 at home in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final on Tuesday thanks to second-half goals by Goran Pandev and Tommaso Rocchi. Macedonia striker Pandev controlled a rebounded Stephan Lichtsteiner shot, before spinning around and finding the far corner of the net on 65 minutes. Rocchi then sprinted onto a though ball and slid in to fire home and give the Rome side a precious advantage 12 minutes from time. Midfielder Marco Marchionni had put Juventus in front in the 34th minute, intercepting a loose clearance and driving in with the help of a deflection. The visitors made the brighter start and striker Vincenzo Iaquinta had a goal disallowed for offside early on, although TV replays suggested he was in line with the last defender. Lazio responded well and Juve keeper Alex Manninger, standing in for the rested Gianluigi Buffon, did well to repel a diagonal Rocchi shot and a Cristian Ledesma free-kick later in the first half. The hosts keep pressing hard after Pandev’s goal and Pasquale Foggia forced two more good saves from Manninger before Rocchi scored the deserved winner.
■GERMANY
Mainz stun Schalke
Second-division Mainz got a goal from Aristide Bance in the 88th minute to beat Schalke 04 1-0 and reach the semi-finals of the German Cup for the first time on Tuesday. Bance sneaked behind Schalke’s defense to meet a long free-kick and slotted the ball home unopposed from close range. Mainz, the second-placed team in the second division, sent Schalke deeper into troubled water. Fred Routen’s team were third last season in the Bundesliga, but they have been unable to challenge for the title and are stuck in eighth place. Tuesday’s loss meant Schalke are out of the running for any title. “It was a really dumb goal to concede,” Schalke manager Andreas Mueller said.
■FRANCE
Guingamp defeat Le Mans
Bakary Kone scored a late winner as Ligue 2 side En Avant Guingamp defeated top flight Le Mans 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the French Cup on Tuesday. Kone got the clinching goal in the 83rd minute. A Xavier Pentecote double earned Toulouse a 2-0 win at Ligue 2 side Boulogne-sur-Mer. Pentecote, who has featured in only three Ligue 1 games this season, opened the scoring four minutes before the break when he latched onto an Alexandre Bonnet cross. The 22-year-old striker grabbed his second on 62 minutes by beating Boulogne keeper Florian Bague from close range. Grenoble went through after winning a penalty shootout 4-2 at Ligue 2 side Dijon following a 1-1 draw. Defender Stephane Morisot’s 15th-minute opener for the home side was canceled out three minutes later by Grenoble striker Nassim Akrour.
■SERBIA
Platini rejects Kosovo
UEFA president Michel Platini said on Tuesday that Kosovo could not join the organization until it was recognized by the UN. “The situation is very simple: UEFA, FIFA do not go in for politics ... the only thing UEFA can do at the present is to respect the statutes of UEFA and the statutes clearly say that to be affiliated with UEFA it is necessary to be recognized by the United Nations,” Platini told reporters in Belgrade. Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia a year ago, has been recognized by more than 50 countries, including the US and most of the EU.
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
RSS