Four-time European champions Ajax on Thursday cruised to a 4-1 victory in Bulgaria in UEFA Europa League qualifying, while Aberdeen returned to the scene of their European triumph and fought back for a draw.
For their Europa League playoff round first leg, Aberdeen went to Gothenburg, where they beat Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup final in 1983, and salvaged a 2-2 draw as Swedish champions Hacken imploded in the final 15 minutes.
A penalty from Ibrahim Sadiq put the hosts two goals up after 69 minutes. Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski turned his defender and fired home after 75 minutes. The North Macedonian then set up Nicky Devlin, bursting into the penalty area for the rightback’s first Aberdeen goal four minutes later.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Hacken’s Johan Hammar earned a second yellow card for blocking Miovski in the 90th minute. Aberdeen then went close twice and a had a strike ruled out for offside in stoppage-time.
Ghana international Mohammed Kudus scored a hat-trick as Ajax won 4-1 away at Ludogorets in Bulgaria. Brian Brobbey hit the other Ajax goal and defender Olivier Verdon scored a late reply for the hosts.
KI Klaksvik, already sure to become the first Faroese club to secure a place in the group stage of a European competition, drew 1-1 with Moldovan side Sheriff in Torshavn.
Danish defender Patrick da Silva gave the hosts a 52nd-minute lead. Jerome Ngom Mbekeli, who plays as a defender for Cameroon, but as a striker for Sheriff, replied in the 73rd minute.
Last season’s surprise quarter-finalists Royale Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium beat Lugano 2-0.
In the Europa Conference League, Manfred Ugalde gave Twente a 20th-minute lead in Istanbul, but Fenerbahce hit back with a 30th-minute goal by former Twente defender Jayden Oosterwolde. The hosts scored four times in the final 30 minutes to win 5-1.
On a good night for Turkish clubs, Kazakhstan international Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov scored five minutes into stoppage-time to give Besiktas a 3-2 victory over Dynamo Kyiv in Bucharest.
Kolo Muani put Eintracht Frankfurt, the 2021-2022 Europa League winners, ahead away to Levski Sofia, but Hassimi Fadiaga leveled in the dying seconds of five minutes of stoppage-time.
In Lille, France, 17-year-old defender Leny Yoro scored in the 89th minute as Lille OSC fought back for a 2-1 victory over HNK Rijeka of Croatia.
CA Osasuna’s European reprieve might prove short-lived as they lost 2-1 at home to Club Brugge.
The team from Pamplona qualified for Europe for the first time since 2006 only to be banned by UEFA for match-fixing allegations dating back to 2013. Their place was restored by the Court for Arbitration in Sport.
Andreas Skov Olsen gave the Belgian side a 50th-minute lead. Ezeqiuel Avila hit a 78th-minute equalizer, only for Maxim de Cuyper to restore Brugge’s lead two minutes later.
AZ, leading the Dutch league, were held 1-1 at home by Norwegian Cup holders SK Brann.
Chile international Niklas Castro gave the visitors a 59th-minute lead. Centerback Pantelis Chatzidiakos replied 12 minutes later.
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
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