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.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS