A disastrous European week for Scottish clubs on Thursday ended with the three teams in UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League playoff second-leg action losing.
Aberdeen wasted a string of chances as they went down 3-1 at home to Swedish champions BK Hacken to go out 5-3 on aggregate in the Europa League.
In the Europa Conference League, Heart of Midlothian lost 4-0 in Salonika, Greece, to PAOK to go down 6-1 on aggregate. Hibernian subsided 3-0 at Aston Villa, outclassed 8-0 over two legs by the English Premier League team.
Photo: AP
Rangers on Wednesday lost 5-1 in Eindhoven as they went out of the UEFA Champions League 7-3 on aggregate to PSV.
In an end-to-end match at Pittodrie, Ibrahim Sadiq made the difference in what he said after the final whistle was his final game for Hacken.
Sadiq put Hacken ahead after 14 minutes, slashing in a shot from outside the penalty area. He doubled the lead on the counterattack after 41 minutes, chipping goalkeeper Kelle Roos from close range.
Bojan Miovski, the most wasteful of the Dons strikers, and Amor Layouni exchanged second-half penalties.
“We did what we had to do,” Sadiq told the BBC.
Hacken had never made it past the qualifying rounds in Europe.
“It’s history for us,” Sadiq said, before adding that he would be heading to AZ in the Netherlands. “It is my last game for Hacken and I am really proud that I have done my part.”
In Moldova, Armel Zohouri scored with 16 minutes left as Sheriff edged KI 2-1 and 3-2 on aggregate. KI drop down to the Europa Conference League where they will become the first Faroese team to play in the group stages of a European competition.
In the Europa Conference League, CA Osasuna threw away a lead away to Club Brugge KV, drawing the match 2-2 and going out 4-3 on aggregate.
Eintracht Frankfurt and ACF Fiorentina both did exactly what they had to do, as they won 2-0 at home after stumbling away.
In Frankfurt, Jessic Ngankam, a 70th-minute substitute, put the hosts ahead in the 79th minute against Levski Sofia. Tunisian Ellyes Skhiri sealed a 3-1 aggregate win with four minutes left.
Fiorentina left it late against Rapid Vienna. Argentine Nicolas Gonzalez leveled the tie on the hour and then he won the game in the last minute with a penalty.
AZ eliminated SK Brann 6-5 on penalties after coming from two goals behind twice to secure a 3-3 draw in Norway that left the teams tied on 4-4.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
RSS