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.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
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
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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