Liverpool on Thursday scored four times inside 14 minutes in a 6-1 thrashing of Sparta Prague to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League as Bundesliga leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen needed two stoppage-time goals to eliminate Qarabag.
AC Milan, Olympique de Marseille, AS Roma and West Ham United were among the other sides to also book their place in the quarter-final draw.
Despite leading 5-1 from the first leg, Juergen Klopp named a surprisingly strong Liverpool side and was well-rewarded as the Reds remain on course for a quadruple of trophies.
Photo: AP
Darwin Nunez and 19-year-old Bobby Clark got Klopp’s men off to a flying start, before Mohamed Salah marked his first club start since Jan. 1 with his 20th goal of the season.
Cody Gakpo fired in the fourth before Liverpool briefly took their foot off the gas ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Manchester United in the FA Cup.
Veljko Birmancevic pulled a goal back for Sparta, but Dominik Szoboszlai and Gakpo completed the rout in the second half.
Photo: AFP
“It was an amazing win — and an amazing first 15 minutes,” Gakpo said after an 11-2 aggregate victory. “It’s what we had in mind. It shows the confidence in the team at the moment.”
Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso has been heavily linked as Klopp’s successor at Anfield and his side remain unbeaten in all competitions this season thanks to Patrik Schick’s stoppage-time brace to beat Qarabag 3-2 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate.
Schick also struck in stoppage-time during the first leg as Leverkusen came from 2-0 down and they needed to do the same at home.
Abdellah Zoubir and Juninho gave the Azeri champions a stunning lead, but the visitors paid for having to play the final half hour down to 10 men when Elvin Cafarguliyev was sent off for hauling down Jeremie Frimpong.
Frimpong reduced the arrears before Schick turned home at the near post on 93 minutes, and there was still time for the Czech forward to head in the winner seven minutes into stoppage-time.
West Ham trailed 1-0 from the first leg against SC Freiburg, but roared back to reach a European quarter-final for the third consecutive season.
Lucas Paqueta turned home a corner at the far post, before Jarrod Bowen blasted home to turn the tie around before halftime.
Aaron Cresswell arrowed a shot into the far corner and Mohammed Kudus then took center stage to secure a record European win for David Moyes’ men.
The Ghanaian ran from deep inside his own half through the heart of the Freiburg midfield and defense to slot in the fourth.
Kudus then smashed home from the edge of the penalty area.
“Obviously, we’ve got two or three exceptional individual players who helped us get goals,” Moyes said. “It was a brilliant performance for us to win by five.”
Brighton & Hove Albion left themselves too much to do as a 1-0 win over Roma could not overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit.
Danny Welbeck scored the only goal as the Seagulls at least ended their first-ever European campaign on a high.
SL Benfica ended Rangers’ hopes of another deep run in the Europa League with a 1-0 win in the lashing Glasgow rain to progress 3-2 on aggregate.
Rafa Silva produced a composed finish from Angel di Maria’s through-ball 24 minutes from time and the goal stood after initially being ruled offside.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan cruised into the last eight with a 3-1 victory over 10-man Slavia Prague.
Three quick goals from Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Rafael Leao killed off the tie before halftime.
Villarreal ended Jean-Louis Gasset’s unbeaten run as Marseille boss, but a 3-1 victory in Spain was too little, too late for the Spaniards as they went out 5-3 on aggregate.
Atalanta BC beat Portugal’s Sporting 2-1 on the night in Italy to go through 3-2 on aggregate.
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
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
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
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
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