Arsenal on Wednesday staved off UEFA Champions League holders Real Madrid’s superstars and rich history of unlikely comebacks to snatch a 2-1 victory and reach the semi-finals with a superb 5-1 aggregate triumph.
The Gunners’ 3-0 quarter-final first-leg triumph last week gave them a vital cushion in the Spanish capital, as they made the final four for the first time since 2009, where they are to face Paris Saint-Germain.
Bukayo Saka, who missed a first-half penalty, sent Arsenal ahead, and although Vinicius Junior leveled, the 15-time winners were never close to making up the deficit.
Photo: AF
Gabriel Martinelli rubbed salt in their wounds with a stoppage-time winner for Arsenal, who are yet to lift the Champions League trophy.
“We knew we were going to suffer, but we knew we were going to win,” Declan Rice, who netted two stunning free-kicks in the first leg, told TNT Sports. “It’s such a special night for this club, it’s a historic night for this club... We want to win this competition.”
In Italy, Inter’s treble dream is alive and kicking after reaching the semi-finals thanks to 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich, as the Serie A giants won a pulsating last-eight tie 4-3 on aggregate.
The Italian champions are to face Barcelona in the semis after goals in the space of three minutes from captain Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard canceled out a Harry Kane strike for Bayern, who leveled the tie in the 52nd minute.
“We don’t give up, we have personality and heart and intelligence. We were definitely on the back foot at times today, but we showed again today that we can do great things,” Martinez told Amazon Prime.
Inter are still on for a repeat of the Serie A, Champions League and Coppa Italia treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010, as they are also three points ahead of SSC Napoli in Italy’s top flight and face AC Milan in the semi-finals of the domestic cup
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
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