PARIS: There was no reprieve for Morocco this time.
After the chaos and violence that marred the end of their 2-1 win over Argentina in the Olympic men’s soccer tournament, Morocco conceded late again against Ukraine on Saturday — and this time the goal stood.
On Wednesday, Morocco fans rushed the field and threw bottles in protest when Cristian Medina appeared to score an equalizer in the 16th minute of stoppage time for Argentina — causing the game to be suspended for around two hours. That goal was later disallowed by VAR for offside.
But there was no sign of a repeat of those scenes when Ihor Krasnopir scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for 10-man Ukraine at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Morocco looked like they were edging closer to the quarterfinals after Soufiane Rahimi’s 64th-minute penalty leveled the game at 1-1. The forward, who took his total to three goals for the Paris Games, won the spot kick when he was fouled by Volodymyr Saliuk. Saliuk was sent off for the offense.
Ukraine had taken the lead in the 22nd through Dmytro Kryskiv.
Ukraine’s late win left all four teams in Group B tied on three points after Argentina shook off defeat to Morocco by beating Iraq 3-1 on Saturday in Lyon.
Argentina 3, Iraq 1
While Iraq threatened to pull off another surprise when Aymen Hussein leveled the game 1-1 in first-half stoppage time, goals from Luciano Gondou and Ignacio Fernandez sealed victory for Argentina.
Thiago Almada, who Argentina coach Javier Mascherano said had a watch stolen when the team’s training base was robbed earlier this week, opened the scoring with a volley in the 14th at Stade de Lyon.
Gondou’s far-post header in the 62nd restored Argentina’s lead after Hussein’s goal and Fernandez curled in a long-range shot from the edge of the box in the 85th.
“There were two options: dwell on what happened or look ahead. We focused on what we can control, which is to play football,” Mascherano said.
Spain 3, Dominican Republic 1
Spain reached the quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic in Bordeaux.
Goals from Fermín Lopez, Alex Baena and Miguel Gutierrez made it two wins from two for Spain in Group C.
Lopez scored in the 24th, but Angel Montes de Oca evened the game in the 38th.
The Dominican Republic’s Edison Azcona was sent off before halftime. Baena restored Spain’s lead in the 55th and Gutierrez sealed the win in the 70th.
Spain’s men are aiming to add to a golden period for their nation’s soccer teams after the women’s team won the World Cup last year and the men won the European Championship earlier this month.
Egypt 1, Uzbekistan 0
Ahmed Koka scored in the 11th minute and Egypt beat Uzbekistan to move a step closer to the knockout phase.
Egypt are in second place in Group C, behind Spain, which they play on Tuesday.
A draw would be enough to see them advance.
The Dominican Republic play Uzbekistan and are third on one point.
After chaos vs. Argentina at the Olympics, Morocco concedes in stoppage time in 2-1 loss to Ukraine
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After chaos vs. Argentina at the Olympics, Morocco concedes in stoppage time in 2-1 loss to Ukraine
- Ihor Krasnopir scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for 10-man Ukraine at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard
- Ukraine’s late win left all four teams in Group B tied on three points after Argentina shook off defeat to Morocco by beating Iraq 3-1
Newcastle rout Palace 5-0 to move into 3rd place in Premier League
- Newcastle jumped above Nottingham Forest and within four points of second-place Arsenal, and look in good shape for a return to the Champions League next season
- The dominant display will have made for good viewing for Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who is recovering in the hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia
LONDON: Newcastle thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 Wednesday for their second big win in four days and climbed to third place in the Premier League.
Four of the goals came in the first half at St. James’ Park, through Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, Fabian Schar as well as an unfortunate own-goal by Marc Guehi. Sandwiched between them was a lazily taken penalty for Palace by Eberechi Eze that was saved by Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Alexander Isak added a fifth goal in the 58th minute — for his 21st of the campaign — as Newcastle followed up their 4-1 hammering of Manchester United on Sunday to make it six wins in a row in all competitions. That streak included a victory over Liverpool in the English League Cup final for a first major trophy in 70 years.
Newcastle jumped above Nottingham Forest and within four points of second-place Arsenal, and look in good shape for a return to the Champions League next season. The Premier League will have five representatives and Newcastle is five points clear of sixth-place Chelsea with six games remaining.
The dominant display will have made for good viewing for Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who is recovering in the hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia.
Howe also missed the Man United match — and Newcastle are doing just fine without him at the moment.
“Everyone has shared texts with him (Howe) and he’s on the road to recovery,” said Murphy, who had the goal of the night with a fierce, rising drive from an acute angle to set Newcastle on its way.
“We’re missing him but once again I think we put a performance in that he’d be really proud of.”
Palace conceded five goals for the second straight game, having lost 5-2 at Manchester City on Saturday.
“We’ve changed nothing but things aren’t working anymore,” Palace manager Oliver Glasner said. “We have to be very honest — we’re Crystal Palace and if we don’t perform at our top level, Newcastle and Manchester City are better than us.”
Things might have been different had Eze converted the penalty — awarded after Pope missed the ball when attempting to punch clear and barged into Palace defender Chris Richards — when the score was 1-0.
Instead, Pope went the right way and flopped on Eze’s weak spot kick.
“When he scores, no one says anything,” Guehi said of Eze. “It happens. We just have to move on.”
Arsenal defeat Real Madrid to reach Champions League semis
- The breaks in play, along with Arsenal’s dallying at every opportunity, disrupted Madrid’s momentum and they struggled to threaten Gunners stopper David Raya
MADRID: Arsenal staved off Champions League holders Real Madrid’s superstars and rich history of unlikely comebacks to snatch a 2-1 victory on Wednesday and reach the semifinals 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 will face Paris Saint-Germain.
Bukayo Saka, who missed a first-half penalty, sent Arsenal ahead and although Vinicius Junior levelled the 15-time winners were never close to making up the deficit.
Gabriel Martinelli rubbed salt in their wounds with a stoppage-time winner for Arsenal, who have never lifted the Champions League trophy.
Los Blancos, far more brittle than when they won a Champions League and La Liga double last season, were convinced they could turn the game around but created too little against Arsenal’s tight defense.
The Premier League side held their nerve to reach the semifinals for only the third time in their history.
Kylian Mbappe chested home in the opening stages but was clearly offside, with the forward gesturing to the crowd to turn up the volume to create the fabled aura which helps Madrid pull off near-impossible feats at the Santiago Bernabeu.
David Alaba was booked for hacking down Saka as Madrid tried to add the grit they badly lacked in their first leg demolition in London, and the Arsenal winger also had a drive fielded well by Thibaut Courtois.
Arsenal were awarded a penalty seemingly out of the blue when the VAR booth instructed French referee Francois Letexier to review an incident from an earlier corner.
Raul Asencio pulled back Arsenal forward Mikel Merino in the area and Letexier pointed to the spot, to the bemusement of the home crowd.
Saka stepped up to take it but his poorly-executed Panenka, skewing off to the left, was saved by Courtois.
It spurred Real Madrid on and soon they had a penalty of their own, when Mbappe hit the turf after Declan Rice tussled with him.
However after a lengthy VAR review Letexier was called to take a second look and he then decided Arsenal’s two-goal first leg hero Rice had not fouled the French superstar.
The breaks in play, along with Arsenal’s dallying at every opportunity, disrupted Madrid’s momentum and they struggled to threaten Gunners stopper David Raya.
For all of Madrid’s bluster the goalkeeper did not need to make a save in the first half, while Courtois stopped three shots, including a Martinelli effort from a tight angle in added time, of which there was plenty after the VAR reviews.
On the hour mark Carlo Ancelotti took action with a triple change, including replacing the quiet Rodrygo with teen starlet Endrick, and bringing on Dani Ceballos against his former side.
Martin Odegaard, also facing his former employers whom he joined as a ‘wonderkid’ a decade ago, helped forge Arsenal’s opening goal after 65 minutes.
The Norwegian linked with Merino, who slipped Saka in behind and the Englishman made amends for his penalty blunder with an ice-cool dinked finish.
Four goals ahead in the tie Arsenal thought their work was done, with defender William Saliba not concentrating on the edge of his box in possession.
Vinicius stole the ball away from him and beat the out-of-position Raya to level, two minutes after Saka’s opener.
Madrid’s increasingly slim hopes were dashed when Mbappe limped off with an ankle problem with 15 minutes remaining, and Martinelli made sure with a cool finish after Merino set him up.
Inter hold off Bayern to reach Champions League last four
- Italian champions Inter will face Barcelona in the semis
MILAN, Italy: Inter Milan reached the semifinals of the Champions League on Wednesday after drawing 2-2 with Bayern Munich to win a pulsating last-eight tie 4-3 on aggregate.
Italian champions Inter will 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 which levelled the tie in the 52nd minute.
Eric Dier’s looping header in the 75th minute earned Bayern a draw on the night in soaking and blustery Milan but that wasn’t enough for Vincent Kompany’s side to continue their bid to be crowned Kings of Europe for a seventh time.
Simone Inzaghi’s side came through in awful conditions at the San Siro where a combination of heavy rain and driving winds affected both teams’ ability to play their best football, but added uncertainty and tension to an already highly-charged occasion.
Inter are still on for a repeat of the Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010, as they are also three points ahead of Napoli in Italy’s top flight and face AC Milan in the semifinals of the domestic cup.
And Wednesday’s win showed that Inter are more than capable or reaching the final of Europe’s elite club competition, as they did two years ago when they were narrowly beaten by Manchester City.
Bayern had won all three of their previous Champions League away matches at Inter, but after Pavard crashed home his first goal for the club in the 61st minute there was no way back for the injury-hit Bundesliga leaders.
Inter will also benefit from playing the second leg of their showdown with Barca, who they beat in the semifinals on their way to victory in Madrid 15 years ago, at the San Siro.
The hosts didn’t come alive until their fans, who had been sat and stood in silence for the first 20 minutes in protest at ticket prices, burst loudly in song.
By that time the wind had picked up so much that one Inter cross almost swung back out of the penalty box, but even with the wind in their faces the hosts were on the up.
Thuram just failed to get a touch on Francesco Acerbi’s scuffed finish in the 29th minute, and moments later Hakan Calhanoglu crashed powerful shot just wide of the upright.
Bayern reacted and pushed Inter back into their own area for the final minutes of the opening half, but a combination of the conditions, desperate defending and poor finishing kept the match scoreless at the break.
Inter started the second half the stronger but Kane levelled the tie with a brilliantly taken goal, shifting onto his right and drilling a low shot through Federico Dimarco’s leg’s and past Yann Sommer.
Just moments before Kane had rookie Bayern goalkeeper to thank for stopping him scoring an own goal, but not long afterwards Martinez re-established Inter’s advantage when he controlled Dimarco’s corner and lashed home.
And Pavard decided the tie three minutes later with a bullet header against his former club from another corner, sending the San Siro wild with delight.
That wasn’t it though as Dier moved Bayern back to within a goal of extra-time, but when Sommer smothered Kane’s header in stoppage time Inter’s treble dream was kept alive.
Onana to return in goal for Man Utd against Lyon: Amorim
- “Onana, he will play tomorrow,” Amorim said at his pre-match press conference
- “As a coach and former player first of all I try to do things that can help a player in this situation
LONDON: Andre Onana will start in goal for Manchester United in their season-defining Europa League match against Lyon on Thursday, manager Ruben Amorim has confirmed.
The Cameroon international made two costly errors in last week’s 2-2 draw in France in the first leg of their quarter-final and was dropped for Sunday’s 4-1 defeat against Newcastle.
Back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayindir played at St. James’ Park but Onana will be back in goal at Old Trafford.
“Onana, he will play tomorrow,” Amorim said at his pre-match press conference.
The Portuguese coach said: “As a coach and former player first of all I try to do things that can help a player in this situation.
“We speak about managing players physically but we also have to manage them also mentally.
“We had one weekend where I felt it was better for Andre Onana not to play and a good thing for Altay (Bayindir) to play.”
The United boss also confirmed that forward Joshua Zirkzee will miss the rest of the season.
The Netherlands international, 23, limped off in the second half of Sunday’s defeat at Newcastle after suffering a hamstring injury.
“Joshua is out for the season,” he said. “He will not play more this season, let’s prepare him for the next one.
“It is tough for him especially in this moment. He is improving in all aspects and it is hard for any player to stop.”
United are an embarrassing 14th in the Premier League with just six matches left and could end up in 17th spot, just above the relegation places.
That would be their lowest finish since they were relegated from the top division in the 1973/74 season.
But Amorim still has a chance to end United’s turbulent campaign with a European trophy, which could prove transformative as he rebuilds.
Gabon striker Boupendza dies after 11th floor fall
- “The Gabonese international died following a fall from the 11th floor of his building in China where he was playing for Zhejiang FC,” the federation said
- “Aged 28, Boupendza leaves us with the memory of a great striker“
LIVERVILLE: Gabon international striker Aaron Boupendza died on Wednesday at the age of 28 when he fell from the 11th floor of a building in China, according to the national football federation (Fegafoot).
“The Gabonese international died following a fall from the 11th floor of his building in China where he was playing for Zhejiang FC,” the federation said in a statement on X.
“Aged 28, Boupendza leaves us with the memory of a great striker who left his mark on the CAN (Africa Cup of Nations) in Cameroon.”
In 2022, the Panthers were eliminated in the last 16 of the AFCON by Burkina Faso.
“Fegafoot and the entire Gabonese football family offer their sincere condolences to his biological family,” the federation added.
Gabonese president-elect Brice Oligui Nguema also took to X to add his condolences.
“It is with immense sadness that I learn of the tragic death of Aaron Boupendza, a talented center-forward who brought honor to Gabonese football,” he posted.
Broadcaster Gabon 24 said that while “the exact circumstances of this tragedy are still unclear” an investigation is underway “to establish the facts.”
Born in Moanda, Boupendza joined French side Bordeaux in 2016, spending most of his time on loan at other French clubs.
In 2020 he signed for Turkish side Hatayspor, and was top scorer in the Super Lig in 2020-21 before moving on to Al Arabi, with whom he won the Qatar FA Cup, and Al Shabab in the Saudi Pro League.
Spells in the USA with FC Cincinnati and Romania’s Rapid Bucharest followed ahead of his move to China in January.
