By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 6:44 p.m. ET March 27, 2012
Chelsea and Real Madrid won first-leg matches on the road Tuesday night, putting them in good position to advance to the Champions League semifinals.
Salomon Kalou tapped in Fernando Torres' cross in the 75th minute, giving Chelsea a 1-0 win over Benfica in Lisbon, Portugal, the first road win for the Blues in the competition this season.
"It's terrific, you couldn't have hoped for a better result," interim Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo said. "Nothing is over - there is still another 90 minutes to play - but we will have home advantage."
In Cyprus, Karim Benzema scored in the 74th minute with a diving header, Kaka doubled the lead in the 82nd and Benzema got another goal in the 89th to give nine-time champion Madrid a 3-0 win at APOEL Nicosia, the first Cypriot team to reach the quarterfinals.
"What they've done, having reached this far is fantastic," Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said. "We needed to play to the maximum of our ability to win. They were great on defense, and they deserve our respect."
Second legs of the total-goals series will be played April 4.
In first-leg games Wednesday night, defending champion Barcelona is at AC Milan and Marseille is home against Bayern Munich.
---
Ryan Nelsen, Gareth Bale and Louis Saha scored in the final 20 minutes to lead Tottenham over Bolton 3-1 in an FA Cup quarterfinal played 10 days after the original match was abandoned because of Fabrice Muamba's on-field cardiac arrest.
White Hart Lane in north London, which went quiet when Muamba collapsed just before halftime on March 17, was filled with a minute's applause from both sets of fans to honor of Muamba. The Bolton midfielder's heart stopped beating on its own for 78 minutes. He was revived by medics and is making encouraging progress in a hospital.
Nelsen scored on a header in the 74th minute off Rafael van der Vaart's cross and Bale made it 2-0 when he ran onto Jermain Defoe's pass during a counterattack in the 77th. Kevin Davies cut the gap in the 90th, and Luis Saha scored the final goal in the fourth minute of injury time.
In a quarterfinal replay, Everton won 2-0 at Sunderland on Nikica Jelavic's 24th-minute goal and an own goal by David Vaughan in the 57th.
In the semifinals at Wembley, Everton plays Liverpool on April 14, with Spurs meeting Chelsea the following day.
"Two great semifinals: all-London derby and Merseyside derby," Spurs coach Harry Redknapp said. "A fantastic weekend to look forward to."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
advertisement
More newsColossal failure by US men
PST: The Americans had a huge leg up to begin with, as the whole tournament was (once again) hand-delivered to U.S. soil.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44046774/ns/sports-soccer/
cagayan de oro bowl schedule 2011 bowl schedule barry bonds hazing colton harris moore hurd
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.