Liverpool, Fulham advance
Source: Agencies |
April 10, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A RAMPANT Fernando Torres will face his former club Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semifinals after the Spain striker scored twice to help Liverpool beat Benfica 4-1 at Anfield on Thursday.
Hamburg SV's Mladen Petric scored with one of the best strikes of the season, volleying home from 15 meters with his back to goal, to help it win 3-1 at Standard Liege and set up a semifinal with Fulham, which beat VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 away.
Petric also headed the first goal while Peru forward Paolo Guerrero, banned for the rest of the Bundesliga season for throwing a plastic bottle at a fan on Sunday, added the third -- his first strike since a cruciate ligament injury in September.
Atletico Madrid grabbed its place in the last four on away goals after a stormy 0-0 draw at home to fellow Spaniards Valencia, whose players surrounded the referee to protest at the end after a late penalty appeal was turned down. The first leg was 2-2.
Fulham striker Bobby Zamora scored after 21 seconds as the London side, playing its 16th match of a campaign which began in Lithuania last July, continued its surprise run with a win at German champion Wolfsburg, going through 3-1 on aggregate.
Unfancied Fulham's surprise run has now taken it into the semifinals of a European competition for the first time.
Three-time UEFA Cup winner Liverpool, trailing 1-2 from the first leg, turned its tie around in a seven-minute first-half spell with goals by Dutchman Dirk Kuyt and Brazilian midfielder Lucas lighting up the noisy Anfield crowd.
Torres opened his account just before the hour, finishing off a counter-attack after receiving a low cross from Kuyt, and completed the scoring after being sent clear by Javier Mascherano eight minutes from time.
In between Torres' goals, World Cup-bound Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo, who had converted two penalties in the first leg, pulled one back with a deflected free-kick for his 10th goal of the competition.
"I think he (Torres) will be excited (about playing Atletico)," said Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez. "The third goal was really good. All the players had ambition to score the goal, it was crucial."
Inspired
Hamburg, which will host the final, completed a 5-2 win over its Belgian opponents with a Petric-inspired win.
The Croatia forward headed home from Ze Roberto's cross after 20 minutes but Igor de Camargo took advantage of hesitant defending to head in from Sebastien Pocognoli's deep free-kick 13 minutes later.
It took only two minutes for Petric to strike again, this time in style.
Dennis Aogo sent over an outswinging cross from near the corner flag and Petric, marked by two defenders, produced an overhead kick to volley into the bottom left-hand corner.
Substitute Guerrero, who was also fined by his club for Sunday's incident after the goalless draw against Hanover 96, wriggled his way past two defenders and rolled the ball in off the post deep into stoppage time for the third.
The all-Spanish tie featured a clash of two strikers heading for the World Cup, Uruguay's Diego Forlan for Atletico and Spain's David Villa of Valencia, although both drew a blank.
Hamburg SV's Mladen Petric scored with one of the best strikes of the season, volleying home from 15 meters with his back to goal, to help it win 3-1 at Standard Liege and set up a semifinal with Fulham, which beat VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 away.
Petric also headed the first goal while Peru forward Paolo Guerrero, banned for the rest of the Bundesliga season for throwing a plastic bottle at a fan on Sunday, added the third -- his first strike since a cruciate ligament injury in September.
Atletico Madrid grabbed its place in the last four on away goals after a stormy 0-0 draw at home to fellow Spaniards Valencia, whose players surrounded the referee to protest at the end after a late penalty appeal was turned down. The first leg was 2-2.
Fulham striker Bobby Zamora scored after 21 seconds as the London side, playing its 16th match of a campaign which began in Lithuania last July, continued its surprise run with a win at German champion Wolfsburg, going through 3-1 on aggregate.
Unfancied Fulham's surprise run has now taken it into the semifinals of a European competition for the first time.
Three-time UEFA Cup winner Liverpool, trailing 1-2 from the first leg, turned its tie around in a seven-minute first-half spell with goals by Dutchman Dirk Kuyt and Brazilian midfielder Lucas lighting up the noisy Anfield crowd.
Torres opened his account just before the hour, finishing off a counter-attack after receiving a low cross from Kuyt, and completed the scoring after being sent clear by Javier Mascherano eight minutes from time.
In between Torres' goals, World Cup-bound Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo, who had converted two penalties in the first leg, pulled one back with a deflected free-kick for his 10th goal of the competition.
"I think he (Torres) will be excited (about playing Atletico)," said Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez. "The third goal was really good. All the players had ambition to score the goal, it was crucial."
Inspired
Hamburg, which will host the final, completed a 5-2 win over its Belgian opponents with a Petric-inspired win.
The Croatia forward headed home from Ze Roberto's cross after 20 minutes but Igor de Camargo took advantage of hesitant defending to head in from Sebastien Pocognoli's deep free-kick 13 minutes later.
It took only two minutes for Petric to strike again, this time in style.
Dennis Aogo sent over an outswinging cross from near the corner flag and Petric, marked by two defenders, produced an overhead kick to volley into the bottom left-hand corner.
Substitute Guerrero, who was also fined by his club for Sunday's incident after the goalless draw against Hanover 96, wriggled his way past two defenders and rolled the ball in off the post deep into stoppage time for the third.
The all-Spanish tie featured a clash of two strikers heading for the World Cup, Uruguay's Diego Forlan for Atletico and Spain's David Villa of Valencia, although both drew a blank.
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