MILAN: AC Milan cruised past 10-man Slavia Prague 3-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Thursday.
Milan advanced 7-3 on aggregate after winning the first leg of the last 16 tie 4-2 at San Siro a week ago.
The seven-time European champion have never won the second-tier Europa League or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup.
The competition gives the Italian powerhouse their only realistic chance to win a trophy this season after they were eliminated from the Italian Cup and currently trails Serie A leader Inter Milan by 16 points.
Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Rafael Leão put the result in the second leg beyond doubt with first-half goals in Prague.
Pulisic netted from 10 meters with a low shot to open the scoring in the 33rd minute and Loftus-Cheek tapped in the second into an empty net off a precise cross from Theo Hernández before Leão curled a right-footed drive from outside the area into the top right corner in first-half stoppage time.
Slavia got a consolation goal from substitute Matěj Jurásek.
Pulisic now has 11 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions in the US international’s first campaign with the Rossoneri to match his most productive season — the 2019-20 campaign at Chelsea.
Slavia’s early pressure lost steam after captain Tomáš Holeš received a straight red card in the 20th minute for fouling his counterpart Davide Calabria.
Milan first-choice goalkeeper Mike Maignan was injured early and was replaced by Marco Sportiello.
West Ham made the last eight by routing Freiburg 5-0 at London Stadium.
The Hammers reversed the first leg 1-0 defeat with the first-half goals from Lucas Paquetá and Jarrod Bowen.
Paquetá netted from close range after Tomáš Souček headed to him from a corner less than 10 minutes into the game. Bowen doubled the advantage in the 32nd.
Aaron Cresswell made it 3-0 early in the second half before Mohammed Kudus completed the rout with two late goals.
West Ham, last year’s Europa Conference League champion, have won 11 straight home games in European competitions in the last two seasons.
Marseille nearly blew a 4-0 lead from the first leg against Villarreal, which scored three goals Thursday before Jonathan Clauss netted in stoppage-time for the French visitors to seal a 5-3 aggregate victory despite a 3-1 loss on the evening.
Étienne Capoue, Alexander Sørloth and Yerson Mosquera scored to hand Marseille their first defeat since coach Jean-Louis Gasset took charge after five wins.
Benfica advanced after a 1-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox Stadium in Glagow. Rafa Silva scored in the 66th minute and the Lisbon team held on after the sides drew 2-2 last week.
The quarterfinals draw is scheduled for Friday.
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
In the third-tier competition, Maccabi Haifa held Fiorentina 1-1 but the Italian team — last year’s runner-up — advanced to the quarterfinals on a 5-4 aggregate score.
Viktoria Plzeň prevailed 3-1 on penalties over Servette after they played both legs and extra time without scoring a goal.
Greece’s PAOK recovered from a 2-0 loss at Dinamo Zagreb in the opening leg with a 5-1 home win to earn a place in the last eight.
Fenerbahce advanced despite a 1-0 home loss to Union Saint-Gilloise after taking 3-0 the first leg.
AC Milan beat Slavia, West Ham rout Freiburg to cruise into Europa League quarterfinals
https://arab.news/j6sye
AC Milan beat Slavia, West Ham rout Freiburg to cruise into Europa League quarterfinals
- The seven-time European champion have never won the second-tier Europa League or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup
- West Ham made the last eight by routing Freiburg 5-0 at London Stadium
Lens cruise into French Cup quarters, Endrick sends Lyon through
- Goals by Florian Sotoca and Andrija Bulatovic, as well as a Abdallah Sima brace, saw surprise Ligue 1 title contenders Lens through their last-16 tie
PARIS, France: Lens reached the quarter-finals of the French Cup on Wednesday courtesy of a 4-2 win over Troyes, while an Endrick-inspired Lyon fought past second-division Laval.
Goals by Florian Sotoca and Andrija Bulatovic, as well as a Abdallah Sima brace, saw surprise Ligue 1 title contenders Lens through their last-16 tie.
Martin Adeline had levelled before half-time for second flight leaders Troyes before three goals in eight minutes early in the second period put Pierre Sage’s side firmly in charge.
At home to Ligue 2 strugglers Laval, Lyon struggled to break down their opponents until a moment of individual excellence by Real Madrid loanee Endrick.
Following a surging run from midfielder Pavel Sulc, the 19-year-old Brazilian burst through a challenge before unleashing a rasping drive from the edge of the box to open the scoring in the 80th minute.
It was Endrick’s fifth goal in as many outings for Lyon since arriving from the Santiago Bernabeu in late December.
“It’s really important to have scored my first goal on our home turf. This start at Lyon is truly a dream come true,” the forward said.
Lyon wrapped up their 11th consecutive victory in all competitions when Laval ‘keeper Maxime Hautbois inadvertently turned Afonso Moreira’s effort into his own net late in added time.
Struggling Nice pulled off a remarkable comeback in their last-16 tie against Montpellier to win 3-2.
The hosts found themselves trailing 2-0 midway through the second half before Kail Boudache halved the deficit with 18 minutes remaining on the clock.
Antoine Mendy netted on 89 minutes and looked to have forced extra-time, until Sofiane Diop shaped a fine curling effort beyond Montpellier goalkeeper Mathieu Michel seven minutes into injury time.
Lorient saw off fellow Ligue 1 outfit Paris FC with a 2-0 win thanks to a second-half goal by Noah Cadiou and a late Moustapha Mbow own goal.
Toulouse beat Ligue 2 Amiens 1-0 with Yann Gboho netting the winner six minutes before the interval.
