MANCHESTER, England — Manchester United hit another low, losing its League Cup semifinal to Sunderland on penalty kicks Wednesday night. ADVERTISING MANCHESTER, England — Manchester United hit another low, losing its League Cup semifinal to Sunderland on penalty kicks Wednesday
MANCHESTER, England — Manchester United hit another low, losing its League Cup semifinal to Sunderland on penalty kicks Wednesday night.
Sunderland advanced to a major final for the first time in 22 years and will play Manchester City at Wembley on March 2.
Jonny Evans scored on a header in the 37th minute for United, which was on the verge of advancing on away goals before goalkeeper David de Gea fumbled in a 119th-minute shot by Phil Bardsley, a former United youth player.
Javier Hernandez scored in the first minute of stoppage time, putting United ahead 2-1 in the game and tying the home-and-home, total-goals series 3-3. Sunderland, which inserted American forward Jozy Altidore as an 86th-minute substitute, won the shootout 2-1 when goalkeeper Vito Mannone saved Rafael da Silva’s kick.
“We did not play well enough on the night,” said first-year United manager David Moyes, whose team was eliminated in the third round of the FA Cup and trails first-place Arsenal by 14 points in the Premier League.
United’s Danny Welbeck and Phil Jones sailed shots over the crossbar during the shootout, and Adnan Januzaj’s attempt was saved by Mannone.
BARCELONA 4, LEVANTE 1
BARCELONA, Spain — Lionel Messi marked his 400th game for Barcelona with a master class of passing, setting up four goals in a 4-1 win over Levante in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal.
Messi’s pass led to an own goal in the 53rd minute, and CristianTello scored in the 60th, 81st and 86th minutes for his first hat trick with Barcelona’s senior team.
Messi has 331 goals.
Nabil El Zhar scored in the 31st for Levante, which had held Barcelona to a 1-1 La Liga tie at Ciutat de Valencia Stadium four days earlier.
Mikel Gonzalez scored twice to help Real Socieded win 3-1 at home over third-division Racing Santander.
UDINESE 2, AC MILAN 1
MILAN — Udinese rallied to win 2-1 at AC Milan and reach the Italian Cup semifinals, sending Clarence Seedorf to his first defeat as manager.
Mario Balotelli scored off Valter Birsa’s cross in the seventh minute, but Udinese tied the score on Luis Muriel’s 45th-minute penalty kick after Urby Emanuelson fouled Silvan Widmer. Nicolas Lopez scored in the 78th, three minutes after entering, when he ran most of the length of the field without a tackle being attempted.
Milan is 18 points out of third place — the last Champions League berth — in Serie A. Fans booed Rossoneri players during the game and when they returned to their locker room at halftime.
Udinese, which eliminated Inter Milan two weeks ago, plays Fiorentina or second-division side Siena in the next round.
MONTPELLIER 2, PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 1
PARIS — Victor Hugo Montano scored the tiebreaking goal in the 69th minute, giving Montpellier a 2-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain in the 10th round of the French Cup.
With PSG resting regulars Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Motta and Salvatore Sirigu from the starting lineup, Daniel Congre put the visitors ahead with a header in the 20th minute when backup goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez didn’t come out for a cross.
Edinson Cavani tied the score 10 minutes later with his 20th goal of the season, but Montano’s goal earned a spot in the final 16 for Montpellier, which is 16th in the French league.
Colombian forward striker Radamel Falcao scored in Monaco’s 3-0 win at the amateur team Chasselay, but left on a stretcher after injuring a knee on a tackle by Soner Ertek.
By wire sources
