عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Dybala Double Sends Roma to Europa League Last 16, Fenerbahce, Alkmaar and Real Sociedad Advance 

Football - Europa League - Knockout Phase Playoff - Second Leg - AS Roma v FC Porto - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - February 20, 2025 AS Roma's Paulo Dybala scores their first goal past FC Porto's Diogo Costa. (Reuters)
Football - Europa League - Knockout Phase Playoff - Second Leg - AS Roma v FC Porto - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - February 20, 2025 AS Roma's Paulo Dybala scores their first goal past FC Porto's Diogo Costa. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Dybala Double Sends Roma to Europa League Last 16, Fenerbahce, Alkmaar and Real Sociedad Advance 

Football - Europa League - Knockout Phase Playoff - Second Leg - AS Roma v FC Porto - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - February 20, 2025 AS Roma's Paulo Dybala scores their first goal past FC Porto's Diogo Costa. (Reuters)
Football - Europa League - Knockout Phase Playoff - Second Leg - AS Roma v FC Porto - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - February 20, 2025 AS Roma's Paulo Dybala scores their first goal past FC Porto's Diogo Costa. (Reuters)

Paulo Dybala struck twice in four minutes as Roma beat Porto 3-2 to reach the Europa League round of 16 on Thursday.

Dybala returned from a knee injury sustained in the first-leg 1-1 draw a week ago in Portugal, and Roma advanced on a 4-3 aggregate score.

Porto went ahead thanks to Samu’s acrobatic volley over his shoulder to take a 2-1 aggregate lead but Dybala started the comeback with an equalizer in the 35th with a left-footed shot inside the far post. The second clinical finish came from inside the area to the near post.

Porto’s hopes were dented when Stephen Eustáquio was sent off after getting a red card only six minutes into the second half.

Substitute Niccolò Pisilli added the third before another substitute Devyne Rensch’s own goal in stoppage time.

Roma, the 2022 Conference League champion, will next play either Lazio or Bilbao.

The game between Anderlecht and Fenerbahce was briefly suspended due to crowd trouble in Brussels. The problems took place shortly after Youssef En-Nesyri scored for Fenerbahce in the fourth minute. The Turkish team had won the first leg 3-0. After a 2-2 draw, Fenerbahce advanced 5-2 on aggregate.

The match had been suspended for “security issues,” UEFA said. Riot police were deployed in the stands and play resumed after some 15 minutes.

Alkmaar advanced after a 2-2 draw with Galatasaray that saw the Dutch club reach the next round on a 6-3 aggregate score.

Alkmaar got goals from Seiya Maikuma and Denso Kasius before Victor Osimhen struck for the Istanbul club. Roland Sallai’s equalizer salvaged at least a draw on the night for the hosts.

Alkmaar is set to face either Manchester United or Tottenham next.

Romanian team FCSB beat PAOK 2-0 to progress on a 4-1 aggregate score.

Norway’s Bodø/Glimt scored twice in extra time to beat Dutch side Twente 5-2 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate. Three goals in stoppage time sent the match to extra time where goals from substitute Sondre Brunstad Fet (111th) and an own from Arno Verschueren (114th) confirmed the win. The Norwegian team is amid a winter break that will not end until the start of the domestic league on March 29.

Luka Sučić’s first-half double led Real Sociedad to a 5-2 victory over 10-man Midtjylland and to the round of 16 on a 7-3 aggregate score to next play either Tottenham or Manchester United.

Viktoria Plzen overcame a 1-0 deficit from the first leg to beat Ferencvaros 3-0.

Ajax’s 2-0 advantage against Saint-Gilloise was erased in the first half as the Dutch powerhouse was reduced to 10 with Davy Klaassen sent off. Substitute Kenneth Taylor converted a spot kick three minutes into extra time for Ajax to advance.

The eight winners of the playoffs will be unseeded teams in Friday’s draw and will host the first-leg games on March 6.

The top eight in the 36-team league standings — Lazio, Athletic Bilbao, Manchester United, Tottenham, Frankfurt, Lyon, Olympiacos and Rangers — had made straight the round of 16. They will host second legs on March 13.

Conference League

In the third-tier Conference League, Real Betis was reduced to 10 men eight minutes before time and conceded a winning goal from Gent but still advanced thanks to its 3-0 victory in the first leg.

Molde was also down to 10 from the final minute but went on to prevail in a penalty shootout over Shamrock Rovers after winning 1-0 in Dublin.

Copenhagen edged European newcomer Heidenheim 3-1 in extra time to make the next round 4-3 on aggregate.

Pafos advanced after beating Omonoia an all-Cypriot matchup 2-1 following a 1-1 draw a week ago.

Bosnia’s Borac held Olimpija 0-0 in Ljubljana to advance 1-0 on aggregate.

Panathinaikos is into the next round with a 2-0 victory over Víkingur Reykjavík on 3-2 aggregate. Jagiellonia beat TSC 6-2 on aggregate after a 3-1 home win. Celje upset APOEL 2-0 at home and has advanced.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)

Oscar Piastri is on a similar career trajectory to Formula One world champion teammate Lando Norris and should have a shot at the title this season, McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Monday as they prepared to test in Bahrain.

The American told reporters on a video call that his drivers were raring to get going.

"He (Piastri) is now going into his fourth year. Lando has a lot more grands prix than he does so if you look at the development of Lando over that time, Oscar's on a similar trajectory," Brown said.

"So he's in a good place, physically very fit, excited, ready to ‌go."

LAST AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION ‌WAS IN 1980

Piastri, who debuted with McLaren in Bahrain ‌in ⁠2023, can become ‌Australia's first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

While Piastri took his first win in his second season, Norris had to wait until his sixth. Both won seven times last year.

Brown said he had spoken a lot with the Australian over the European winter break and expected the 24-year-old, championship leader for much of 2025, to pick up where he left off.

He said the discussion had been all about creating the best environment for him and what ⁠McLaren needed to do to support him.

Brown said Piastri had spent time in the simulator and, in response to ‌a question about lingering sentiment in Australia that McLaren ‍favored Norris, "he knows he's getting a ‍fair shake at it".

"You win some, you lose some. Things fall your way, things ‍don't fall your way," added the chief executive.

PRE-SEASON FAVOURITE

Brown said Norris' confidence level was also very high.

"He's highly motivated and it's our job to give him and Oscar the equipment again to be able to let them fight it out for the championship," he said.

"If we can do that, I think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shot."

Mercedes' George Russell is the current pre-season favorite after an initial shakedown ⁠test in Barcelona last month.

Norris can become only the second Briton to take back-to-back titles after seven times champion Lewis Hamilton, who won four titles in a row with Mercedes from 2017-20 as well as two together in 2014 and 2015.

The only other multiple British world champions are Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Graham Hill (1962, 1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973).

"I think there are some drivers that say 'I've done it. Now I'm done'," said Brown. "And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go 'I've done it once, now I want to do it twice and three or four times'."

He reiterated that both remained free to race and said decisions would be taken strategically as and ‌when they arose.

"We feel like we'll be competitive. The top four teams all seem very competitive. Very early days but indications that we will be strong," he added.

Sports

‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)

Handle with care. That's the message from gold medalist Breezy Johnson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after she and other athletes found their medals broke within hours.

Olympic organizers are investigating with "maximum attention" after a spate of medals have fallen off their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.

"Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke," women's downhill ski gold medalist Johnson said after her win Sunday. "I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken."

TV footage broadcast in Germany captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realized the mixed relay bronze he'd won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates.

His German teammates cheered as Strelow tried without success to reattach the medal before realizing a smaller piece, seemingly the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.

US figure skater Alysa Liu posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon.

"My medal don’t need the ribbon," Liu wrote early Monday.

Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organizing committee, said it was working on a solution.

"We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. Obviously we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem," Francisi said Monday.

"But obviously we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that obviously in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect, because we really consider it to be the most important moment. So we are working on it."

It isn't the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.

Following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.

Sports

African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
TT
TT

African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)

Burkina Faso striker Dango Ouattara was the Brentford match-winner for the second straight weekend when they triumphed 3-2 at Newcastle United.

The 23-year-old struck in the 85th minute of a seesaw Premier League struggle in northeast England. The Bees trailed and led before securing three points to go seventh in the table.

Last weekend, Ouattara dented the title hopes of third-placed Aston Villa by scoring the only goal at Villa Park.

AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

DANGO OUATTARA (Brentford)

With the match at Newcastle locked at 2-2, the Burkinabe sealed victory for the visitors at St James' Park by driving a left-footed shot past Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope to give the Bees a first win on Tyneside since 1934. Ouattara also provided the cross that led to Vitaly Janelt's headed equalizer after Brentford had fallen 1-0 behind.

BRYAN MBEUMO (Manchester Utd)

The Cameroon forward helped the Red Devils extend their perfect record under caretaker manager Michael Carrick to four games by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Tottenham after Spurs had been reduced to 10 men by captain Cristian Romero's red card.

ISMAILA SARR (Crystal Palace)

The Eagles ended their 12-match winless run with a 1-0 victory at bitter rivals Brighton thanks to Senegal international Sarr's 61st-minute goal when played in by substitute Evann Guessand, the Ivory Coast forward making an immediate impact on his Palace debut after joining on loan from Aston Villa during the January transfer window.

ITALY

LAMECK BANDA (Lecce)

Banda scored direct from a 90th-minute free-kick outside the area to give lowly Leece a precious 2-1 Serie A victory at home against mid-table Udinese. It was the third league goal this season for the 25-year-old Zambia winger. Leece lie 17th, one place and three points above the relegation zone.

GERMANY

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Borussia Dortmund)

Guirassy produced a moment of quality just when Dortmund needed it against Wolfsburg. Felix Nmecha's silky exchange with Fabio Silva allowed the Guinean to sweep in an 87th-minute winner for his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season. The 29-year-old has scored or assisted in four of his last five games.

RANSFORD KOENIGSDOERFFER (Hamburg)

A first-half thunderbolt from Ghana striker Koenigsdoerffer put Hamburg on track for a 2-0 victory at Heidenheim. It was their first away win of the season. Nigerian winger Philip Otele, making his Hamburg debut, split the defense with a clever pass to Koenigsdoerffer, who hit a shot low and hard to open the scoring in first-half stoppage time.

FRANCE

ISSA SOUMARE (Le Havre)

An opportunist goal by Soumare on 54 minutes gave Le Havre a 2-1 home win over Strasbourg in Ligue 1. The Senegalese received the ball just inside the area and stroked it into the far corner of the net as he fell.