Ukraine Upset France as England Edge Portugal in Euro U21

Georgiy Sudakov celebrates scoring against France. MIHAI BARBU / AFP
Georgiy Sudakov celebrates scoring against France. MIHAI BARBU / AFP
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Ukraine Upset France as England Edge Portugal in Euro U21

Georgiy Sudakov celebrates scoring against France. MIHAI BARBU / AFP
Georgiy Sudakov celebrates scoring against France. MIHAI BARBU / AFP

Georgiy Sudakov scored twice as Ukraine came from behind on Sunday to upset France 3-1 in Romania in the last quarterfinal at the European under-21 tournament.

Earlier, Anthony Gordon scored the winner as England, who have yet to concede a goal in the tournament, beat Portugal 1-0 in Kutaisi in Georgia to reach the last four, AFP said.

In Cluj Napoca, in Romania, France strolled into the lead after 30 minutes as Bradley Barcola found space in the Ukrainian box and cut the ball back to Rayan Cherki who side-stepped a defender and popped his shot into the net.

Ukraine were ahead by half time, lifted by two moments of inspiration from Chelsea starlet Mykhailo Mudryk.

After 30 minutes, Mudryk sliced through the French defense and into the box where Pierre Kalulu lunged. Mudryk plunged. Sudakov converted the penalty.

Ten minutes later, Mudryk's pinpoint pass from his own half found Sudakov who gave Ukraine the lead.

In the second half, Ukraine, more experienced than the French, intelligently managed their lead.

Mudryk almost provided another spark with a brilliant long pass to Oleksandr Nazarenko who was unable to convert.

Artem Bondarenko did score in 85th minute. By then, Mudryk was off and France were all but out.

Mudryk has struggled since his 100 million euros (£88 million) move to Chelsea but said he was more comfortable with Ukraine, a team full of former Shakhtar Donetsk clubmates.

"When you play with team-mates who are also your friends, you can play in a different way. When the coach puts 100-per-cent faith in you, you can do a lot more," he said.

In the evening's early match, Newcastle striker Gordon finished first time from a cut-back by Morgan Gibbs White of Nottingham Forest after 34 minutes.

"It's what happens when you have top players around you," said Gordon at the press conference.

"You're going to get chances and it's up to me to finish them. I probably should have had one or two more, which I'm a bit gutted about."

England created the best chances in the first half but rode their luck after the break. Portugal besieged the England penalty area for long periods but could come no closer than a header against the bar by center-forward Henrique Araujo of Benfica.

Goalkeeper James Trafford of Manchester City and his defense held out to preserve their perfect tournament record. England have yet to concede a goal in their four matches in the tournament.

Gordon said Portugal's pressure could prove useful for England.

"We haven't had that opportunity to show we've got that side to our game and tonight we got to -– and we definitely proved ourselves in that."

In the semi-final on Wednesday, England will face Israel in Batumi in a rematch of a group game that England won 2-0.

In the other semi-final, Ukraine will face Spain in Bucharest.

By reaching the final four, Ukraine, Spain and Israel have qualified for the football tournament at the 2024 Paris Games. England do not field a separate Olympic football team.



Mbappé Scores as Madrid Moves Closer to Barcelona in Spanish League

Real Madrid's French forward #09 Kylian Mbappé (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal with Real Madrid's Brazilian forward #07 Vinícius Júnior and Real Madrid's Turkish midfielder #15 Arda Guler (L) during the Spanish league football match between Club Deportivo Leganes SAD and Real Madrid CF at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in Leganes on November 24, 2024. (AFP)
Real Madrid's French forward #09 Kylian Mbappé (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal with Real Madrid's Brazilian forward #07 Vinícius Júnior and Real Madrid's Turkish midfielder #15 Arda Guler (L) during the Spanish league football match between Club Deportivo Leganes SAD and Real Madrid CF at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in Leganes on November 24, 2024. (AFP)
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Mbappé Scores as Madrid Moves Closer to Barcelona in Spanish League

Real Madrid's French forward #09 Kylian Mbappé (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal with Real Madrid's Brazilian forward #07 Vinícius Júnior and Real Madrid's Turkish midfielder #15 Arda Guler (L) during the Spanish league football match between Club Deportivo Leganes SAD and Real Madrid CF at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in Leganes on November 24, 2024. (AFP)
Real Madrid's French forward #09 Kylian Mbappé (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal with Real Madrid's Brazilian forward #07 Vinícius Júnior and Real Madrid's Turkish midfielder #15 Arda Guler (L) during the Spanish league football match between Club Deportivo Leganes SAD and Real Madrid CF at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in Leganes on November 24, 2024. (AFP)

Kylian Mbappé scored and Real Madrid moved within four points of Spanish league leader Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Leganes on Sunday ahead of its eagerly awaited Champions League match against Liverpool.

Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham also scored to close the gap on Barcelona, which conceded two late goals in a 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo on Saturday.

Madrid has played one game less than Barcelona after its match at Valencia was postponed because of the deadly floods in October.

Madrid will make the trip to England to face Premier League leader Liverpool on Wednesday in the Champions League, and is hoping to recover from a demoralizing 3-1 home loss against AC Milan in the previous round of matches.

Madrid's attack worked well against Leganes with Vinícius Júnior playing inside and Mbappé more on the flank. The France striker scored after going four straight games without finding the net for the Spanish powerhouse.

“We switched their positions and the team was able to stay in control during the whole match,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

Mbappé said he is fine playing wherever Ancelotti puts him.

“I've said it on the first day that I can play in several different positions,” Mbappé said. “All I want is to keep playing well and scoring goals.”

Athletic wins Basque derby

Oihan Sancet scored a 26th-minute winner as Athletic Bilbao defeated Real Sociedad 1-0 in the Basque Country derby.

It was Athletic's fourth straight home win against Sociedad in the derby.

The victory moved Athletic to fifth place and left Sociedad in 10th position.

Villarreal recovers late

Fourth-place Villarreal scored an equalizer in stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 draw at sixth-place Osasuna.

Ante Budimir scored twice in the first 20 minutes for Osasuna. Villarreal, which was coming off three straight victories in all competitions, scored through Álex Baena in the 67th and a penalty kick converted by Gerard Moreno three minutes into injury time.

Osasuna, sitting three points behind Villarreal, was coming off a 4-0 loss at Madrid.

Also Sunday, Sevilla ended a two-game losing streak in the league with a 1-0 win against Rayo Vallecano, which played the entire second half with 10 men after Unai López was sent off for a hard foul.

Djibril Sow scored Sevilla's goal in the 27th.