SEVILLE, Spain -- Stephane Mbia and Carlos Bacca scored within four minutes of each other as Sevilla beat Valencia 2-0 in the first leg of an all-Spanish Europa League semifinal on Thursday.
https://www.kansascityfootballshop.com/15-Jersey . With his back to goal, Mbia backheeled Ivan Rakitics bouncing free kick over goalkeeper Victor Guaita for the opener after 33 minutes. Mbia appeared to score after receiving in an offside position. Guaita could do little moments later as Bacca raced free into the area to fire a low shot past the outstretched Valencia goalie to put the Andalucian club in command and on the verge of its first final since winning the second of consecutive UEFA Cups in 2007. Sevilla keeper Beto denied late Valencia substitute Jonas from point-blank in the 87th to preserve the advantage, then Eduardo Vargas headed off the crossbar as Valencia nearly scored a valuable away goal. "We played a good game against a great rival," Bacca said. "Despite the result, it wont be easy in the return." Valencia must rebound in one week at its Mestalla Stadium with a place in the May 14 final at Juventus Stadium in Turin at stake. Benfica won 2-1 at home to Juventus in the other semifinal. Valencia was fortunate to only be two goals down after the first leg after it failed to produce any concrete opportunities while relying on Guaita for important stops. Valencia doesnt have to look far back for inspiration after overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Basel to reach the last four. "Im happy with the team and the effort they made," said Valencia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, whose club is looking to return to its first final since winning in 2004. "I dont think the result reflects the effort we made tonight." The visitors started brightly with Joao Perreira testing Beto with a swerving shot from outside the area, but the hosts took control after that through Rakitic. The Croatia midfielders free kick was headed on to the far post where Mbia, who appeared to be offside, got turned around trying to reach it as it bounced through his legs before recovering for the athletic score. Valencia looked demoralized right after Victor Perez combined with Bacca to play the Colombian through to create a two-goal cushion. "One of the most important things is that we didnt concede," Bacca said. "We could have had a third, but them too." Bacca was dangerous throughout, forcing Guaita to save his header and a solo effort set up by Rakitic in the 56th, either side of Guaitas save on Federico Fazios header. Sevilla midfielder Vicente Iborra headed over goal in stoppage time after Valencias final flurry of chances. "Were strong at home and we can come back from this," said Valencia forward Pablo Alcacer, who will miss the return after being booked for trying to avoid contact with Beto, who stuck his leg out at the Valencia midfielder in the closing moments. "Were going to try and get the yellow rescinded. Its clear I didnt do anything."
https://www.kansascityfootballshop.com/29-Jersey . Rinehart joins safety Darrell Stuckey and linebacker Donald Butler as potential unrestricted free agents who are remaining with the team.
https://www.kansascityfootballshop.com/56-Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Im sure youve received many emails wondering what your take is on the Spezza goal that looked like Neil blatantly kicked it in while standing directly in the middle of the crease where, you know, usually a goalie is to make a save but couldnt be due to Neil being there! Thanks! Jon - Westfield, MA Jon: Lets first ask Henrik Lundqvist what he thought of the scoring of the Sens second goal with .Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Former champion Novak Djokovic and last years runner-up Andy Murray secured berths in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. The world No. 1 Djokovic reached his fifth straight and sixth overall Wimbledon quarterfinal by topping 13th-seeded resurgent German Tommy Haas 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), while the second-seeded Murray landed in his sixth straight Wimbledon quarter by handling 20th-seeded Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 on the famed Centre Court. Djokovic lost his serve for the first time of the fortnight when Haas turned the trick en route to 4-2 lead in the second set, but the super Serb got the break back to level the set at 4-all, and would hold on from there. Djokovic held his serve for his first 48 service games of the 2013 tournament. Haas broke Djokovic for a second time and then held for a 5-5 score in the third set and eventually forced a tiebreak, but Djokovic jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the extra session and ultimately closed out his German counterpart on a fourth match point, a forehand winner after 2 hours, 12 minutes of tennis. Djokovic served for the match at 5-3 in the stanza, but blew a match point in the ninth game. The 35-year-old Haas had been 2-0 against Djokovic on grass, including a quarterfinal victory here at Wimbledon four years ago. Djokovic is now 6-3 lifetime versus the one-time world No. 2 Haas after smacking 13 aces and piling up six service breaks. The six-time major champion Djokovic, who beat Murray in this years Australian Open final and lost to Murray in last years U.S. Open title tilt, captured his lone Wimbledon championship two years ago. Djokovic will play in his 17th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal against former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych on Wednesday. The high-flying Serbs quarterfinal streak is the third-longest all-time behind Roger Federers 36 and Jimmy Connors 27 straight appearances. Federers streak came to a close last week when he was shocked by Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky. Meanwhile, the capable Youzhny, who has reached at least the fourth round at Wimbledon on eight occasions, had a 5-2 lead against Murray in the second set on Monday, but he ultimately lost the stanza via tiebreak and would then succumb to the Scot aftter that.
https://www.kansascityfootballshop.com/54-Jersey. Murray lost to Federer in last years Wimbledon final and then beat Federer in the Olympic gold-medal match a month later here on the hallowed lawns at the All England Club. The 26-year-old Murray will appear in his 10th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal. He captured his first-ever major title by beating Djokovic in last years U.S. Open finale. Murray, whos currently riding a 15-match winning streak on grass, is trying to give Britain its first male Wimbledon singles champion in 77 years. His quarterfinal opponent on Wednesday will be Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco. After showing up 10 minutes late on court, fourth-seeded French Open runner-up David Ferrer reached his second straight Wimbledon quarterfinal by overcoming capable Croat Ivan Dodig 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, 6-1; the seventh-seeded 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Berdych topped young Aussie Bernard Tomic 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4; and eighth-seeded former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro doused 23rd-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 to reach his first-ever Wimbledon quarter. The gritty Spaniard Ferrer and formidable 6-foot-7 Argentine del Potro will lock horns in a marquee quarterfinal on Wednesday. "I need to play my best tennis to beat del Potro," Ferrer said. A pair of Poles landed in the round of eight, as 24th-seeded Jerzy Janowicz outlasted veteran Austrian left-hander Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and Lukasz Kubot went the distance to beat Frances Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The 6-foot-8 Janowicz and the 130th-ranked Kubot will meet on Wednesday in the first-ever all-Polish Grand Slam quarterfinal, with the winner giving Poland its first-ever male Grand Slam semifinalist. The last Polish man to reach a Grand Slam quarter was Wojtek Fibak in 1980. Also reaching his first-ever Wimbledon quarterfinal was the aforementioned southpaw and former top-10 star Verdasco, who handled Frenchman Kenny De Schepper 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on "Manic Monday," when all of the remaining singles players are on the schedule at the AEC. For the second time in three days, there will be no mens singles action on Tuesday. The middle Sunday marked the traditional day off at Wimbledon. ' ' '