Sociedad scores late to draw with Athletic in Basque derby Bremen through to German Cup semis
MADRID, April 8, (AP): Roberto López scored in the 89th minute to give Real Sociedad a 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league in the second Basque Country derby in four days.
Real Sociedad beat Athletic on Saturday in the postponed final of last year’s Copa del Rey, then equalized in the league match only four minutes after its rival had taken the lead.
Athletic opened the scoring with a header by Asier Villalibre in the 85th, but López equalized for the hosts with a remarkable curling shot from outside the area into the top far corner. It wasn’t clear if López was attempting a cross or a shot.
The result moved Sociedad back into fifth place with 46 points, 12 behind fourth-place Sevilla. Athletic dropped to 10th, further away from the European qualification spots.
Athletic will also play in the final of this year’s Copa final, facing Barcelona on April 17.
Atlético Madrid has a one-point lead over Barcelona in the league and is three ahead of Real Madrid. Barcelona and Madrid play in the last clásico of the season on Saturday in Madrid. Atlético visits Real Betis on Sunday.
In Paris, top-flight teams Montpellier and Angers avoided upsets but labored into the French Cup quarterfinals with narrow wins against fourth-tier opposition.
Montpellier is eighth in the first division and still in contention for a Europa League spot next season, while Angers is in midtable.
Montpellier defeated Chateaubriant 1-0 and Angers won by the same score at Sedan, which won the competition in 1956 and ‘61 and finished runner-up three times before dropping out of professional soccer a few years ago.
Angers-born right back Vincent Manceau, who has played 13 years for his hometown club, scored midway through the first half. Midfielder Florent Mollet grabbed Montpellier’s goal in the 62nd minute.
Second-tier Toulouse, firmly on course for promotion to the first division, earned a 2-1 victory at fifthtier side Saumur.
Fourth-tier Canet-en-Roussillon, which caused a big upset by knocking out Marseille in the previous round, reached the last eight by beating third-tier Boulogne-surMer 1-0 at home. Rumilly Vallieres also advanced with a 4-0 home win against Le Puy 4-0 in a match between two fourth-tier sides.
In the remaining Cup game, Lyon is in Paris on Thursday to
REGENSBURG, Germany, April 8, (AP): Yuya Osako’s secondhalf goal was enough for Werder Bremen to reach the German Cup semifinals with a 1-0 win over second-division Regensburg.
The Japan forward controlled Marco Friedl’s pass from midfield on his chest and turned to shoot inside the left post in the 52nd minute.
The teams’ quarterfinal was supposed to be played on March 2, but it was postponed due to COVID-19 infections among several Regensburg players a couple of days after coach Mersad Selimbegovic was diagnosed with what the club said was the “highly contagious British mutation of the coronavirus.”
The opening minutes of the second half had more goal-mouth action than the entire first half. Osako then missed a chance to make it 2-0 in the 67th, when Regensburg ’keeper Alexander Meyer blocked his shot out for a corner.
Bremen had to clear off the line as the home side made a late surge for an equalizer, but the Bundesliga team held on to set up a meeting with Leipzig on April 30.
Borussia Dortmund is playing second-division Holstein Kiel in the other semifinal on May 1. The final is scheduled to be played in Berlin’s Olympiastadion on May 13.
play third-tier Red Star.
Monaco beat Metz on penalty kicks on Tuesday to join defending champion Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight.
The quarterfinals are being held in two weeks.