Man City loses, but earns spot in League Cup final
Manchester City will get the chance to win the English League Cup for a third straight season after advancing to the final despite losing 1-0 to Manchester United in the second leg of their semifinal on Wednesday.
Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, United moved to within a goal of City on aggregate when Nemanja Matic
swept home a powerful finish off the post in the 35th minute.
City dominated the match at Etihad Stadium, with Raheem Sterling
wasting two clear-cut chances, but United stayed in the game until Matic was sent off in the 76th after collecting his second yellow card.
Pep Guardiola’s team will play Aston Villa in the title match at Wembley Stadium on March 1, and will be big favorite having won a Premier League game between the teams 6-1 this month.
Elsewhere: Christine Sinclair scored twice to pass Abby Wambach for the international goals record among both men and women, and Canada defeated Saint Kitts and Nevis 11-0 in the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament . ... Real Madrid advanced to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey with a 4-0 win over second-division club Zaragoza. Madrid, seeking its first Copa title since 2014, has reached the quarterfinals in three straight seasons. It was eliminated by Barcelona in last year’s semifinals. The Copa del Rey is the only title missing for Zinedine Zidane as Real Madrid coach . ... Mohamed Salah
scored a penalty and set up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal as Liverpool beat West Ham 2-0 to go 19 points clear at the top of the English Premier
League . ... Nicolo Barella
scored a spectacular volley to help Inter Milan beat Fiorentina 2-1 and reach the Italian Cup semifinals. ... Fourth-tier club Epinal produced another French Cup upset by knocking out first-division Lille 2-1 to reach the quarterfinals . ... World Cup and Champions League winner Lucio announced his retirement at the age of 41. The Brazilian defender was a starter in Brazil’s 2002 World Cupwinning team.
ETC.
MLB: Kris Bryant lost his service-time grievance against the Chicago Cubs, providing some clarity for the team and the All-Star third baseman with spring training on the horizon. The decision means Bryant, 28, has two years left before he is eligible for free agency, instead of becoming a free agent after 2020.
College basketball:
Obi Toppin had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help
No. 7 Dayton (19-2, 8-0 Atlantic 10) hold off host Duquesne (15-5, 5-3) 73-69. ... Myles Powell scored 24 points despite a woeful shooting effort and host
No. 10 Seton Hall (16-4,
8-0 Big East) won its 10th straight game with a 64-57 victory over DePaul (13-8, 1-7) . ... Tyrese Maxey scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half, and host No. 13 Kentucky (16-4, 6-1 SEC) used a 23-12 run to rally past Vanderbilt (8-12, 0-7) for a 71-62 victory that dealt the Commodores their record 25th consecutive Southeastern Conference regular season loss . ... Cassius Winston scored 18 points and Xavier Tillman had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead host No. 14 Michigan State (16-5, 8-2 Big Ten) to a 79-50 win over Northwestern (6-14, 1-9) . ... Caleb Mills scored 18 points to help No. 21 Houston (17-4, 7-1 American Athletic Conference) beat host East Carolina (9-12, 3-5) 69-59. ... Emmitt Williams had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and host No. 22 LSU (16-4, 7-0 SEC) defeated Alabama (12-8, 4-3).
NHL: Buffalo’s Linus Ullmark will miss as much as four weeks with an injury to his right leg. The Sabres wouldn’t reveal the nature of the injury, but Ullmark could not place any weight on his right leg while being helped off the ice Tuesday against Ottawa.