Union Berlin and Arsenal exit Europa League, AZ advances in Europa Conference
Friday’s soccer news starts in the second-legs of the Europa League round of 16 games where Jordan Pefok subbed on in the 56th minute of Union Berlin’s 3-0 loss at Union St-Gilloise, exiting 6-3 on aggregate. Union St-Giolloise opened the scoring on the night in the 18th minute, scoring again in the 63rd. Union Berlin went a man down in the 80th with a red card to Janik Haberer. Union St-Gilloise added a third goal on the night four minutes into stoppage time.
Matt Turner was on the bench for Arsenal’s 1-1 home draw with Sporting, drawing 3-3 on aggregate and exiting to Sporting 5-3 on penalties. Granit Xhaka put Arsenal up in the 19th with Sporting equalizing in the 62nd to send the game to extra time. Sporting saw red in the 118th minute. In penalties, Arsenal failed to convert in the fourth round with Sporting going five for five.
“I think when we went to extra time, we showed incredible energy again and top mentality when it wasn’t our best day to keep going,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “We had another two big chances, we didn’t win and at the end it comes to the penalties, it’s a lottery, and today it didn’t go our way.”
Moving to the Europa Conference League, Djordje Mihailovic wasn’t in the squad for AZ’s 2-1 home win over Lazio to win that round of 16 series 4-2 on aggregate. Trailing on the night to a 28th minute goal, AZ’s Jesper Karlsson scored in the 28th and Vangelis Pavlidis added an AZ goal in the 62nd minute. AZ advances to play Anderlecht in the quarterfinals.
With UEFA conducting the draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the 2022-23 Champions League, Christian Pulisic and Gaga Solina’s Chelsea plays Real Madrid in the quarterfinals away on April 12 and home on April 18. The winner will face the winner of the Manchester City vs Bayern Munich series.
USMNT defender Chris Richards will have a new manager at Crystal Palace after the club parted ways with Patrick Vieira. “It is with enormous regret that this difficult decision has been made,” Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said in a press stament. “Ultimately, results in recent months have placed us in a precarious league position and we felt a change is necessary to give us the best chance of retaining Premier League status. That said, Patrick’s impact since joining us in the summer of 2021 has been significant, and he is held in the highest regard by myself, and all of his colleagues.”
WEEKEND SOCCER TV
Saturday has the Premier League on USA: Southampton vs Spurs at 11am and Chelsea vs Everton at 1:30pm.
La Liga on ESPN Deportes: Almeria vs Cadiz at 9am, Rayo Vallecano vs Girona at 11:15am, Espanyol vs Celta Vigo at 1:30pm, and Atletico Madrid vs Valencia at 4pm. Ligue 1 on beIN Sport: Toulouse vs Lille at 12pm and Lens vs Angers at 4pm. Primeira Liga on GolTV: Benfica vs Vitoria Guimaraes at 2pm.
MLS on FOX: Seattle vs LAFC at 4pm. Liga MX on Univision: Cruz Azul vs San Luis at 7pm and Tigres vs Monterrey at 9pm. Telemundo has Chivas vs Club America at 11pm.
Sunday has the Premier League on USA: Arsenal vs Crystal Palace at 10am.
Ligue 1 on beIN Sport: Ajaccio vs Monaco at 8am, Nice vs Lorient at 10am, PSG vs Rennes at 12pm, and Reims vs Marseille at 3:5pm. La Liga on ESPN Deportes: Real Betis vs Mallorca at 9am, Osasuna vs Villarreal at 11:15am, Getafe vs Sevilla at 1:30pm, and Barcelona vs Real Madrid at 4pm. Serie A on CBS Sports: Lazio vs Roma at 1pm. Primeira Liga on GolTV: Braga vs Porto at 2pm.
Liga MX on TUDN: Queretao vs Juarez at 9pm.
No games on Monday’s schedule. All Times Eastern
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