Published : Jan. 10, 2013 - 18:44
LONDON (AP) ― Swansea beat Chelsea 2-0 in the first leg of the League Cup semifinals Wednesday, capitalizing on two defensive lapses by Branislav Ivanovic.
The result moved the Welsh team a step closer to its first major final.
Michu made the most of Ivanovic’s poor control to open the scoring from the edge of the penalty area in the 39th minute.
It was the Spaniard’s 16th goal of a spectacular first season in British soccer.
Ivanovic then made a sloppy back pass that was seized by Danny Graham, who rounded goalkeeper Ross Turnbull and scored into an empty net during injury time.
Swansea City’s Ki Sung-yueng (right) and Chelsea’s Oscar challenge for the ball on Wednesday. (AFP-Yonhap News)
The second leg is in two weeks.
Chelsea is seeking a fifth League Cup title while Swansea is going for its first major trophy in its 100-year history.
Fourth-tier club Bradford beat Aston Villa 3-1 on Tuesday in the first leg of their semifinal.
Spain
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his third hat trick of the season and 18th of his Real Madrid career, advancing his club into the Copa de Rey quarterfinals with a 4-0 win over Celta Vigo for a 5-2 aggregate victory.
Ronaldo put Madrid ahead in the third minute with a swerving long-range shot that beat goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez.
Ronaldo doubled the lead in the 24th off a chipped pass from Luka Modric and scored in the 87th off a pass from Gonzalo Higuain.
The crowd at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu erupted with chants of “Ballon d’Or,” a reference to the FIFA Player of the Year title Barcelona’s Lionel Messi won two days earlier.
Sami Khedira added a goal in the 89th.
Iker Casillas, selected the world’s best goalkeeper for the fifth straight year earlier this week, returned to the starting lineup after being dropped by coach Jose Mourinho for two games.
Italy
Mirko Vucinic scored in the fifth minute of overtime to lead Juventus over AC Milan 2-1 for a berth in the Italian Cup semifinals.
Stephen El Shaarawy put the visitors ahead in the sixth minute, but Sebastian Giovinco tied it with a free kick in the 12th.
Juventus plays Catania in the two-leg semifinals.