Sports world daily: Barca beat Chelsea to reach women’s Champions League final; Spurs hold Man Utd

Barcelona held off Chelsea to reach their third successive Uefa women’s Champions League on Thursday. The 2021 champions played a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou to win 2-1 on aggregate.

A week after their humiliating 6-1 loss to Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspurs fought back from 2-0 down to hold Manchester United to a draw.

Opener Fakhar Zaman hit a splendid century to guide Pakistan to victory in the first ODI against New Zealand. The win in Rawalpindi was Pakistan’s 500th in 949 ODI matches.

Here’s a look at the key stories from international sporting events through the day for 28 April, 2023:

Barca reach third consecutive Champions League final

Barcelona booked their place in a third consecutive women’s Champions League final with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Thursday at Camp Nou, progressing 2-1 on aggregate.

First-leg goalscorer Caroline Graham Hansen broke the deadlock after 63 minutes but Guro Reiten quickly levelled from a rebound after Sam Kerr was denied.

In front of over 72,000 fans, the third highest attendance in the competition’s history, behind two records set by Barcelona last season, the 2021 winners held on to reach a fourth final in five years.

Chelsea showed plenty of grit to stay in the tie against a superior Barca, becoming the first side to stop them from winning in a home match all season across all competitions.

Barcelona were without England defender Lucy Bronze after knee surgery, while Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas was on the bench for the first time this season after her ACL injury last July.

However the Spanish star was not risked as a substitute in a tense and hard-fought game which went down to the wire.

Graham Hansen thought she had fired Barcelona ahead again early on but the strike was disallowed as she used her arm to control the ball.

Eventually the Norwegian winger pounced after a fine burst downfield by Bonmati, who played in Graham Hansen to finish clinically.

Chelsea conjured an instant response when Erin Cuthbert won the ball with a powerful tackle on Mariona Caldentey, allowing Melanie Leupolz to release Kerr.

Barcelona goalkeeper Sandra Panos thwarted the Australian striker but Reiten was on hand to finish as the ball bounced her way.

Barcelona will face either Arsenal or Wolfsburg in the final in Eindhoven on June 3.

Spurs fight back to hold Man Utd

Tottenham fought back from two goals down to hold Manchester United to a 2-2 draw on Thursday as Newcastle closed in on Champions League football with a 4-1 thrashing of Everton.

Spurs were smashed 6-1 by Newcastle on Sunday to bring Cristian Stellini’s four-game reign as interim manager to an end.

Things threatened to go from bad to worse in caretaker Ryan Mason’s first match in charge as United stormed into a 2-0 lead by half-time.

Jadon Sancho smashed home the opener after just seven minutes before Marcus Rashford turned on the afterburners to race past Eric Dier and fire in his 29th goal of the season.

United fans taunted the home support with chants of “Harry Kane, we’ll see you in June” amid interest from the Red Devils in Spurs’ all-time top goalscorer.

But Tottenham finally showed some fight to boost their chances of qualifying for Europe next season.

Pedro Porro reduced the arrears with a thumping strike before Kane crossed for Son Heung-min to level 11 minutes from time.

A point edges Spurs back up to fifth, but they remain six points adrift of fourth-placed United, who have two games in hand.

Newcastle opened up an eight-point cushion on the chasing pack for a top-four finish and a place in the Champions League next season as Callum Wilson scored twice at Goodison Park.

Eddie Howe’s men struggled to find their rhythm before the break, but led thanks to Wilson’s predatory finish after Jordan Pickford parried Joelinton’s drive.

Newcastle then cut loose in the final 20 minutes as Joelinton headed in, Wilson found the top corner and then a sensational run from Alexander Isak teed up Jacob Murphy.

Dwight McNeil’s corner that crept in was scant consolation for Everton, who remain rooted in the relegation zone.

Only Southampton are keeping the Toffees off the foot of the table and they are now six points adrift off safety after a 1-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

Marcus Tavernier scored the only goal at St Mary’s to take the Cherries up to 14th and seven points clear of the drop zone.

Southampton thought they had snatched a dramatic 89th-minute equaliser but Che Adams’ effort was ruled out for offside following a VAR review, pushing the Saints closer to the Championship next season.

Zaman leads Pakistan to victory in first ODI

Opener Fakhar Zaman hit a splendid century to anchor Pakistan’s five-wicket win against New Zealand in the first one-day international in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

The left-hander smashed 13 boundaries and a six in his 117 made off 114 balls for his ninth ODI hundred as Pakistan chased down a target of 289 in 48.3 overs.

The victory gives Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

All-rounder Daryl Mitchell also made a century, scoring a brilliant 115-ball 113 while opener Will Young hit 86 to guide New Zealand to a challenging total of 288-7 in their 50 overs.

It was Zaman who carried the day for the home team, bringing Pakistan within 34 runs of victory before being finally caught off a miscued shot.

Imam-ul-Haq (60 off 65 balls) and Zaman put on 124 for the first wicket by the 22nd over, negating New Zealand’s attack on a flat Pindi stadium pitch.

Once Haq, who hit five boundaries and a six in his 15th ODI fifty, was removed leg-before by spinner Ish Sodhi, Pakistan were carried further towards the target by a 90-run stand between Zaman and skipper Babar Azam.

Azam fell one short of a half-century when he edged pacer Adam Milne behind the stumps to Tom Latham. He hit three fours and a six off 46 balls.

Pakistan stuttered when Shan Masood fell for a miserable 12-ball one and Agha Salman for seven but Mohammad Rizwan ensured the opportunity was not wasted by hitting the winning boundary during his 34-ball 42 not out.

The victory was Pakistan’s 500th in 949 ODIs.

Murray, Edmund bow out of Madrid Open

Andy Murray said he hopes to play at Roland Garros for the first time since 2020 next month after crashing out in the first round of the Madrid Open on Thursday.

The three-time Grand Slam champion has only played the French Open once since reaching the 2017 semi-finals, losing in the first round to Stan Wawrinka three years ago.

But he said he could return to the Parisian clay, after losing 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) to Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori in Madrid.

“I would like to play, just purely because I don’t know if I’ll get another opportunity to play again,” Murray said on returning to the French Open, where he was runner-up in 2016.

“Whilst I feel fit and healthy, I would like to give it a go.

World number 164 Vavassori turfed out the former world number one in straight sets in the Spanish capital.

Murray was also knocked out in the first round at the Monte Carlo Masters a fortnight ago, describing it as “demoralising” and “awful”.

It is the first time two-time winner Murray has fallen at the first hurdle in Madrid in 12 appearances.

Earlier, Austria’s Dominic Thiem beat Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-1 to set up a second-round clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas.