Newcastle edge out Sporting in UEFA Cup

Associated Press

London, April 8:

Newcastle, CSKA Moscow and AZ Alkmaar picked up victories in the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. Alan Shearer gave Newcastle the only goal it needed in a 1-0 victory over visiting Sporting Lisbon. AZ won 2-1 at Spain’s Villarreal. In the landslide of the night, CSKA Moscow overpowered Auxerre 4-0.

Also, Austria Vienna rallied to draw 1-1 with Parma. The second legs are next Thursday with the semi-finals set for April 28 and May 5. The final of Europe’s No 2 club competition is on May 18 in Lisbon.

At Newcastle, Shearer’s header off a free kick from Laurent Robert in the 37th minute lifted Newcastle.

At Villarreal, Denny Landzaat and Robin Nelisse scored in each half to lead AZ Alkmaar over Villarreal 2-1. Juan Roman Riquelme scored for the hosts.

At Moscow, Yuri Zhirkov set up two goals and Sergei Ignashevich converted a penalty kick to lift CSKA Moscow to a 4-0 win over Auxerre.

CSKA took lead in the 21st minute through Chidi Odia’s shot from inside the box. Ignashevich doubled the lead, converting a penalty in the 62nd. Nine minutes later, Vagner Love made it 3-0, and Rolan Gusev completed the scoring in the 78th.

At Vienna, Sebastian Mila equalised in the 60th minute to help Austria Vienna hold Parma. Andrea Pisanu gave the Italian team the lead in the 34th minute beating goalkeeper Szabolcs Safar.