Sevilla beat Shakhtar Donetsk, enter quarters

London, March 16:

Goalkeeper Andres Palop scored an injury time equalizer before Javier Chevanton added the winner in extra time to lead defending champion Sevilla past Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 on Thursday and into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

The game was four minutes into injury time with Sevilla facing elimination when Palop left his net unguarded and moved up for a last-ditch corner. Daniel Alves swung the ball in and the goalkeeper headed home to stun the Ukrainian crowd. The Spaniards then completed the turnaround when Chevanton scored the on a low shot in the 105th minute.

After a 2-2 draw in the first leg, Shakhtar led on Francelino Matuzalem’s goal in the 49th minute, only to have the defending champion equalize with a low shot from Enzo Maresca four minutes later. Donetsk appeared set to advance, especially after Matuzalem set up Elano for the second goal in the 83rd minute.

In another stunner, AZ Alkmaar won at Newcastle 2-0 and the Dutch team went through on away goals, overturning a 4-2 first-leg loss.

Espanyol made it a perfect night for Spain, beating Maccabi Haifa 4-0 following a first-leg goalless draw.

In Barcelona, Ivan De La Pena, Raul Tamudo, Luis Garcia and Walter Pandiani scored second-half goals to give Espanyol a 4-0 win over Haifa.

Benfica Lisbon capped the night, getting a late penalty from Simao Sabrosa to reverse its first-leg defeat and beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in Lisbon for a 4-3 aggregate victory.

UEFA Cup draw

GLASGOW: Defending champion Sevilla was pitted against two-time winner Tottenham in Friday’s draw for the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. AZ Alkmaar was drawn against Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen against Osasuna, and Espanyol against Benfica in the other two-legged quarter-finals to be played on April 5 and 12. — AP