Sevilla, who trailed 2-1 from the opening match, looked to be heading out of the competition when Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao gave their opponents the lead Wednesday night.

Jesus Navas gave the home side hope before the interval, but a red card for Gary Medel in the second half complicated matters further.

Ivan Rakitic’s eventual equalizer came too late for Sevilla, who also saw Geoffrey Kondogbia sent off in the dying seconds to cap a miserable evening.

With the rain lashing down at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Atletico were in front after just six minutes thanks to Costa, who held off the challenges of two defenders before drilling home from 10 yards out.

It took Sevilla 20 minutes to create its first meaningful chance, with Navas looping a ball to the far post where Medel headed narrowly wide.

And the miss came back to haunt them nine minutes later when Atletico scored again. Costa was at the heart of the move, whipping in a cross from the left to Falcao, who hit a first-time shot into the bottom right corner.

This time Sevilla managed to respond, and 10 minutes later Navas had added his name to the scoresheet, smashing home an angled shot off the right post following a cross from Jose Antonio Reyes.

That sparked a spell of pressure from the home side, and it should have been level three minutes before the interval but Rakitic failed to finish Medel’s assist and directed a header wide from an unmarked position.

Sevilla pushed again in the second half, but Alvaro Negredo was denied after 53 minutes by a parried save from visiting goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Moments later Costa should have put the match beyond doubt for Atletico, but he failed to make the most of his chance from a few yards out and, under pressure from a defender, poked a shot wide of the left post.

Sevilla’s evening took a further turn for the worse after 76 minutes when Medel was shown first a yellow card and then a red for dissent.

Atletico failed to finish off its opponents though, and Sevilla grabbed a late if immaterial equalizer in stoppage time when Kondogbia’s through ball found Rakitic, who finished right footed into the bottom corner.

The match then finished on a sour note for Kondogbia, who saw a straight red in the final seconds for bringing his foot down on Costa.

The post Atletico to meet Real in Copa final appeared first on IdealCapper.

The Portugal international slotted home Alex Sandro’s pinpoint pass 11 minutes into the second half to earn Porto victory in a match of few clearcut chances at the Estadio do Dragao.

The defeat was Malaga’s first in its maiden Champions League campaign, but Manuel Pellegrini’s men will be hopeful of turning things round at La Rosaleda, where they beat both AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg in the group stages.

Two-time former European champions Porto will also be optimistic about their chances of going through to the quarterfinals, although they would have preferred a bigger advantage for the trip to Andalusia.

Vitor Pereira’s hosts dominated the first half in terms of possession and territory, but created little to trouble visiting goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

The majority of Porto’s efforts before the break were off-target, although Marat Izmailov did bring a diving save out of Caballero in the fourth minute.

Porto’s next two chances saw Fernando and Silvestre Varela head Moutinho corners just wide before Caballero was called into action again on the half-hour mark to comfortably gather an optimistic Fernando shot.

At the other end Malaga only ventured deep into Porto territory sporadically as the respective defenses — the tightest in the Portuguese and Spanish leagues this season — held the upper hand.

The home side would have been disappointed not to have worked Caballero more in the first period, but they came out strongly at the start of the second half and took just six minutes to fashion the best chance of the game so far.

Sandro sent over a cross from the left and the stretching Izmailov almost managed to turn it into the net, despite not getting a clean connection on his half-volley.

That was a major let-off for Malaga, but they were not so fortunate five minutes later as 1987 and 2004 champions Porto took the lead through Moutinho following more good work from Sandro.

The Brazilian did well to create space before picking out his teammate’s run into the box with an inch-perfect pass between the Malaga defence and goalkeeper Caballero, which the highly-rated Moutinho clinically side-footed home first time.

That proved to be the only goal of the match as defenses continued to dominate during the closing stages, leaving things finely poised for the second leg.

The post Moutinho goal gives Porto UCL advantage appeared first on IdealCapper.

Jeremy Lin sank five 3-pointers, a career high, and Chandler Parsons and James Harden hit four apiece as the Rockets reached a season-high point total. They also tied an NBA record with 14 3-pointers in the first half and dished out a season-high 35 assists on 46 field goals overall.

Lin scored 28 points, Harden added 18 and Parsons scored 16 for Houston. The Rockets put on the shooting display without their best 3-point shooter — Carlos Delfino sat out with a right elbow injury.

Jarrett Jack scored 20 points and David Lee had 18 for the Warriors. Houston tied the single-game record for 3s set by Orlando in a 139-107 win over Sacramento on Jan. 13, 2009.

The Rockets were 18 of 27 from 3-point range through three quarters, and they also bottled up Golden State’s leading scorer, limiting Stephen Curry to seven points on 3-for-12 shooting.

Houston finally hit a dry spell early in the fourth, missing its first three 3-point attempts. Marcus Morris then hit one from the wing, and Parsons flashed him a smile as the two trotted back down the court.

With the outcome decided, Rockets coach Kevin McHale pulled his starters with about six minutes left, leaving the pursuit of the NBA record to the reserves. Newcomer Patrick Beverley sank one from the corner for No. 22 and seldom-used Donatas Motiejunas swished another to tie Orlando’s mark.

The fans figured out quickly they were on the verge of witnessing history, beginning to chant “One more 3!” with less than two minutes left. Beverley drove for a one-handed dunk with 1:04 remaining, prompting a mix of cheers and groans.

Beverley took a hard foul from Draymond Green on a 3-point try with 34 seconds left. Beverley and Green snapped at one another, prompting a heated argument between several players. Green and Morris were ejected.

The Rockets had one more possession to grab the record outright, but Golden State wasn’t going to allow it, intentionally fouling the Rockets at the end.

Morris sank three 3-pointers for Houston, which had never made more than 17 in a game.

The Rockets went 7 for 10 from 3-point range in the first quarter, but only 13 for 25 from the field overall. Lin and James Anderson sank 3s early in the second quarter to keep Houston in front. The Warriors made 20 of their first 32 shots and still couldn’t keep pace.

Houston tied an NBA record with 14 3s on only 18 attempts in the first half. Milwaukee had 14 3s in a half against Phoenix in March 2006 and New York matched that total twice last season — against Portland on March 14 and against Boston on April 17.

Curry, though, had the most spectacular shot before the break, just beating the buzzer with a half-court shot to cut Houston’s lead to 77-62.

But Golden State’s perimeter defense was no better in the third quarter, and 3-pointers by Parsons and Lin stretched the gap past 20. Harrison Barnes ran out to guard Lin on his next 3-point attempt, and Lin blew by him for a layup and an 87-64 Houston lead.

Toney Douglas swished a 3 from the corner with 1:38 left in the third quarter for No. 18, and Houston cruised over 100 points. The Warriors shot 54 percent (36 of 67) through three quarters and still couldn’t mount a rally.

Game notes

The Warriors have lost 15 of their last 17 games against the Rockets, and nine in a row in Houston. … Golden State dropped to 8-1 this season when scoring at least 30 points in the first quarter. … Houston sank at least 10 3-pointers for the 27th game. … The Rockets set season highs for first-quarter and first-half points.

The post Rockets tie NBA record, sink 23 3-pointers in win vs. Warriors appeared first on IdealCapper.