Juventus jive into quarters

ROME, December 2: Turin heavyweights Juventus booked an early ticket to the Italian Cup quarter-finals after defeating Napoli 3-1 in firs...

ROME, December 2: Turin heavyweights Juventus booked an early ticket to the Italian Cup quarter-finals after defeating Napoli 3-1 in first leg matches.

Darko Kovacevic scored two at the San Paolo stadium, adding to Filippo Inzaghi8217;s early goal to virtually knock the second division outfit out of the competition.

Earlier in the day, Lazio were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by second division side Ravenna.

Inter Milan defeated Bologna 2-1 on Tuesday while AC Milan complete the schedule with a visit at Atalanta.

Valladolid eliminated

MADRID: Four first division sides were eliminated from the Spanish Cup by clubs from lower divisions in first round second leg matches yesterday.

The major shock was the 1-0 home defeat of Valladolid by third division Real Union which gave the underdogs a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Bankrupcy-threatened second division Logrones won 1-0 at Real Sociedad, managed by ex-Spanish National coach Javier Clemente, to go through 3-1.

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Second division Osasuna knockedout first division Sevill a 2-1 on aggregate and Compostela gained a 6-5 aggregate win over top flight opponents Numancia.

Fulham flatten Spurs

LONDON: First division Fulham knocked holders Tottenham Hotspur out of the English League Cup 3-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

Geoff Horsefield8217;s second-half strike for the hosts settled matters as George Graham8217;s Premier League stars were humbled at Craven Cottage.

In other fourth round match, Aston Villa thumped fellow Premier League side Southampton 4-0. Goals came from Steve Watson, Julian Joachim and Dion Dublin 2.

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Fulham started brightly and were ahead after just 10 minutes thanks to a mistake by Tottenham goalkeeper Ian Walker. Walker spilled a shot from Wayne Collins and Barry Hayles was on hand to sweep the ball into the net. Tottenham8217;s Norwegian striker Steffen Iversen coolly equalised in the 43rd minute but Spurs could only stay on level terms for a minute.

Pizarro double

HAMBURG: Holders Werder Bremen received adouble from their young Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro to defeat ULM 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals of the German Cup.

Bremen will be joined in the round of eight by runners-up and German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and second division clubs Bochum and Stuttgart Kickers who both upset top-flight clubs in thrilling matches.

Bremen continued their positive streak after their weekend domestic win against SV Hamburg with a 2-1 victory over promoted ULM. Bremen8217;s Pizarro opened the scoring in the 21st minute while Brazilian Leandro equalised 13 minutes later for ULM.

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But Pizarro struck again two minutes from full time to put the defending champions into the quarter-finals.

Bayern, the leaders in Germany8217;s top league, survived a difficult fight at second division Waldhof Mannheim for a 3-0 victory.