Brighton & Hove Albion's Robert Sanchez in action as Manchester United's Marcel Sabitzer scores a penalty in the shootout during their FA Cup Semi Final match at Wembley Stadium in London.

LONDON, England-- Manchester United beat Brighton & Hove Albion in a thrilling penalty shootout after their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday finished 0-0 after extra time to set up the first all-Manchester clash in the final. Solly March, Brighton's seventh player to step up to the spot in the shootout, launched the ball over the bar, before Victor Lindelof found the net to secure a 7-6 shootout victory for United. "It felt great," Lindelof told the BBC. "It was a great relief and we're glad to be in the final. "I have confidence in myself and I knew which penalty I wanted to take and that's what I did." The nail-biting finale was a fitting ending after 120 goalless minutes of wild swings in a game that careened from end to end all night. The quality of the penalties in a torrential downpour was superb with United finding the net with all seven of their spotkicks. Brighton's first six efforts were equally impressive until March fired wildly off target. "They were great penalties," United keeper David De Gea said. "I was prepared as always. I tried to put pressure on the takers. "There's still a long way to the final but it will be a big game against one of the best teams in Europe and the world." Erik ten Hag's United, 12-times FA Cup winners, are chasing a cup double after winning the League Cup in February. Treble-chasing Manchester City await in the final after they beat Sheffield United 3-0 in their semi on Saturday. "We showed at home we can beat them (Manchester City) so let's hope," De Gea said. United beat City 2-1 in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Jan. 14. "We are on the right track. One trophy, another final and fighting for the top four. It's not enough but it's a big step from last season." Sunday's semi was a rematch of the 1983 final, when Brighton lost to United in the south coast side's only appearance in the showcase game. It had fans on the edge of their seats at Wembley with numerous chances for both sides to break the deadlock, including several in extra time. Marcus Rashford's deflected shot in the extra period was pushed wide by Brighton's diving keeper Robert Sanchez, and then he fired a long shot that sailed just wide. Kaoru Mitoma nearly won it for Brighton late in extra time, but collided with De Gea in the box. "It was a very tight game we played a very good team," De Gea said. "Brighton play really good football. We are now in the final but we have another big game on Thursday (against Tottenham in the Premier League) so we need to go home and recover." The loss ended Brighton's superb run and ended The Seagulls' hopes of clinching a first-ever major trophy. The FA Cup final is on June 3 at Wembley.

MUNICH, Germany-- Manchester City cruised into the Champions League semi-finals after a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich on Wednesday secured a 4-1 aggregate win that moved them a step closer to an elusive first title in the competition. City forward Erling Haaland, who had missed a first-half penalty, made amends in the 57th minute, drilling in his 48th goal in all competitions this season to kill off the tie before Bayern levelled with a Joshua Kimmich penalty in the 83rd. It was City's 15th consecutive game without defeat across all competitions and Pep Guardiola's team, losing finalists in 2021, will next face holders Real Madrid in the last four. It was also the 10th time Guardiola had reached the semi-finals as a coach, a new record. "I am so happy to be three in a row semi-finals (with City)," Guardiola said. "I could not expect (Bayern) differently, you saw how good they are." "In this competition it is the details. In these two games in the right moments we were there," said Guardiola, who coached Bayern from 2013-16. "In the second half we adjusted some things and since minute one in the second half we felt were much, much more in control." Bayern always had a mountain to climb after losing 3-0 in the first leg, but got off to a strong start. Kingsley Coman was a constant source of danger on the wing, keeping City defenders busy, and the hosts' biggest chance came in the 17th minute when Leroy Sane latched on to a Jamal Musiala pass but dragged his shot wide with only keeper Ederson to beat. The Bavarians, knocked out of the German Cup two weeks ago following coach Thomas Tuchel's arrival, caught a break a minute later when defender Dayot Upamecano was initially sent off after receiving a straight red card for a last-man foul on Haaland. A VAR review, however, confirmed the striker was offside and the Bayern defender's dismissal was overturned. Upamecano, who had been heavily criticised for his mistake that led to City's second goal in the first leg, was less fortunate a little later when he was penalised for a handball. Haaland sent his penalty high over the bar, a rare miss for the Norwegian striker this season, but he did much better after the restart. After combining well with Kevin De Bruyne, Haaland shook off the embattled Upamecano, before beating keeper Yann Sommer, setting a new record having taken just 27 matches to reach 35 goals in Europe's premier club competition. City's goal was the first Bayern conceded at home in the entire competition this season and the hosts, who have only the Bundesliga title left to play for, got an equaliser when Kimmich converted a spot kick. "It is really annoying that we didn’t take the lead with all the chances that we had," Kimmich said. I would have liked to see how this match had gone if we had made it 1-0 in the first half." Their frustrating evening was completed when Tuchel was sent off after a second booking in the 86th minute.

AZ Alkmaar's Vangelis Pavlidis scores their first goal against Anderlecht during their Europa Conference League  Quarter Final  Second Leg  match at at AFAS Stadion, Alkmaar, Netherlands
  
ALKMAAR--AZ Alkmaar has reached the Europa Conference League semi-finals after a penalty shootout win over Anderlecht. The clash finished 2-2 on aggregate after a 2-0 win for AZ.
  Down 2-0 from the first leg, AZ needed a quick start, That was exactly what they did as Vangelis Pavlidis netted twice in the opening 15. minutes.
  The first goal for the home side was a penalty after a foul by Michael Murillo, before the striker finished off a well-crafted move started by an excellent pass from Tijjani Reijnders.
  Pavlidis scuffed a chance to score a hattrick and Milos Kerkez also missed a big chance as AZ went into the break 2-0 ahead. Pavlidis did not reappear for the second half after an injury and Mayckel Lahdo came on.
  AZ remained in control but they could not find the third goal with Kerkez hitting the post, while Bart Verbruggen also made a number of saves.
  The game headed to extra time during which Jens Odgaard thought he had won the game for AZ, but his goal was disallowed for offside.
  A penalty shootout was needed in which AZ came out on top as they netted all four of their spot kicks. The winning penalty was netted by young striker Mexx Meerdink, who will now start for AZ’s Under 19s in their UEFA Youth League semi-final against Sporting Portugal, today, Friday.
  AZ will face West Ham United in the Europa Conference League’s semi-final.

LONDON-- Holders Real Madrid breezed past Chelsea into the semi-finals of the Champions League with Rodrygo's double securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to set up a likely mouth-watering clash with Manchester City. Chelsea's hopes of maintaining interest in a woeful season always looked slender after losing last week in the Bernabeu and Rodrygo put them out of their misery with two second-half goals to confirm Real's superiority with a 4-0 aggregate win. The hosts had their moments and had 19 goal attempts but once again they lacked any cutting edge as they lost a fourth match in succession in all competitions since the club's record scorer Frank Lampard returned as interim manager. N'Golo Kante spurned two chances to cut the deficit and Real's former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois made a crucial save just before halftime to frustrate his old club who have now managed only one goal in their last six games. Real, bidding for a record-extending 15th European crown, bided their time and Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 58th minute, before tapping in again in the 80th to spark a mass exodus of Chelsea fans who had seen enough. Despite spending around 600 million pounds ($745 million) on players since a Todd Boehly-led takeover, the London club have now lost four games in a row for the first time since 1993. For Real, they may be handing the La Liga title to arch-rivals Barcelona, but they remain the team to beat in Europe's elite competition and manager Carlo Ancelotti is now eyeing a third Champions League crown with them and fifth in all. Manchester City lead Bayern Munich 3-0 heading in to their quarter-final second leg on Wednesday. Chelsea's fans cranked up the volume more in hope than expectation from the kickoff and the hosts almost got the perfect start when Reece James, Chelsea's most dangerous player, crossed low and the ball broke kindly for Kante who held his head in his hands after bouncing a volley wide. Real looked capable of killing the tie whenever they moved forward and Rodrygo, who scored a vital goal against Chelsea at the same stage last year, smashed a shot against the post. Home keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga then beat away a Vinicius Junior effort before Real's master craftsman Luka Modric found himself through on the right but Arrizabalaga saved. A Chelsea goal before halftime would have energised the mood and it almost arrived in stoppage time when James fizzed a ball across the area and Marc Cucurella looked poised to score only for Courtois to smother his effort brilliantly. "The big Courtois save was very important. We didn't want them to go ahead," Ancelotti told reporters. "That could have been worrying. As the second half developed, we were stronger, we created space to open up quality transitions. "By the end, we had produced a very complete performance. We hit a good level." Shortly after halftime Kante's deflected effort went agonisingly wide and that proved Chelsea's last hope as Real switched gears and took control. Rodrygo skipped past Trevoh Chalobah's wild sliding lunge on the right and his cross eventually was played back to him by fellow Brazilian Vinicius Jr and he slotted home. With a safety cushion established, Real's fans wedged in the corner were already serenading their team by the time Real picked apart Chelsea's defence once again for Rodrygo to deliver the knockout blow into an empty net. It could have got ugly for Chelsea and Lampard who now faces a huge task injecting some life into a season that is fast becoming an embarrassment for the big spenders.