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Results Based News

City win but bow out

Author: Rose Young
Date: 17/04/2009

Manchester City fell just short in their attempts to reach the UEFA Cup semi-finals, beating Hamburg 2-1 at Eastlands but losing out 4-3 on aggregate to the German outfit.

City were always facing an uphill struggle to reach the last four after slipping to a 3-1 first-leg defeat in Germany last week.

It looked ever worse for Mark Hughes' side when Jose Paolo Guerrero fired Hamburg ahead in the 12th minute of their second leg encounter.

City rallied and gave themselves a fighting chance after goals from Elano and Felipe Caicedo, but they ultimately came up short as betting experts had predicted.

Hamburg's success set-up a semi-final showdown with compatriots Werder Bremen after their 3-3 second-leg draw against Udinese secured a 6-4 aggregate victory.

In the other side of the draw there will be an all-Ukraine semi-final between Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Kyiv were 3-0 winners on the night and on aggregate over Paris St Germain.

Meanwhile, Shakhtar's 2-1 second-leg success over Marseille wrapped up a 4-1 aggregate victory.

Andy Murray is through to the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 after winning a rain-interrupted third-round match against Italy's Fabio Fognini.

The British number one was leading 7-6 (13-11), 1-0 when rain halted play, before returning on Friday morning in better conditions to wrap up victory 6-4 in the second set.

However, Roger Federer's struggles continued after he lost 6-4, 7-5 to compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round.

Lewis Hamilton improved but Jenson Button responded to post the fastest time at Friday's practice session ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Reigning world champion Hamilton put off-track distractions in Shanghai to one side as he recorded the quickest lap in the morning session.

But compatriot Button responded in the second qualifying session to finish at the top of the timesheets in his Brawn GP car.

Button has won the first two races of the season - in Australia and Malaysia - and was 0.025 seconds clear of Nico Rosberg's Williams and team-mate Rubens Barrichello in third.

In cricket's County Championship, Ian Bell scored the first century of the new season after an impressive 172 in Warwickshire's Division One match against Somerset at Taunton.

Bell, who was recently dropped by England, sent out a strong message to the international selectors after an impressive innings which helped his side reach 500 all out.

In reply, Somerset were 70 for no wicket at stumps on day two.

Elsewhere, Worcestershire reached 150-8 in pursuit of Hampshire 216 all out at the Rose Bowl.

In Division Two, day two between Leicestershire and Northamptonshire was washed out, Surrey trail Gloucestershire by 315 runs after reaching 18-3, while Essex were 29 without loss in reply to Derbyshire's first-innings total of 326.

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