BRIGHTON, UK — Yannick Sagbo scored a late equalizer as Hull City narrowly avoided an embarrassing FA Cup fifth round exit in their 1-1 draw at Championship side Brighton Monday. Steve Bruce's Premier League team was five minutes away from crashing out after Leonardo Ulloa gave Brighton a first half lead at the Amex Stadium. However, Ulloa should have probably put the match beyond Hull's reach had he not sent a header inches wide when he was found unmarked yards out from the goal shortly before half-time. But Ivory Coast striker Sagbo, who joined Hull from French club Evian last year, bagged only his third goal of the season to spare Hull's blushes and set up a replay at the KC Stadium. The winner of the rematch will face Sunderland, managed by former Brighton boss Gus Poyet, in the quarterfinals. Brighton had made seven changes and Hull six alterations as both sides prioritized their league campaigns. In the circumstances, it was hardly surprisingly that there were few chances of note until Sagbo stretched to send a volley onto the crossbar in the 27th minute. That narrow escape for Brighton sparked Oscar Garcia's team into life and they were soon ahead. Just three minutes later, Ulloa played an impressive one-two with Will Buckley before surging through on goal and dinking a clinical finish over Allan McGregor. Hull threatened an immediate leveler as defender Curtis Davies' header hit the woodwork. That was as close as Bruce's side came to equalizing until five minutes from time. With Brighton just minutes away from its first FA Cup quarterfinal appearance since 1986, Sagbo foiled its hopes as he calmly fired home after collecting a cross from Sone Aluko. Torino beats Verona In Italy, Torino came from behind to win 3-1 at Hellas Verona in Serie A Monday and boost its chances of qualifying for Europe. Torino moved level on points with Verona and sixth-place Parma, three points behind Inter Milan, which occupies the last Europa League qualifying spot. Verona took the lead 10 minutes from halftime after Cesare Bovo fouled Juanito Gomez and Luca Toni converted the resulting spot kick. Ciro Immobile leveled immediately after the restart with his 13th goal of the season, although there were suspicions of offside. Highly rated midfielder Alessio Cerci put Torino in front with a superb volley from Omar El Kaddouri's pass four minutes later. El Kaddouri sealed the match on the hour, slotting Cerci's through-ball into the bottom left corner from just outside the area. Sociedad edges Malaga In Spain, Carlos Vela scored early and Real Sociedad hung on for a 1-0 win at Malaga Monday to move in on the Spanish league's last Champions League qualifying place. Sociedad joined Villarreal on 40 points to sit just three back of Athletic Bilbao in the race to clinch the last spot in Europe's top-tier competition. Malaga sits 17th, three points above the drop. — Agencies
