German teams Hamburg and Werder Bremen moved closer to the UEFA Cup semifinals with victories Thursday. Hamburg recovered from conceding in the first minute to beat Manchester City 3-1, while Bundesliga rival Werder beat Italian club Udinese 3-0. “We threw it away,” Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland said. In the first legs of the other quarterfinals, Shakhtar Donetsk beat Marseille 2-0 and Dynamo Kiev drew 0-0 at Paris Saint-Germain. With the draw for the next round already made, the results make it possible that there will be two German clubs in one semifinal and two Ukrainian clubs in the other. The lineup will be decided after next week's second leg matches. But a victory for Hamburg had looked unlikely when Manchester City took the lead after only 30 seconds, direct from the kickoff. The ball was swept upfield to Robinho and the Brazil striker cut in from the left to lay a pass across the edge of the area. Ireland then put it past goalkeeper Frank Rost. City needed goalkeeper Shay Given to make three quick reaction saves in the first eight minutes to preserve its lead but he was unable to make a fourth, with defender Joris Mathijsen heading a corner kick past the goalkeeper and in at the far post. Hamburg continued to dominate, but had to wait until the 64th for another goal, when Germany midfielder Piotr Trochowski scored with a penalty kick after Micah Richards had handled the ball in the area. Paulo Guerrero then made it three 15 minutes later with a close-range finish that hit the back of the net before Given could even dive. Midfielder Diego scored two goals to give Werder Bremen, which eliminated AC Milan in the previous round, a good chance of kicking out the last Italian team remaining in European competition. Diego opened the scoring against Udinese in the 34th with a shot to the far post and then scored against the run of play in the 67th when he lifted a shot into the far top corner. Two minutes later, Hugo Almeida collected a long pass from Sebastian Boenisch, beat the offside trap and slotted the ball in with a low shot. The Italian club's slim hopes of progress were kept alive when Italy striker Fabio Quagliarella made up for wasting several chances by scoring an important away goal in the 87th. Former European champion Marseille faces a struggle next week after Tomas Hubschman and Jadson scored for Shakhar Donetsk in the Ukrainian side's first ever UEFA Cup quarterfinal appearance. Hubschman put the home side ahead from a rebound in the 39th after goalkeeper Steve Mandada failed to block his first shot, with Jadson scoring midway through the second half with a low shot from a pass from Fernandinho. PSG still can reach the semifinals despite failing to win after at least denying Dynamo an away goal by recording a fourth straight clean sheet at Parc des Princes. PSG dominated the first half with Benin playmaker Stephane Sessegnon controlling the midfield. The return legs are all scheduled for next Thursday.
