Maidstone goalkeeper Lucas Covolan is eyeing a move to the Sky Bet Championship after a “normal day at the office” in the club’s historic 2-1 win at Ipswich.
National League South club Maidstone produced one of the FA Cup’s greatest upsets on Saturday after goals from Lamar Reynolds and Sam Corne in Suffolk.
Covolan also starred at Portman Road as Maidstone lost the shot count 38-2, but had their former Brazil Under-20 goalkeeper to thank following a string of excellent saves.
It helped Maidstone become only the 11th non-league club to reach the fifth round in what was their seventh tie in this season’s competition.
“It’s a normal day at the office isn’t it,” Covolan told BBC One.
“I had a great game and I am so happy I could help my team-mates. Here we go, we’re in the hat again and I am so proud of the team.
“Hopefully I can get a move now to the Championship as well!
“What we have achieved now is something unbelievable. To be in the last 16 teams in England, it’s brilliant, just brilliant.
“Credit to all the fans, all the team performance. Everyone was cramping up at the end, but we kept fighting, bodies on the line and everything. What a great day.”
Before kick-off 98 places separated the teams and Ipswich could have been 3-0 up inside 11 minutes, but Jeremy Sarmiento and Omari Hutchinson hit the post, while Covolan denied Hutchinson and Nathan Broadhead.
Further saves from Covolan thwarted Hutchinson and Sam Morsy before Reynolds sent the 4,472-travelling fans into pandemonium with a superb chip in the 43rd minute.
Ipswich did finally beat Covolan 11 minutes after half-time when Sarmiento rolled into the bottom corner, but Corne put George Elokobi’s side back in front with 66 minutes on the clock after another fine breakaway goal.
All eyes were on whether the sixth-tier outfit could hold on and Covolan ensured they did with a sensational save to deny Conor Chaplin following a corner with six minutes left.
It resulted in jubilant scenes at full-time, with Covolan tearful after an eventful career that has seen him score in the National League play-off final for Torquay in 2021, but suffer with depression during a spell at Port Vale.
The 32-year-old added: “It means a lot. I just want to thank my whole family, my wife and everybody that’s been supporting us.
“It means so much because my career in the last few years was not very good and now all the bad parts of the career comes in my head and we produce this.
“It’s unreal. It was very, very good.”
Ipswich captain Morsy urged his team to bounce back as quickly as possible in their bid for promotion after he acknowledged the day belonged to Maidstone.
“We have to look at it and things we can work on because ultimately we didn’t do enough to win the game,” Morsy told Town TV.
“Sometimes it is the other team’s day.
“We haven’t had many disappointing days but sometimes in football it can happen.”
Europa Conference League: Aston Villa stunned by Olympiacos
Aston Villa were stunned by Olympiacos as they suffered a 4-2 home defeat in the Europa Conference League.
On what the Villa faithful hoped would be a famous night at Villa Park, they instead saw their team dispatched by their Greek opponents in the first leg of their semi-final encounter.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick for the visitors, who were 2-0 up inside 30 minutes on Thursday.
Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby struck either side of the interval to restore parity, but El Kaabi sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot before Santiago Hezze added further gloss with a sensational finish. To add to Villa's misery, Douglas Luiz then missed a penalty late on.
In the other semi-final tie, Fiorentina took a 3-2 aggregate lead against Club Brugge.
M'Bala Nzola was Fiorentina's hero in stoppage time, scoring in the 91st minute to nudge the Serie A team ahead.
Hans Vanaken had scored from a penalty following a VAR check for handball in the 17th minute, cancelling out Riccardo Sottil's early opener, though Fiorentina restored their lead through Andrea Belotti before half-time in a frantic first half.
Thiago equalised for Brugge, but it was ultimately not enough.
Europa League: Wirtz and Andrich goals put Leverkusen on the brink, Marseille hold Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen put one foot in the Europa League final as Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich scored in Thursday's 2-0 semi-final first-leg win over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma were masters of their own downfall as Wirtz opened the scoring after 28 minutes, Rick Karsdorp's horrible error allowing Alex Grimaldo to race into the area and tee up Wirtz to finish into an unguarded net.
Though Daniele De Rossi's hosts improved after the break, Andrich added a spectacular second with 73 minutes on the clock, the midfielder giving Mile Svilar no chance as he side-footed into the top-left corner from 25 yards out.
Roma should have pulled one back four minutes into stoppage time, but Tammy Abraham could only nod over from inside the six-yard box after a goalmouth scramble, and they now have it all to do in next week's second leg.
Leverkusen's unbeaten run for 2023-24 stands at 47 games across all competitions (39 wins, eight draws), and they are now overwhelming favourites to stamp their ticket to the final in Dublin.
The other semi-final tie remains in the balance at the halfway stage, with Atalanta being pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Marseille at the Stade Velodrome.
Having scored twice in La Dea's memorable win at Anfield in the last round, Gianluca Scamacca took in Teun Koopmeiners' pass before finishing low across goal 11 minutes in, but Gian Piero Gasperini's team couldn't hold on.
Chancel Mbemba was the unlikely goalscorer for Marseille, stepping out of defence to clip a 25-yard effort against the far post and in after 20 minutes.
Neither side could find a winner from there, meaning it's all to play for ahead of next week's return fixture at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
Orlando City v FC Cincinnati: Acosta hails visitors for absorbing punches
Luciano Acosta has hailed FC Cincinnati for coming through a testing period as they look to make it three straight wins in MLS play at Orlando City on Saturday.
After going unbeaten through their first six games of the season, Cincinnati suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats against the New York Red Bulls and CF Montreal.
However, they have since bounced back with two wins over difficult opponents, seeing off Atlanta United and the Colorado Rapids by the same scoreline.
Acosta scored his 44th goal for Cincinnati – the most of any player in franchise history – in that latter game, and he believes their resilience has been key.
"I think it's just about our mentality," Acosta said. "We lost those two games and it was a bit of a punch that woke us up. But now it's about the mentality and getting back to it."
Head coach Pat Noonan said of Acosta: "I think what makes it more impressive is teams are going to try to prevent him from having an impact.
"When you're a key player and you're able to do what he's doing with the focus on stopping you in a lot of ways, that's what is unique."
Orlando, meanwhile, were beaten 2-1 by Toronto FC last week, halting their four-game unbeaten streak and dropping them to 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Forward Duncan McGuire felt the Lions should have taken maximum points from that game and is desperate to atone at Inter&Co Stadium.
"I definitely think we should've won," he said.
"I think how difficult this felt and how this feels for us right now is going to push us and motivate us to train hard all week, to get a win for the fans at home and get the job done."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Duncan McGuire
Maguire scored his fourth goal of the MLS season against Toronto last week – no other Orlando player has netted more than once in 2024.
Those goals have come from an expected goals (xG) figure of 2.7, with the United States international also attempting a team-high 27 shots this campaign.
FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta
Acosta has contributed to at least one goal in four straight MLS matches (one goal, three assists).
It is Acosta's fifth streak of four or more straight regular-season games with a goal contribution for Cincinnati, with Brandon Vazquez the only other player to achieve that feat for the team.
MATCH PREDICTION – ORLANDO CITY WIN
Orlando earned a win and a draw against Supporters' Shield winners Cincinnati last season, making them one of two teams (also the New England Revolution) to play Cincinnati twice in the 2023 regular season and not lose either match.
The Lions may just fancy their chances of another positive result against Noonan's men, who have only won one of their last three away games (one draw, one defeat).
Orlando have only lost two of their last 17 regular-season home matches dating back to last April, winning nine and drawing six, so viewers should expect a response to their loss last time out.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 49.3%
FC Cincinnati – 23.6%
Draw – 27.1%
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