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Adam Booker·20 April 2023
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Adam Booker·20 April 2023
There were four Europa League matches to sink your teeth into this evening, as the quarter-final stage came to an end. Here is what went down around the grounds.
Scorers: En-Nesyri 8′, 84′, Badé 47′
Manchester United capitulated at the hands of Sevilla, seeing their Europa League hopes come crashing down by an aggregate score of 5-2.
While United enjoyed the bulk of the possession in the opening exchanges, but a calamitous attempt to play out the back saw Harry Maguire give the ball away and allow Youssef En-Nesyri to stab home from close range, giving Sevilla a slim lead in the tie.
It looked to get even worse for United before the halftime whistle, as Lucas Ocampos curled a shot home from inside the box, but the Red Devils’ blushes were spared as the move was narrowly offside before the strike.
Those blushes returned almost immediately after the restart, as Loïc Badé headed home a corner in off the bar, stunning United and giving Sevilla a two-goal cushion in the tie.
The tie was put to bed thanks to a shocking error from David de Gea, allowing Youssef En-Nesyri to waltz into an empty net with the ball at his feet, driving the final nail into the United coffin.
Scorers: Spinazzola 60′, Dybala 89′, El Shaarawy 101′, Pellegrini 109′; Paixão 80′
Roma needed extra time to get past Feyenoord, but two goals in the extra period made it look comfortable in the end. After winning the Europa Conference League last season, José Mourinho’s side will head to the semi-finals.
Roma were under the cosh from the off, and needed a superb Rui Patrício of a ricocheted shot from close range to ensure they remained in the tie in the opening stages.
To make matters worse for Roma, who were already chasing the tie, Georginio Wijnaldum was forced off in the opening 30 minutes through injury. With Tammy Abraham and Paolo Dybala both coming back from injury, it is a big blow for José Mourinho.
After pushing for the equaliser, Roma were finally rewarded an hour into the game, as Leonardo Spinazzola’s shot just dribbled on through the defence before nestling into the back of the net to level the tie.
The red-hot Stadio Olimpico was silenced in the final 10 minutes, as Igor Paixão came off the bench for Feyenoord to head home the apparent winner for the Dutch side in dramatic fashion.
It was not to be for the Rotterdam side, however, as Paolo Dybala made his own impact off the bench to level the aggregate scoreline in the dying minutes sending the game to extra time.
Roma continued their pressure in the early stages of extra time, and they booked their place in style, as Tammy Abraham teed up Stephan El Shaarawy for a tap-in and helped Lorenzo Pellegrini add a late fourth.
Scorers: Edwards (PEN) 20′ ; Rabiot 9′
Juventus held on in Lisbon to sneak past Sporting CP and into the Europa League semi-finals, where they will face off with a resurgent Sevilla side.
Juventus found the goal they needed to relieve some pressure on the scoreline, as a poor clearing attempt from Sporting allowed Adrien Rabiot to tap in Juve’s opener from point-blank range.
Rabiot’s celebrations did not last long however, as he took down a Sporting player in the box just ten minutes later, forcing the referee to award the hosts a penalty-kick.
He was punished for his actions as well, as Marcus Edwards stepped up and dispatched with aplomb, cutting Juve’s lead in the tie in half.
Juve looked to reclaim their two-goal advantage in the tie before the hour mark, but somehow Dušan Vlahović saw his header from point-blank range go fizzing wide.
Scorers: Terho 64′; Diaby 2′, Bakker 37′, Frimpong 59′, Hložek 79′
Bayer Leverkusen ran riot away to Union Saint-Gilloise, seeing the Bundesliga club move onto the semi-final with an emphatic 5-2 victory on aggregate.
Leverkusen shocked the home crowd, scoring the game’s opening goal almost immediately from the kickoff. Some schoolboy defending from Union saw Moussa Diaby slip in behind and slot home to snatch the advantage for the German club.
Xabi Alonso’s men doubled their lead in superb style before the break, as Diaby picked out Mitchel Bakker at the back post, and the former PSG man took his volleyed effort superbly to give Leverkusen breathing room in the tie.
The tie was all but put to bed as the clock ticked past an hour, thanks to a shocking goalkeeping error from Anthony Moris, whose mishit clearance fell to feet of Jeremie Frimpong, and the wing-back tapped home Leverkusen’s third of the night.
Second half substitute Casper Terho cut Leverkusen’s lead minutes later, breathing life back into the hosts.
Adam Hložek quickly reclaimed Leverkusen’s three goal lead, denting the momentum of the home side in the final 15 minutes, and ensuring Leverkusen will move on to their first European semi-final since 2002.
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