Sevilla to play AS Roma in UEL Final.
Sevilla substitute Erik Lamela nodded home an extra-time winner to seal a hard-fought victory over Juventus and forge a path to the UEFA Europa League (UEL) final, while extending the Spanish side’s imperious unbeaten streak in the competition to 18 home matches.
Still wounded from letting their one-goal lead slip at the death in Turin last week, Sevilla came racing out of the blocks on home turf, buoyed by a sea of bouncing red shirts at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.
But for all their early pressure, the first chance of many in a jam-packed first period fell to the visitors, when the reverse fixture’s 97th-minute hero Federico Gatti stung the palms of Yassine Bounou with a bullet header.
Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny was forced to match his Sevilla counterpart minutes later, and he rose to the challenge by athletically clawing away Lucas Ocampos’ near-post effort, before a trio of high-quality chances fell to the Bianconeri. Ángel Di María had the first, and most definitely the worst of the bunch, as his audacious scoop drifted embarrassingly off target from close range. Powerful attacking play from Moise Kean then saw him drive into space and fire off the base of the far post, and while Adrien Rabiot found the net after latching onto a cut-back, initial suspicions of offside were promptly confirmed by the assistant’s flag.
Although the contest continued to ebb and flow after the break, the telling chances once again landed predominantly at Juve’s feet, with Rabiot’s left-footed strike and Gleison Bremer’s header each flying a whisker wide of the upright. As the hour mark came and went, fresh legs from the bench began to make their mark, and Massimiliano Allegri’s side finally drew first blood through Dušan Vlahović, who showed a sharp mind and a cool head to dispatch a skilful chip over the onrushing Bounou. But UEL specialists Sevilla always find a way, and it took them only six minutes to do so through a substitute of their own, Suso, whose pinpoint curler from outside the box evened up the tie once more.
Extra-time was ultimately required after a valiant Szczęsny tipped Youssef En-Nesyri’s looping attempt to safety at the death, and Lamela soon succeeded where his team-mate failed by arrowing a header of his own into the bottom corner, sparking bedlam among the raucous home fans.
A second booking for Marcos Acuña reduced the hosts to 10 men in the final minutes, but the looming twist never came for Juve, and Sevilla are now only one game away from widening their lead atop the all-time charts with a seventh UEL title.
They will line up opposite Roma for the privilege in Budapest later this month and the Spaniards will surely fancy their chances, too, having lost only one of their 12 matches since José Luis Mendilibar took charge.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)
Source: Flashscore
Richard Koomson| mediacentralonline.info |Ghana
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