Thursday 15 May 2014

Sevilla Win Europa League Title

Two penalty saves from Beto saw Sevilla claim the UEFA Europa League title 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after 120 minutes of action against Benfica finished goalless.
The first 45 was a cagey affair with very few chances in front of goal as both teams set their stalls up in defence and looked to hit on the counter-attack.
This made for a rather dull opening stanza with chances on goal being few and far between.
The first significant action in the match came in the 24th minute when Miralem Sulejmani had to leave the field injured and was replaced by Andre Almeida for Benfica.
The first dangerous shot on goal only came in the 37th minute when Alberto Moreno broke down the right for Sevilla before cutting inside to shoot with his left foot, but his effort was well-saved by the keeper.
Benfica finished the half the stronger of the two sides and probably should have opened the scoring in first half injury time.
Maximiliano Pereira connected a left-wing cross with a fierce volley which was superbly saved at close range by Beto. The loose ball then fell to Rodrigo, but the keeper was up quickly to deny him as well.
The half ended 0-0.
Benfica started the second 45 the way they ended the first with Pereira playing Lima into space inside the box four minutes after the restart, but while his shot beat the keeper it was cleared off the goalline by a defender.
Sevilla were not going to sit back and had their first shot on goal in the second stanza in the 55th minute when Jose Antonio Reyes stung the fingertips of the Benfica goalie from 25-yards out.
Benfica took the ascendancy after that, but for all their possession they struggled to break down an organised looking Sevilla defence.
Consequently, Benfica had to shoot from long range and Lima came close to scoring in the 84th minute when his 25-yard shot was acrobatically tipped over the crossbar by Beto.
The game ended 0-0 after 90 minutes and went into extra time.
With both teams tiring in extra time the chances in front of goal were virtually non-existent.
The best chance of the additional half an hour fell to Bacca in the 101st minute when he broke behind the Benfica defence, but with just the keeper to beat he shot wide of goal from 14-yards out.
120 minutes ended goalless and the game entered the lottery of a penalty shoot-out.
Two penalty saves from Beto saw Sevilla claim the Europa League title 4-2 on penalties.

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