Sevilla seal Europa League win
The curse of Bela Guttman returned to haunt Benfica as Sevilla won a
penalty shoot-out to beat the Portuguese giants to the Europa League
trophy in Turin.
The Hungarian coach declared Benfica would never
win another European final when being denied a pay-rise and leaving the
club in anger having delivered back-to-back European Cups in 1961 and
1962.
Over the intervening 52 years, Benfica had since fallen
short in the final on seven occasions, most recently conceding a late
goal to Chelsea in Amsterdam to concede the 2013 Europa League crown.
On
Wednesday night they could not be separated from Sevilla - UEFA Cup
winners in 2006 and 2007 - over 120 minutes, and penalty misses from
Oscar Cardozo and Rodrigo allowed substitute Kevin Gameiro to prolong
their agony as Guttman's fateful words rang around the Juventus Stadium.
Sevilla had most of the ball early on and might have scored through Carlos Bacca in the ninth minute.
The
Colombian raced into the box to keep up with a swift counter-attack
but, after coming up just short on Ivan Rakitic's low cross from the
left, he was in fact ahead of the move and ruled offside.
Sevilla's
Portuguese goalkeeper Beto got his first feel of the ball as Nicolas
Gaitan's free-kick dipped towards the far post and he had to think
quickly to repel Ezequiel Garay on the rebound.
Rakitic looked
especially determined to make something happen and his clever passes and
skilful runs regularly rattled Benfica's backline.
Alberto Moreno
was, however, the first Sevilla player to truly test Jan Oblak, his
drive from outside the box forcing the Slovenian stopper off his line.
At that point the Spaniards looked like turning the screw but it was Benfica who dominated before the break.
They would lament not being given the chance to notch from the spot in stoppage time.
Sevilla
were first caught unaware as Maxi Pereira loped into the box to fire
straight at Beto and were rather lucky to avoid conceding a penalty when
Federico Fazio climbed all over the well-placed Gaitan.
Benfica
pushed through that disappointment when play resumed, yet neither
Rodrigo nor Lima could stick the ball away as Sevilla failed to clear
their lines.
Los Rojiblancos broke back and Jose Reyes could have
tucked Rakitic's dinked pass away had Luisao not sent the ball spinning
wide with his toe.
Reyes then wasted a much better opportunity when arriving in the area at speed to blast straight into Oblak's gloves.
The
call soon came from both benches to regroup and conserve energy for the
final 10 minutes, which began with Rakitic's canny - but unsuccessful -
attempt to send Vitolo into a one-on-one with Oblak.
It was time
for Benfica to turn up the heat once again and Beto only just got
fingertips to a whiplash effort from Lima before an unmarked Garay
headed over the crossbar.
But extra-time seemed increasingly
inevitable and, just after Garay's desperate swing at a loose ball from
the D spooned over the bar, the final whistle sounded.
The
Argentinian defender tried his luck again in the second of 30 additional
minutes and Beto survived a particularly sticky moment when parrying
Lima's free-kick to safety.
It looked like the crowd would finally
be treated to a goal when Bacca streaked down the right wing to collect
Rakitic's pass, but there was further agony for Sevilla as his drive
fizzed past the far post.
Despite the best efforts of 22 tired
players, the second period offered no reason to be cheerful or deciding
moment, and a penalty shoot-out loomed.
Lima and Bacca netted before Cardozo's stuttering run-up saw him clip straight at Beto.
Stephane Mbia powered home and Sevilla were on the verge of claiming the trophy when Rodrigo was denied.
Coke
scored, Luisao kept Benfica alive for a few seconds longer, but
substitute Gameiro was soon wheeling away in celebration after beating
Oblak to inspire rapture in the Sevilla supporters.
source: http://www.espnfc.com/uk/en/report/392462/report.html?soccernet=true&cc=4716
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