Florence, (IANS) Spanish side Sevilla played a supreme and controlled game to defeat Italian club Fiorentina 2-0 in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final here and ensure their passage to the final.
With a 5-0 aggregate win over the Italian club on Thursday, Sevilla are in their fourth Europa League final. They will play Ukrainian team Dnipro on May 27 in Varsovia, reports Efe.
Sevilla approached the game with confidence, already 3-0 up after the first leg.
Exactly a year after a Europa championship in Turin, Sevilla came out all guns blazing intending to quash the home team’s hopes of a comeback after the rout at Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Spain a week ago.
However, Vicenzo Montella-coached Fiorentina dominated possession early and began to create problems for the Spanish club.
Even when Fiorentina found an opening though, timely saves from Sevilla’s 21-year-old Sergio Rico dashed the hopes of the Italian club.
Montella’s team had a clear chance at goal, but goalkeeper Sergio Rico answered Argentine Gonzalo Rodriguez’s header with a miraculous save.
The early scare fired up the Sevillans, who went one up after 22 minutes with a goal to Colombian Carlos Bacca, his 26th of the season, all but sealing their finals berth.
Sevilla coach Unai Emery employed four creative players up front, Aleix Vidal, Victor Manchin ‘Vitolo’, Ever Banega and Bacca, to pressure Fiorentina’s Brazilian goalkeeper Norberto Murara ‘Neto’.
A few minutes after Bacca’s goal, the Portuguese Daniel Carrico scored another for Sevilla, a consequence of good strategy and a passive Italian defence.
Fiorentina faced the impossible task of scoring six goals to advance to the finals. And any chances they made were brushed aside by Rico.
Rico came up with two more saves in the second half, stopping attempts by the Egyptian Mohamed Salah, to make things more miserable for the home side.
Sevilla then played out the match, minimising risks with Fiorentina compounding their misery by missing a 66th minute penalty.