The five-time winners of the Europa League are now one step closer to yet another chance at getting their sixth title in this competition. Sevilla defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 on Tuesday thanks to a late goal that was the culmination of all the build-up efforts the Spanish side had put forward throughout the evening.
Wolves tried early to get the upper hand in the match with some heavy forward pressure. While it didn’t work as it intended, it was able to equalize possession and opportunities in the beginning stages of the first half. This eventually led to an incredible break where Adama Traore ran an impressive 80 yards into the opposing box and drew a penalty after getting taken down from behind.
It sure seemed like the moment Wolves were desperately searching was about to arrive, especially when clinical finisher Raul Jimenez stepped up to take the penalty shot. He hadn’t missed his last 18 makes, so surely he’d make this one too, right? Wrong. Jimenez had a strange run up to the ball and fired his shot right into the hands of Bono, who had guessed correctly which way the Wolves player was going to go.
From that moment on, Sevilla seemed to regain control of the match. This was particularly apparent in the second half of the match when it looked like the Spanish side had just decided to never lose possession of the ball. Not only did they dominate possession, but they dominated opportunities as well. Sevilla’s wave after wave of attacks yielded corner after corner, but for a majority of the final 45 minutes of the match, nothing came out of those chance.
But that all changed just before the 90 minute mark when Éver Banega was able to whip a beautiful cross inside to find Lucas Ocampos, whose heading strength proved more than valuable and firing the ball into the back of the net past the outstreched arms of Rui Patricio.
Sevilla will now face off against Manchester United with a spot in the Europa League final on the line. Check out the live feed below for updates, analysis and highlights from this match.
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