Sevilla vs Shakhtar: match report

Thursday, May 5, 2016

FCSD

On May 5, in the UEFA Europa League semi-final return leg, Shakhtar played Sevilla

UEFA Europa League 2015/16. Semi-finals. Return leg.

May 5, 2016. Spain. Seville. Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. 17 ^oC. Att: 41,269.

Sevilla, Spain 3-1 (1-1) Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine

Goals: 1-0 Gameiro (9), 1-1 Eduardo (44), 2-1 Gameiro (47), 3-1 Mariano Ferreira (59)

Sevilla: Soria, Tremoulinas (Escudero, 74), Rami, Krychowiak, Carriço, Gameiro (Iborra, 82), N'Zonzi, Banega (Cristoforo, 89), Vitolo, Coke (c), Mariano Ferreira

Unused subs: Rico, Pareja, Konoplyanka, Llorente

Head coach: Unai Emery

Shakhtar: Pyatov, Srna (c), Kucher, Rakits’kyy, Ismaily, Stepanenko, Malyshev, Kovalenko, Taison (Bernard, 76), Marlos (Nem, 84), Eduardo (Dentinho, 84)

Unused subs: Kanibolotskyi, Kobin, Ordets, Facundo Ferreyra

Head coach: Mircea Lucescu

Booked: Marlos (11), Rakits’kyy (14) Kucher (20), Banega (30), Srna (48), Eduardo (61), Stepanenko (76), Vitolo (87), Ismaily (90)

Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands)

Before the match

Compared with the first leg in Lviv, the Pitmen’s mentor Mircea Lucescu has made only one change to the starting line-up: instead of Facundo Ferreyra, Eduardo was spearheading attacks. The captain Darijo Srna, who got a minor injury the previous day, also took to the pitch.

First half

The game kick-off saw some even competition, but in the 9th minute the Pitmen made a mistake in their half, with Gameiro firing it into the corner to make it 1-0 after racing away into the box just through midfield. Donetsk rushed forward to return the favour, with the hosts trying to play on the counter. Gradually, the players of Shakhtar took the game under control, shattering Sevilla’s defence. The charges of Lucescu managed to equalise during a blistering counterattack, when Marlosfirst cut inside producing a splitting pass into the box just into Eduardo’s path, who, as cool as a cucumber, just rolled the ball into the corner past the keeper to make it 1-1. Immediately afterwards, Marlos approached the goal from the right-hand side only to see his threatening move being interrupted by a defender.

The charges of Lucescu managed to equalise during a blistering counterattack, when Marlos first cut inside producing a splitting pass into the box just into Eduardo’s path, who, as cool as a cucumber, just rolled the ball into the corner past the keeper to make it 1-1

Second half

The Pitmen weren’t happy with the scorleine, charging forward immediately after the break. Viktor Kovalenko bent it into the corner from outside the box, with Sevilla goalkeeper jumping out to clear it. And then followed another counter-attack by the Spaniards, which resulted in scoring one. Gameiro managed to beat Andriy Pyatov, sending it home from a tight angle. The hosts continued to attack, checking Pyatov's reflexes by taking some long-range shots, with Gameiro delivering a stunning bicycle kick, just wide of the top corner. And in the 59th minute, Sevilla managed to score the third goal: the right-back Mariano Ferreira joined the attack and fired a volley into the far corner – 3-1. The hosts breathed freely, with the Pitmen being unable to finetune their attacking performance straight away. On 72 minutes, Eduardo had a clear-cut chance, when his header went just inches wide after a delivery by Srna. Then substitutions followed, with Bernard, Nem andDentinho. However, Shakhtar’s attempts to pull back two goal bore no fruit. With Sevilla reaching the Europa League final.