http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 thrash Spartak Moscow to set up Villarreal semifinal: UEFA Europa League
Andre Villas-Boas’ side comprehensively defeated Spartak Moscow 5-2 in the return-leg of the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow on Thursday, April 14. The first-leg of the fixture ended 5-1 in favour of the Portuguese giants, who eventually progressed on a 10-3 aggregate.
The Russians started the match brilliantly and came close to scoring their first goal in the 7th minute after Aiden McGeady’s solo effort forced a super save from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Welliton-c36773 and McGeady made some great runs into the Porto box but failed to convert any of their chances due to some good defending from the away side.
However, it was Porto who struck first and the Dragons went 1-0 up in the 26th minute with their top goal scorer Hulk. The Brazilian scored from inside the box with a low finish past Andriy Dykan after a superb individual run going past three Spartak defenders. Porto could have been 2-0 up just five minutes later but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristian-c9491 Rodriguez’s shot was saved this time by Dykan.
The visitors doubled their lead at the brink of the interval with Rodriguez rising above the Spartak goalkeeper to head into the net. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hulk-c16436 was again involved as he put in a perfect cross for the Uruguayan to score. The score remained 2-0 at half-time.
It was a flurry of goals after the interval. Porto scored their third just two minutes into the second-half through Fredy Guarin. Radamel Falcao’s shot forced a good save from the goalkeeper but the loose ball came in Guarin’s way and the Columbian had no qualms in putting the ball in the empty net.
The home side pulled one back in the 52nd minute to make it 3-1 with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Artem-Dzyuba-c6682 scoring a spectacular goal. The forward went past two Porto defenders to end his move to with a crisp finish past the Porto goalkeeper.
But the Dragons continued to dominate and scored their fourth just two minutes later to pile more misery on the home fans. Falcao found the net with a towering header from a Hulk corner to score his 11th goal of the campaign.
Brazilian forward http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ari-c6471 pulled a second goal for the Russians in the 71st minute after being played through by Dzyuba to finish in the bottom corner. Ruben Micael put the final nail in the coffin and scored Porto’s fifth of the night. The midfielder scored a great goal after Hulk’s powerful shot came off the post to him.
The Dragons will now meet Spanish side Villarreal in the semi-finals of the competition.
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