Shiko Komplet | Tre Motrat Epizodin 45
Six-time winners Sevilla are through to a seventh Europa League final after their extra-time win over Juventus in a pulsating semi-final second leg.
Dusan Vlahovic had put Juventus ahead, but Suso levelled the tie with a brilliant left-footed strike.The decisive goal came five minutes into extra time when Bryan Gil crossed for Erik Lamela to head home.
Sevilla defender Marcos Acuna was sent off late on but the hosts held out and will face Roma in the final.After a steady opening, the game sprang into life midway through the first half with both goalkeepers called into action.Sevilla’s Yassine Bounou kept out Federico Gatti’s header at one end before Wojciech Szczesny superbly clawed Lucas Ocampos’ diving header away at the other.
Buonou then got the slightest of touches to tip Moise Kean’s goalbound effort on to the far post after the Juventus striker’s smart turn in the box and the half ended with Sevilla dismayed not to be awarded a penalty when Juan Cuadrado caught Oliver Torres with a flying challenge.
The chances kept coming in the second half as Juve twice went close – Adrien Rabiot shooting wide after bursting clear before Bremer headed just past the post from Leandro Paredes’ cross.
Juventus took the lead on 65 minutes as Vlahovic brushed past a defender and finished with a clever dink just 58 seconds after coming on.Sevilla equalised six minutes later through their own substitute. Suso collected Lamela’s pass, jinked away from his marker and lashed the ball into the corner from 20 yards.
The hosts nearly won it in the last minute of normal time but Szczesny leapt to tip Youssef En-Nesyri’s header over – although the Juve keeper could do nothing to deny Lamela in extra time.The visitors responded well as they hunted a goal to send the tie to penalties but Federico Chiesa blazed their best chance of extra time over the bar.
Acuna was shown a second yellow card for time wasting five minutes from the end but Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side stood firm and will now head to Budapest on 31 May as their remarkable run in this competition continues.More should be done to protect players from abuse on social media after striker Patrick Bamford received death threats, says Leeds boss Sam Allardyce.
Bamford and his family received the abuse after he missed a penalty in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle.”I’d like the police to do a lot more, but it appears when it comes to social media, they rule the world and can do what they like,” said Allardyce.
“It is why the world is in such a big mess.”Leeds are one point adrift of safety in the Premier League with two games remaining.Allardyce said of Bamford: “He’s been OK; he’s obviously extremely upset about the situation. That is in very bad taste indeed.
“He’s handled it pretty well; the club gave him the support he needed, in terms of security as well. But it wasn’t just about him, it was about his family.The best way is to go out on the pitch and perform. It would be great if he could score the winner.”When asked about the wider impact of social media and technology, Allardyce said he “fears” for the future, particularly with the development of artificial intelligence.
“I fear for our lives, as an old timer,” said the 68-year-old.For me, it is not a great future, the way we are looking at the world and what we are doing with climate change. I worry for my grandchildren.”
Allardyce says Leeds’ failure to beat Newcastle means they “have to win” when they take on his former club West Ham at London Stadium on Sunday (13:30 BST) if they are to avoid relegation.
The Yorkshire club go into the weekend 18th in the table, one point behind 17th-placed Everton – who travel to Wolves on Saturday – and three points behind Nottingham Forest in 16th, who face Arsenal later that same day.
“I’d have said it would be 60% to 65% sure we’d stay up if we’d have won that game [against Newcastle]. Now we’ve got to win at West Ham,” said Allardyce, who managed the Hammers between 2011 and 2015.
“It wouldn’t have been essential to win this weekend if we’d won on Saturday. We could have made sure we’d not lose and then go into the last game.
Sheffield Wednesday pulled off the greatest play-off comeback in English Football League history to beat Peterborough United on penalties on an unforgettable night in South Yorkshire.
Substitute Jack Hunt scored the all-important fifth penalty as the Owls, who had trailed 4-0 from the first leg, secured their place at Wembley in the League One play-off final.
Wednesday made the perfect start when Michael Smith slotted home a penalty in the opening 10 minutes to give the home fans renewed hope a miracle could be on the cards, before Lee Gregory tapped in to make it 2-0 after 25 minutes.
The home side continued to pour forward after the break and Reece James got the third with a close-range finish before Liam Palmer scrambled home with the last kick of the 90 minutes to spark pandemonium.
A shell-shocked Posh had scarcely got out of their own half in the second half of normal time but Gregory deflected a Nathan Thompson header into his own net in extra time to put the visitors back in front on aggregate, only for Callum Paterson to poke home at the second attempt to send the tie to penalty kicks.
Dan Butler’s effort hit the crossbar and went over while every other penalty was scored in a shootout befitting the 120 minutes which had preceded it.
Prior to this tie no team had ever overcome more than a two-goal first-leg deficit in the EFL play-offs to reach the final.Wednesday, who were the first team in EFL history to win 96 points and not go up automatically, will now face either Bolton or Barnsley at Wembley on Monday, 29 May.
How the drama unfolded on memorable nightLiam Palmer celebrates his last-gasp equaliser against Peterborough which sent the game to extra timeLiam Palmer’s goal in the final moments of time added on sent the game to extra time
The Owls, who finished 19 points and three places above Peterborough, had left themselves with a seemingly insurmountable mountain to
Moore said before the game his team just had to focus on winning and “see what happens”, but surely he could never have envisaged what would unfold.In front of a raucous crowd, Marvin Johnson was clattered to the ground on the very edge of the penalty area by Joe Ward and Smith confidently rolled home his spot-kick.
Posh were rocked but still came close to a leveller on the night when Kwame Poku showed good feet before drilling a low shot at goal that Cameron Dawson got down well to.
Dawson’s counterpart Norris then flapped at a ball into the middle and Paterson’s blasted cross-shot was converted by Gregory to increase the noise inside the ground even more.
The away side went into a huddle as they sought to regain some composure in the aftermath of the Owls’ second and Ephron Mason-Clark tested Dawson once more before Joe Ward saw a shot blocked, but it was Wednesday who had wrested control of the play once more by the time the whistle was blown on an utterly frenetic first half.
They picked up where they had left off in the second half and Norris made a superb diving save to keep out a spectacular overhead kick from Gregory, and then denied Josh Windass with a more routine stop.
Wednesday continued to pour forward in search of a third and 29-goal Posh striker Jonson Clarke-Harris was frequently left to fill in as an extra centre-back as the visitors’ defending became ever more desperate.
It was just a matter of time until the pressure told and James struck from six yards after Gregory cleverly dummied a through ball.Moore brought on centre-back Aden Flint to play up front for the final few minutes of time added on and it proved crucial as the defender headed down a deep cross for Palmer to smuggle over the line.
Peterborough had not had a shot for the whole of the second half but retook the lead on aggregate when Gregory unfortunately deflected in Thompson’s header from a Butler free-kick just before half-time in extra time.Wednesday did not give in though and after Paterson popped up with another leveller, Smith, Will Vaulks, Barry Bannan, Josh Windass and finally Hunt scored from the spot to spark wild celebrations as home fans raced on to the pitch.
