Europa League: Villarreal break Liverpool's hearts in stoppage time, Sevilla earn draw with Shakhtar
Villarreal 1-0 Liverpool
Villarreal: Asenjo, Mario, Bailly, Ruiz, Costa, Dos Santos, Pina, Bruno, Suarez, Soldado, Bakambu
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno, Lucas, Allen, Milner, Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino
With Daniel Sturridge on the bench, Jurgen Klopp started Roberto Firmino up front for Liverpool. The Reds lined up in a 4-3-3 formation with Coutinho on the left and Lallana on the right. With Mamadou Sakho provisionally suspended by UEFA for an anti-doping violation, Kolo Toure started in defence alongside Dejan Lovren.
On the other hand, Villarreal employed their traditional 4-4-2 formation – one that they have used the entire campaign with Roberto Soldado and Cedric Bakambu leading the attack.
As the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine blared through the speakers at El Madrigal, it was the home side that kicked things off. But the Reds had the first real chance of the game when Joe Allen had a shot on goal in the fifth minute. Lallana’s cross into the box found its way to the Welshman and he took a shot low first time which was straight at Asenjo who made the save.
At the other end, Soldado saw his shot from a half-volley whizz past the far post in the 11th minute. The move started from a Villarreal free-kick and the Spaniard was shooting from a very tight angle.
Both sides had spells of possession in the first half but failed to make any headway into the final third. Liverpool resorted to a few shots from outside the box that were nowhere close to being on target while Villarreal did have a few moves of their own on the counter, only to be thwarted as the Reds raced back to reorganize themselves behind the ball and clear the danger.
The second half also saw little to choose from between both sides as they tried their best to score a goal. Both teams hit the post in the second half with Liverpool testing Asenjo with their shot. Mignolet was forced into a save later on when Bakumbu escaped his marker and let fly a left-footed curler that looked sure to find the back of the net before the Belgian goalkeeper palmed it away.
However, Villarreal would get their goal in stoppage time to break Liverpool’s hearts when a counter-attacking move saw Denis Suarez skip into the Reds’ box before teeing up Adrian Lopez who had an easy tap-in into an empty net. Mignolet was committed to Suarez and in spite his raised arm for an offside flag, it never came.
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-2 Sevilla
Shakhtar Donetsk: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Rakits'kyy, Ismaily, Malyshev, Stepanenko, Marlos, Kovalenko, Taison, Ferrayra
Sevilla: Soria, Mariano, Rami, Carrico, Escudero, Krychowiak, N'Zonzi, Vitolo, Banega, Konoplyanka, Gameiro
Sevilla, the defending champions, took the lead as early as the sixth minute thanks to some sensational vertical ball movement. A move that started in their own box saw the ball pinged forward between players before Vitolo took it upon himself to get into the box and shoot past Andriy Pyatov to give the Spanish side the lead.
But their lead would only last 18 minutes as a huge gap between the left-back Escudero and centre-back Carrico saw Shakhtar take advantage. Marlos made a quick run in between the two players and the lobbed pass from defender Rakits'kyy was chested down by Marlos who curled it past Soria to equalise.
Marlos was involved in the second goal too to complete the first-half comeback. With 10 minutes to go to half-time, the Brazilian midfielder sent in a cross from the left wing that was headed home from the edge of the six-yard box by Taras Stepanenko to make it 2-1.
However, late in the second half, Sevilla won a penalty when Ever Banega found Vitolo who made a run into the box but was fouled by Ferreyra. It was a mistimed tackle and the referee pointed to the spot after consulting with his assistants.
Kevin Gameiro stepped up and shot the ball straight down the middle to equalise in the 82nd minute. It was his 14th goal in the Europa League.
The two away goals will help Sevilla’s cause as they look to win the Europa League title for a third year in a row. The second semi-final leg will be played on 5 May.