Villarreal take down Sparta Prague 2-4 and go through to the Semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League
Historical, unforgettable, great, magnificent… Villarreal qualifies in an incredible manner for the Semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League after beating AC Sparta Prague in the Estadio Letná thanks to goals from Bakambu (2), Samu Castillejo and Bruno Soriano and this Friday the draw for the Semi-finals will take place in Nyon (2-4). The Yellows showed their talent all over the pitch and made history, as with this result the Submarine has now got to four SemI-finals in European competitions.
Bakambu gave an early warning to the Czech side after only 3 minutes of play, but his outside of the foot shot fell wide. He broke the deadlock only two minutes later though, 0-1. Manu Trigueros played a great through ball for Bakambu and the French-Congolese defender tucked his shot away, placing it in the bottom right corner.
It was key to go ahead on the score board and the Yellows did just that. Sparta pressured in the next few minutes, but the Yellows knew how to withhold their onslaught and use the counter-attack as their weapon. In this way, Soldado could have made it two as he brought the ball down well but snatched at his shot which sailed high and wide.
As half time got closer Villarreal sentenced the tie with two goals. Samu Castillejo put away the second as he brought the ball down with his chest and on the half volley netted a powerful left footed shot to the bottom corner. The Yellows’ talent was too much for Sparta. In fact, the third didn’t take long to come. It was captain Bruno Soriano who headed home from a corner kick at the very end of the half.
After half time the tides of the match didn’t change. The Submarine scored their fourth at the start of the second half, 0-4. Bakambu controlled the ball in the box from a cross and beat Bicik easily in the 48th minute. A lethal weapon. The Yellow number 17 now has 22 goals this season.
Sparta played for their pride and managed to get two goals on the score board. The 1-4 came from a powerful right footed strike from Dockal that beat Areola in the 65th minute, while the 2-4 came from Krejci who fired home at the far post in the 71st minute. Despite the Czech side’s momentum, the scoreboard didn’t change from there on out. One to remember.
Semi-final draw this Friday in Nyon
On Friday Villarreal will find out who their next opponent will be in the Semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. Any team can draw any team. The Semi-final first leg will be played on 28th April and the second leg on 5th May.
Line-ups:
AC Sparta Prague: Bicik; Konaté, Marecek, Kovac, Frydek; Fatai, Matejovsky, Dockal and Krejci; Julis and Lafata.
Villarreal CF: Areola; Mario (Jaume Costa, m. 56), Bailly, Víctor Ruiz, Rukavina; Denis Suárez (Leo Baptistao, m. 66), Trigueros (Jonathan dos Santos, m. 60), Bruno, Samu Castillejo; Bakambu and Soldado.
Goals: 0-1. Min. 5: Bakambu. 0-2. Min. 42: Samu Castillejo. 0-3. Min. 44: Bruno. 0-4. Min. 48: Bakambu. 1-4. Min. 65: Dockal. 2-4. Min. 71: Krejci.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (England). Cautioned: Krejci, Frydek, Julis, Konaté and Lafata for Sparta; Soldado and Samu Castillejo for Villarreal.
Stadium: Letná. 18,201 spectators.
