slick sevilla finish off ten-man villarreal published: thursday 19 march 2015, 22.50cet sevilla fc 2-1 villarreal cf (agg: 5-2) the holders are through to the quarter-finals after soaking up villarreal's pressure before hitting them twice on the break.
• all three goals in the final 21 minutes as sevilla ease through • unai emery's men stretch unbeaten run at home to 31 matches • villarreal finish with ten men after eric bailly sees red 14 minutes from time • daniel carriço makes record-equalling 44th uefa europa league appearance • quarter-final draw in nyon on friday at 13.00cet
sevilla fc are a step closer to becoming the first club to lift the uefa cup/uefa europa league four times after easing past villarreal cf in their round of 16 second leg.
the visitors needed to score three goals to keep alive their quarter-final hopes but the storm sevilla had to weather was more meteorological than metaphorical as they successfully dampened villarreal's initial ardour. vicente ıborra all but made sure of victory midway through the second half and though giovani dos santos made it 1-1, the holders marched on in style after denis suárez headed in from point-blank range.
the task was always daunting for marcelino's men, trailing 3-1 at kick-off, but amid driving rain befitting a team known as the yellow submarine, they gamely went about it. the quick feet of manu trigueros, tomás pina and luciano vietto caused problems and there was plenty of endeavour – but the final ball was always lacking. sevilla soaked it all up, then threatened on the break.
as the second half wore on villarreal were forced to commit more men forward and after carlos bacca had failed to capitalise on a three on one, he did rather better with a two on one moments later. he drew sergio asenjo before squaring for the unmarked ıborra to tap in.
the lead lasted four minutes before giovani fired in a free-kick, though the away side's slender hopes ended when eric bailly picked up a second booking 14 minutes from time. suárez made sure anyway.
