EUROPA League
LIVE: EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL: SEVILLA 3-2 INTER MILAN
Full time! Sevilla are six time Europa league winners!!
90min: Antonio Conte makes another switch , sending on Antonio Candreva for Godin.
+6mins added time
88min: Sevilla players are going down at every opportunity now. Frustration brewing over for Inter now who can’t get any sustained pressure on the Spanish side.
GOAL! SEVILLA 3-2 Inter Milan
74min: What a turnaround in fortunes! Just over an hour ago, Diego Carlos was bringing down Romelu Lukaku for a penalty.
Now the defender’s overhead kick following a Sevilla free-kick deflects off the striker for an own goal, and a remarkable sixth Europa League trophy is within sight for the Spanish side.
Sevilla 2-2 Inter Milan
51min: Sevilla are seeing more of the ball in the early stages of this second half, but these first six minutes have probably been the quietest of the game so far.
Sevilla restart – no changes from either side
What are we going with for a full-time score, 6-6?
The second half begins.
De Jong becomes the first Dutchman to score in UEFA Cup/UEL final since Van Hooijdonk in 2002
Diego Godin, who scored in the 2014 Champions League final for Atlético, is the sixth player to score in both a European Cup/Champions League final and a UEFA Cup/Europa League final after Steven Gerrard, Hernan Crespo, Dmitri Alenichev, Allan Simonsen and Pedro. Collection.
Half time round up
- Inter and Sevilla produce thriller in Cologne
- Godín nods Sevilla level from set piece
- De Jong heads two after Lukaku penalty
- Sides level record for first-half UEL final goals
- Spaniards boast perfect final record (P5 W5)
HALF-TIME VERDICT: Sevilla
A good half of football from Sevilla, with the Spaniards controlling large swathes of the game. You have to feel they’ll be disappointed in the manner of concession of both goals, but can take heart from the problems they’ve caused Inter.
Half time
Sevilla 2-2 Inter Milan
39min: Bit sneaky from Nicolo Barella, who is late with his challenge on Ever Banega to pick up a yellow card. There has been no pattern to his first half at all. This is madness, yet enjoyable madness.
Gooooal!
Godín (Internazionale) scores!
This is astonishing; it’s 2-2! It is almost a replica of Sevilla’s second goal as Brozović clips in a deep free-kick from a similar area and Godín storms through the crowd to head past Bounou.
GOAL! SEVILLA 2-1 Inter Milan
12 minutes is the earliest both sides have scored in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final since 1990 when Fiorentina versus Juventus was 1-1 after only 10 minutes. Intense
Romelu Lukaku is the first player to score in six consecutive knockout stage matches in major European competition since Cristiano Ronaldo between 2012 and 2013. Inevitable.
Inter have scored in 50 of their 54 games this season now. Sevilla have only failed to score four times too in their last 44 games following De Jong’s effort. The scoreline should not really be a surprise given those facts
Lukaku has matched Ronaldo’s number of goals (34) during his first season at Inter (1997/98). He now needs the most difficult part to really equal him: bringing the trophy home.
Inter have scored during the first half in ten of their last 11 European matches now.
Sevilla 1-1 Inter Milan
18min: You can’t take your eyes off this game, it’s insane! Inter want another penalty against Diego Carlos (who else?) but he is innocent on this occasion as the handball claim against him was more ball to hand.
Not that Inter boss Antonio Conte agreed on the touchline as he is booked for his protest.
GOAL! SEVILLA 1-1 Inter Milan
12min: Oh, it’s one of those nights is it? Excellent response from Sevilla as Jesus Navas swings in a cross from the right and at the near post Luuk de Jong justifies his selection by diverting home with a diving header.
Jesús Navas (Sevilla)12’Gooooal!
L. de Jong (Sevilla) scores!
GOAL! Sevilla 0-1 INTER MILAN
5min: Diego Carlos, who has given away penalties in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals has now got the hat-trick in the final.
There was never any doubt as he was booked for practically assaulting Romelu Lukaku as they tussled inside the box, with the striker eventually dusting himself down to drill his penalty into the bottom corner.
The two previous single match UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League finals which were played in Germany both involved Spanish teams and went into extra time – Liverpool vs Alavés (2001) and Atlético vs Fulham (2010).
Italy’s Inter meet Spain’s Sevilla in Cologne. The Italians have named an unchanged side form their semi-final match. But in Sevilla, De Jong replaces En-Nesyri. Meanwhile, Sevilla boast perfect final record (P5 W5)
- Sevilla starting XI: Bono, Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Reguilon, Jordan, Fernando, Banega, Ocampos, De Jong, Suso
- Inter Milan starting XI: Handanovic, Godin, De Vrij, Bastoni, D’Ambrosio, Barella, Brozovic, Gagliardini, Young, Lukaku, Martinez
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag called on his players to use the frustration from their humbling defeat by Tottenham Hotspur as motivation to beat Porto in the Europa League on Thursday.
Following the 3-0 home loss to Spurs on Sunday, Ten Hag admitted his team’s mood could have been more positive.
“We are mad, mad with ourselves, especially when you lose a game like Sunday… but you have to deal with it. We are mad, and from the madness we have to get motivation,” Ten Hag told reporters on Wednesday.
“Always, when we are not winning we are disappointed and we are also mad with ourselves.”
United are 13th in the Premier League table and following a 1-1 draw with Dutch side Twente Enschede in the first Europa League match, Ten Hag said speculation about his job was inevitable.
“This club wants to be back on top and it’s a long-term target. We talk every day. Every day we evaluate and review the process and where necessary we make our decisions,” he said
“Everyone has to take responsibility and that starts with me as the manager. But on the pitch we have leadership skills and they have to stand up.
“Every game for us is important and every opponent is 100% motivated. We have to be ready to compete and fight with them.”
The Dutchman said midfielder Mason Mount, who was not part of the squad that travelled to Porto, was dealing with two injury issues and that defender Luke Shaw should return to action following the October international break.
-Reuters
Manchester United began their Europa League campaign with a 1-1 draw after they were held by FC Twente at a rainy Old Trafford on Wednesday, with a goal from Christian Eriksen being cancelled out by Dutch striker Sam Lammers.
The first half was a lively affair, with Twente’s Lammers making an early attempt that trickled past the post.
Eriksen put United ahead 10 minutes before the break, delivering a powerful curling shot into the top corner from inside the box.
Twente equalised in the 68th minute when Lammers produced a powerful finish past United keeper Andre Onana at the near post.
Joshua Zirkzee tried to get United in front again minutes later with a shot from an acute angle but were denied by a save from Twente keeper Lars Unnerstall.
Bruno Fernandes came close to scoring for United in the final minutes with a curling shot toward the top corner, but the hosts struggled to break through Twente’s deep-lying defence, which seemed content to secure the away draw.
DIA DOUBLE FOR LAZIO
Boulaye Dia scored a double and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru added another in the first half to hand Lazio a comprehensive 3-0 win against Dynamo Kyiv in Hamburg.
Nice and Real Sociedad played out a 1-1 draw. Ander Barrenetxea put the Basque side ahead before Pablo Rosario scored the equaliser for Nice.
Elsewhere, Turkish champions Galatasaray claimed a 3-1 home win over Greece’s PAOK thanks to Abdul Rahman Baba’s own goal and strikes from Yunus Akgun and Mauro Icardi. Giannis Konstantelias scored for the visitors.
In an early match, Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt secured a 3-2 home victory against FC Porto thanks to a brace from Jens Petter Hauge, despite going down to 10 men in the 51st minute.
-Reuters
It took Ajax 34 penalties to beat Panathinaikos 13-12 in a marathon shootout on Thursday, setting a UEFA competition record after their Europa League third qualifying round tie ended 1-1 over two legs and extra time.
Ajax, who won 1-0 at Panathinaikos last week, conceded in the 89th minute in Amsterdam, leading to the shootout that broke the previous record of 32 attempts at the European U-21 Championship semi-final in 2007 where Netherlands beat England 13-12.
The world record for the longest shootout was set in May when Israeli third-tier clubs SC Dimona and Shimshon Tel Aviv took 56 penalties to resolve their semi-final promotion playoff tie.
Ajax keeper Remko Pasveer made five saves and scored on his own attempt to help the hosts win the shootout as Dutch international Brian Brobbey missed two penalties.
“Five is quite a lot, yes. I save a penalty every now and then, but I don’t think you often experience something as crazy as this,” Pasveer said.
“Every time I thought we would do it. Brobbey behind the ball, we will do it. But he missed, while he always scores during training.”
Defender Anton Gaaei ultimately delivered the winning penalty for Ajax. The Eredivisie club will now face Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok in the playoff round later this month.
-Reuters
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