Photo: Taison who netted in the 22nd minute for Shakhtar Donetsk celebrates the second of the four goals scored by his team in their 4-1 demolition of Basel in the Eoropa Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday. (Getty Images)
Shakhtar Donetsk and Sevilla both claimed the final two Europa Cup semifinal spots on Tuesday with contrasting wins over Basel and Wolves respectively. While Shakhtar cruised to a 4-1 win, it was a battle for Sevilla who finally overcame their opponents with a goal late on.
Shakhtar were early out the traps when their leading scorer Junior Moraes fired home after only two minutes. They took full control of the match when Taison netted in the 22nd minute to leave Basel chasing the game.
When Alan Patrick scored from the penalty spot fifteen minutes from time, the game was as good as over, but Domilson Santos added gloss to the score line in the 88th minute to make it 4-0. Basel did manage to get a consolation goal through Ricky van Wolfswinkel in the second minute of added time.
The other quarterfinal was between the winningest team in the history of the competition, Sevilla and Wolves was a nail-biting affair that, went down to the wire.
Wolves had the perfect opportunity to get off to a quick start, but their top striker Raul Jimenez missed from the penalty spot in the 13th minute, after Adama Traore had been brought down inside the box.
From there on it became a war of attrition as Wolves was happy to play behind the ball and allow Sevilla to have possession.
The game seemed to be headed to extra time until Lucas Ocampos headed home from a corner kick, two minutes from time, to break the stubborn Wolves defence and the hearts of the hopeful Wolves supporters.
Sevilla who have won the tournament five times, will take on 2017 winners Manchester United on Sunday at the Stadion Klon in the first semifinal, while on Monday Inter Milan will battle Shakhtar Donetsk at the Dusseldorf Arena.
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