Spanish side Sevilla retained their Europa League crown on Wednesday night with a 3-2 victory over Dnipro in Warsaw.
The Ukrainians made a dream start by taking the lead on seven minutes. Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic headed home with a powerful header from Matheus’ pinpoint cross.
The Spaniards were level on 28 minutes. Carlos Bacca won the ball in the area and knocked it down to Polish midfielder Gregor Krychowiak who drilled the ball past Denis Boyko.
The holders were in the lead for the first time three minutes later. Jose Antonio Reyes found Bacca with a superb ball and the Colombian rounded Boyko before tapping home.
Dnipro fought back and on the stroke of half-time equalised, midfielder Ruslan Rotan scoring with a superb clipped free-kick from 25 yards.
The game continued to be very open in the second period, but the first clear-cut attempt on goal came on 67 minutes, as Krychowiak was denied by a block at close-range after a scramble in the Dnipro box.
The Spaniards did regain the lead on 73 minutes though. Vitolo played a through ball to Bacca who fired into the bottom corner of the net.
The Colombian could have had a hat-trick soon afterwards, as Stephane Mbia found him with a cross, but the striker got his header wrong and Boyko managed to knock the ball onto the top of the net.
Sevilla hung on to their lead and in the process secured a place in the Champions League group stages for next season. The Spaniards have now won European football’s second competition in its various guises four times in their history.
Did Sevilla deserve to win the Europa League?
