Gameiro breaks Zenit hearts

23 April 2015 22:02

Kevin Gameiro's goal four minutes from time settled a thrilling tie as h olders Sevilla progressed to the semi-finals of the Europa League at the expense of Zenit St Petersburg.

Unai Emery's side, leading 2-1 from the first leg, looked set for victory when Carlos Bacca smashed home his 22nd goal of the season from the penalty spot after six minutes at the Petrovsky Stadium .

However, Jose Rondon pulled Zenit level on the night and the match looked set for extra time after Hulk's wonderful long-range effort, only for Gameiro to pop up with his 15th goal of the campaign to send Unai Emery's side through.

Elsewhere, Mario Gomez and Juan Manuel Vargas got the goals as Fiorentina beat Dynamo Kiev 2-0 on the night to win 3-1 on aggregate.

Gomez netted in the 43rd minute before substitute Vargas capped the success in stoppage time at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

La Viola will be joined in Friday's draw by Serie A rivals Napoli, whose 2-2 draw at home to Wolfsburg saw them advance 6-3 on aggregate.

Second-half goals from Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens looked to have put Rafael Benitez's side out of sight after their 4-1 first-leg triumph in Germany last Thursday.

Timm Klose and Ivan Perisic scored in the space of three minutes to make the scoreline more respectable, but that was as good as it got for Dieter Hecking's Wolves.

Dnipro will make up the final four, the Ukrainian outfit securing their progress with a 1-0 triumph at the NSK Olimpiyskyi stadium to end Club Brugge's record 11-match unbeaten run in the competition.

Myron Markevych's men had managed a goalless draw in the away leg in Belgium, and it was down to Brugge's Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan to keep the hosts at bay on Thursday for almost the entire game.

However, Brugge's defence was breached deep into the second half courtesy of substitute Yevgen Shakhov, with the narrow win enough to see Dnipro book a first semi-final berth.

Source: PA