Holders Sevilla beat Zenit to reach semis
ByReuters
Updated 24/04/2015 at 07:24 GMT
Sevilla's Kevin Gameiro scored a late equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw at Zenit St Petersburg that sent the Europa League holders into the semi-finals with a 4-3 aggregate win on Thursday.
2014-15 Europa League, Dnipro-Sevilla (AFP)
Image credit: AFP
Fiorentina also went through by beating 10-man Dynamo Kiev 2-0 for a 3-1 aggregate win while Napoli completed a 6-3 win over two legs against VfL Wolfsburg after a 2-2 draw in Italy.
UEFA's worst fears of a final between teams from Russia and Ukraine were avoided as Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk became the only team from those two countries to reach the last four by beating Club Bruges 1-0 after the first leg had ended goalless.
Sevilla's clash with Zenit was in the balance heading into the second leg with the Spaniards holding a 2-1 lead which they increased after six minutes with Carlos Bacca's penalty.
The Russians, who were the only side left who had dropped into the competition in the last 32 from the Champions League, fought back with second-half goals from Jose Rondon and Hulk.
The visitors, however, wrapped up the tie when Gameiro rifled into the corner with five minutes remaining.
Napoli's clash with Wolfsburg had the feel of a dead rubber in a tame first half and any hope of a German comeback was effectively extinguished by goals at the start of the second half from Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens.
The visitors salvaged some pride, however, with goals from Timm Klose and Ivan Perisic in two minutes.
Dynamo Kiev's hopes of upsetting Fiorentina were hit when Jeremain Lens received a dubious second booking for diving and was dismissed in the 40th minute.
Fiorentina took the lead three minutes later with a goal from Mario Gomez before substitute Juan Manuel Vargas made it 2-0 deep into stoppage time.
Dnipro reached the semi-finals when Yevhen Shakhov's deflected effort found the back of the net after 82 minutes.
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