The late games in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 second legs featured a couple of fantastic comebacks and one case of domination. Schalke and Metalist Kharkiv came from behind to get through, while Atletico Madrid were dominant.
UEFA Europa League, Round Of 16: Late Wrap, Atletico, Metalist And Schalke Through
Related: Manchester City 3-2 Sporting Lisbon
Schalke 4-1 FC Twente
If you declared Schalke as dead when Wilem Janssen scored for Twente in the 14th minute, you’re forgiven. Down 2-0 on aggregate, without an away goal or a chance to grab one, things looked dire for die Königsblauen. Klass-Jan Huntelaar made it 1-1 before halftime, but a comeback didn’t look realistic until Schalke were given a penalty on a handball by Janssen. Huntelaar converted, but Schalke needed one more.
They got two. Jermaine Jones, back into the team after a period of exile, scored the improbable winner in the 70th minute. He then assisted the goal that made Huntelaar’s hat trick and clinched the win just 11 minutes later.
Besiktas 0-3 Atletico Madrid
Oh, poor Besiktas. They never had a chance. This one felt very, very over when Adrian scored in the 26th minute to make it 4-1 on aggregate and give Atleti an away goal. Falcao and Eduardo Salvio added the last two in the dying minutes as Besiktas were desperately pushing forward.
Olympiakos 1-2 Metalist Kharkiv
Even if Metalist have more attacking talent than Olympiakos, this is the upset of the day. Yes, even bigger than Sporting Lisbon advancing past Manchester City. Olympiakos had nine straight shutout wins in all competitions coming into this game, including a 1-0 win over Metalist in Ukraine. Ivan Marcano scored in the 15th minute for Olympiakos, scoring a goal that should have effectively ended the tie due to their defensive record. Instead, Metalist found two miracle goals in the final 10 minutes from Cristian Villagra and Marko Devic, and they’re through to the quarterfinals in improbable fashion.
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