Valencia had done it. They had overturned their 2-0 first-leg deficit with three goals at home to put them 3-2 up on aggregate. All they had to do was see out the rest of the match and into stoppage time, they were doing just that. But with one minute to go, Stephane M'Bia shocked the Mestalla, scoring to pull Sevilla from the dead and send them into the Europa League final.
Valencia vs. Sevilla: Final score 3-1 (3-3 agg.), Rojiblancos advance to Europa League final on away goals
Sevilla were a minute away from going out, but a stoppage-time goal fired them into the Europa League final.
Denis Doyle
M’Bia’s goal leveled the tie at 3-3, but it was also an away goal and that is what put them through. They will face Benfica in the final on May 14 at Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy.
Sevilla looked like they would go through at the beginning of the day, but the feeling started to change when Sofiane Feghouli started the Valencia comeback in the 14th minute. The midfielder got free down the right and was able to get into the box before cutting back to leave Federico Fazio in his wake, then blasting the ball into the top of the net. Valencia had hope.
It only took 12 more minutes for Valencia to then get even. Jonas got on the end of a cross and hit a strong header that had Beto beat, but it hit the underside of the crossbar. The ball then came down and hit the sprawling Beto before just barely crossing the line. Jonas celebrated like the goal was his, although the official ruling was an own goal, but it didn’t matter. The tie was level.
Sevilla had a golden chance before the break when the ball found Jose Antonio Reyes at the back post, but he couldn’t get a great shot off from three yards. He hit it into the ground, allowing Diego Alves to scramble across and make a phenomenal save.
The match went to the second half with the tie still level, but Valencia were all over Sevilla. It was their tie to win and in the 69th minute, it looked like they had done just that. A corner kick turned into a scrum in front of goal and Jeremy Mathieu managed to get to it, sliding and knocking the ball into the net for what looked like the semifinal winner.
Sevilla had been inept all match, failing to challenge Alves with the exception of Reyes’ one miss. At that point, nobody would have picked them to win, and certainly not anyone at the Mestalla, which was abuzz with giddy Valencia fans.
With just one minute until the final whistle, Sevilla looked dead. But that’s when Sevilla got an attacking throw, which Fazio was able to flick to the near post. That’s where M’Bia was waiting and he nodded the ball home.
Valencia's comeback was for naught. M'Bia had killed their dreams and the only cheers in Valencia were coming from the Sevilla bench, which had spilled onto the field.
Somehow, Sevilla were 90 minutes away from a European title.
Valencia: Alves, Pereira, Costa, Mathieu, Feghouli, Bernat, Parejo (Fuego 78’), Keita, Piatti, Jonas (Barragan 84’), Vargas
Goals: Feghouli 14’, Beto (OG) 26’, Mathieu 69’
Sevilla: Beto, Fazio, Navarro (Alberto 72’), Pareja, Andujar, Carrico, Rakitic, M’Bia, Bacca (Gameiro 66’), Reyes (Marin 79’), Vitolo
Goals: M’Bia 90+4’
See More:
