The 1st leg of the 2011 UEFA Europa League Quarter Finals took place on the evening of Thursday 7th April 2011, and three teams picked up victories that look like securing a place in the Semi Final of this season’s competition.
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Porto 5-1 Spartak Moscow
Porto may have put themselves through this two-legged tie in 90 minutes courtesy of four second half goals.
Falcao got the hosts off the mark on 37 minutes, and the first half ended with the hosts leading 1-0. In the second half, Silvestre Varela (65) and Maicon (70) looked to have put the result beyond doubt before Kirill Kombarov (71) added an away goal to make it 3-1.
In the final ten minutes, however, Falcao completed a hat-trick with a late brace (84, 90+2) to make the final score a difficult to overturn 5-1.
Benfica 4-1 PSV Eindhoven
Benfica remain on course to meet Portuguese rivals, Porto, in the final after they put down a very good marker at home against PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands.
Benfica led 2-0 at the break courtesy of goals from Pablo Aimar (37) and Eduardo Salvio (45) and were soon 3-0 up when Salvio scored in the 52nd minute.
PSV substitute Zakaria Labyad got an away goal on 80 minutes to make it 3-1, but Javier Saviola added a fourth for the hosts deep into injury time, by scoring on 90+4 minutes, to give Benfica a three goal cushion for the second leg.
Villareal 5-1 FC Twente
Villareal of the Spanish Primera Liga also secured a good win over Dutch opposition by defeating FC Twente 5-1 at home in the opening leg of their Europa League Quarter Final.
Villareal raced out of the blocks, and got off to the best of starts, as they led 3-0 at half time courtesy of goals from Carlos Marchena (23), Borja Valero (43) and Nilmar (45+1).
Villareal continued to dominate in the second period, too, and, after a Giuseppe Rossi (55) goal and a second from Nilmar (81) were added, they led 5-0.
A late consolation goal from Marc Janko (90+1) gave the visitors some small glimmer of hope by adding an away goal to make it 5-1 before the final whistle blew.
Dynamo Kiev 1-1 Braga
The only tie which remains truly in the balance is that between Dynamo Kiew and the third Portuguese side in the Quarter Final round, Braga, after the sides shared a 1-1 draw in a tight encounter in Ukraine.
The hosts got off to a great start, when Andriy Yarmolenko (6) headed home, but, only seven minutes later, Oleh Gusev turned the ball into his own net sliding to make a challenge following a low corner.
In the second half, Kiev brought on Andriy Shevchenko but were forced to play the final half hour with ten men as the veteran star was sent off for receiving a second yellow card after playing on when the whistle had blown.
Braga, with their away goal, will entertain Kiev with a marginal lead after the match finished at 1-1.
UEFA Europa League 2011 Quarter Final 1st Leg Results – Thursday 7th April 2011
- Porto 5-1 Spartak Moscow
- Benfica 4-1 PSV Eindhoven
- Villareal 5-1 FC Twente
- Dynamo Kiev 1-1 Braga