La Liga’s Sevilla overcame Portuguese rivals, Benfica, in last night’s 2014 UEFA Europa League Final in a thrilling penalty shootout after the match ended goalless.
The Spanish club emerged victorious as their goalkeeper, Beto, saved two penalties in a shoot-out they won 4-2.
The defeat was the second successive Europa League Final loss for Benfica, who fell at the final hurdle once more, following their 2013 defeat at the hands of Chelsea.
The 2014 Final did not quite live up to its billing, however, as a very even match saw relatively few goalscoring opportunities for either side, though Benfica perhaps shaded it on the shot count. 120 minutes without a goal came down to a high-stakes shoot-out, which saw Beto, in the Sevilla goal, hold his nerve to save from Óscar Cardozo and Rodrigo diving low to his right, before the winning penalty was smashed into the top-left corner by Gamiero.
The result saw Sevilla fans in raptures, and was their first European tournament success since they landed their second successive Europa League victory in 2007, also on penalties.
