Late goals earn PSV victory but Sevilla advance

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands: Luuk de Jong and Fabio Silva snatched late goals for PSV Eindhoven as they beat Sevilla 2-0 in the second leg of their Europa League knockout stage playoff on Thursday (Feb 23), but it was not enough as the Spanish club advanced 3-2 on aggregate.

De Jong netted in the 77th minute against his old club to offer PSV hope of a late revival and had the ball in the net again seven minutes later, only to be flagged offside.

Substitute Silva added a second five minutes into stoppage time to further reduce Sevilla's first-leg lead but the Dutch club ran out of time in their bid for a sensational comeback.

Sevilla held off the late challenge to ensure progress in a competition they have won more than any other team. They have a combined six UEFA Cup and Europa League triumphs, the last in 2020.

The Spanish club kept up an attacking approach at the Philips Stadium after a dominant first leg and came closest to a first goal when Ivan Rakitic hammered the ball against the PSV crossbar in the 67th minute.

There were also good opportunities for Bryan Gil and Youssef En-Nesyri as Sevilla dominated the early exchanges.

It took 56 minutes for PSV to win their first corner as they belatedly put their visitors under pressure and should have taken a 70th-minute lead when Johan Bakayoko missed from an acute angle.

De Jong took down a long ball to score through the legs of Marko Dmitrovic and the stadium erupted when he found the net again, only to be denied by the linesman's flag.

The tie had just seconds left when Silva stroked home from close range to ensure a respectable look to the scoresheet for Ruud van Nistelrooy's young team.