LONDON — Villarreal’s Adrian Lopez produced a stinging sucker punch in stoppage time to leave Liverpool reeling and move the Spaniards closer to a maiden European final after its Europa League last four first-leg clash finished 1-0 Thursday.
Liverpool, which got a taste of its own medicine having scored deep in added time to knock Borussia Dortmund out in the quarterfinals, looked comfortable before Denis Suarez broke into the box and unselfishly squared for Lopez to sweep home.
In the other semifinal, holder Sevilla had its fingers briefly loosened from the trophy before grabbing a 2-2 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk that left it well-placed to progress.
Sevilla’s bid to become the first side to lift the trophy three years running got off to a great start when it opened the scoring through Vitolo after six minutes.
Shakhtar produced a spirited response, though, with goals from Marlos and Taras Stepanenko to lead at halftime before Kevin Gameiro’s 82nd-minute penalty left the Spaniards as favorites to progress with two away goals.
Five-time European champion Liverpool had not lost in 12 Europa League games this season and was facing a Villarreal side out to banish a last-four curse and reach a European final for the first time at its fourth attempt.
Villarreal had proven to be shrewd opponents in Europe’s second tier competition and in Cedric Bakambu boast a striker with nine goals in this season’s Europa League, while no Liverpool player has scored more than two.
The Merseysiders’ manager Juergen Klopp decided to leave the most prolific marksman at his disposal, Daniel Sturridge, on the bench for the entire 90 minutes and in his absence the visitors looked cautious and labored in attack.
It had its chances, with Joe Allen firing straight at keeper Sergio Asenjo from close range after five minutes while Roberto Firmino hit the post midway through the second half. Villarreal, however, had chances of its own with Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet making fine saves to deny Tomas Pina and Bakambu, who also hit the post with a header.
The winner arrived after Liverpool looked to have absorbed everything the host could throw at it and Lopez’s late goal has left Klopp’s side facing a tricky task next week, where an away goal would leave it needing to win by at least two.
“It is only the first leg,” said Klopp. “It is 1-0 and they have to come to Anfield where we know how strong we are. We had our moments, we defended really good. This race is not over.”
‘Ranieri to pocket $7m bonus if Leicester wins title’
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri will earn a five million pound ($7.33 million) bonus if his team wins the Premier League title, the Times reported Friday.
Italian Ranieri also has a separate clause in his contract that guarantees him 100,000 pounds for every place that his team finish above 18th, which will see him earn 1.7 million pounds if the Foxes come first.
When Ranieri took charge of Leicester in the close season, he was tasked with keeping the team in the Premier League. Leicester’s owners wrote a number of clauses into his contract to make a parting of ways easier if he failed.
Ranieri asked for clauses of his own, granting him incentives if the club qualified for the Europa League, the Champions League or won the Premier League.
He currently earns about 1.5 million pounds a year, according to the report, and is in discussions with the club over a new contract.
