Europa Conference League round of 16 second legs: West Ham and Fiorentina big winners as Basel reach quarter-finals on penalties
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Article summary
West Ham and Fiorentina were big winners on the night as Basel prevailed on penalties in a thriller in Bratislava to reach the last eight.
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The quarter-finalists of the UEFA Europa Conference League are now known, with West Ham, Fiorentina and Anderlecht among the big names through to Friday's draw.
West Ham 4-0 AEK Larnaca (agg: 6-0)
The Hammers cruised into the last-eight after a routine win over ten-man AEK Larnaca. Gianluca Scamacca poked in an early shot which squirmed past Kenan Pirić and Pablo Fornals rattled the bar before Luis Gustavo Ledes was shown a red card before the break for a challenge on Fornals. Jarrod Bowen scored twice in as many minutes after the turnaround, the second a delightful looping header, before 18-year-old Divin Mubama flicked in his first senior goal late on.
Key stat
West Ham secured their sixth European quarter-final appearance with their tenth straight Europa Conference League win this season.
Sivasspor 1-4 Fiorentina (agg: 1-5)
Fiorentina cruised into the quarter-finals with a comfortable victory away to ten-man Sivasspor. Erdoğan Yeşilyur's stunning strike put the hosts in front, but the Serie A outfit delivered an emphatic response through goals from Arthur Cabral, Nikola Milenković, a Dimitris Goutas own goal and Gaetano Castrovilli. Sivasspor's miserable night was compounded nine minutes from time when Hakan Arslan was shown a straight red card.
Key stat
Fiorentina have won nine of their ten European matches against Turkish clubs (L1).
Djurgården 0-3 Lech Poznań (agg: 0-5)
Lech stretched their unbeaten run in the Europa Conference League to nine matches to book their place in the last eight. Mikael Ishak hit a post early on as the Polish side looked to put the tie to bed and the hosts' hopes suffered a significant blow when Marcus Danielson was sent off for a foul on Afonso Sousa just before the break. Filip Szymczak and Radosław Murawski both struck the woodwork after half-time before Filip Marchwiński, Nika Kvekveskiri and Michał Skóraś scored in the final 13 minutes to give the final score a lopsided look.
Key stat
Lech have kept a clean sheet in each of their last five Europa Conference League matches.
Slovan Bratislava 2-2 Basel (agg: 4-4, pens 1-4)
Having fallen at the round of 16 in 2021/22, Basel looked to be facing another exit at the same stage as early goals from Malik Abubakari and Juraj Kucka put Slovan in charge. Basel centre-back Riccardo Calafiori halved the deficit eight minutes after half-time, however, and Zeki Amdouni's strike three minutes into stoppage time took the tie to extra time and, ultimately, penalties. While Slovan missed two of their three kicks Basel converted all four of theirs, Darian Males supplying the decisive finish.
Key stat
Basel have reached a fourth European quarter-final in the past 11 seasons.
What next?
Winners of the ties earn a place in the quarter-final draw on Friday 17 March, which is an open draw with no seedings.
AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Lazio (agg: 4-2)
AZ came from behind again to beat Lazio on the night and book their spot in the last eight. Just as they had done last week in Rome, the Dutch side fell behind, this time when Felipe Anderson fired in a low shot after Mattia Zaccagni's pass. But the home side responded in stunning style thanks to an unstoppable 25-metre blast from Jesper Karlsson, and after the break Karlsson turned provider when he teed up Vangelis Pavlidis to fire in from the edge of the area.
Key stat
AZ have won all nine UEFA ties in which they claimed an away victory in the first leg.
Nice 3-1 Sheriff (agg: 4-1)
Nice breezed through to the last eight after an ultimately comfortable win at home to Sheriff. Gaëtan Laborde got the opener for the home side on the night when he neatly dinked the ball over the goalkeeper and Terem Moffi added a fine second, exchanging passes with Rosario before a neat finish into the bottom corner. Abdoul Tapsoba replied immediately after some uncertainty in the home defence but Billal Brahimi put the seal on it when he followed up after Moffi's shot had come back off the post.
Key stat
Sheriff have only won two of their last 12 European away games (D4 L6).
Villarreal 0-1 Anderlecht (agg: 1-2)
Substitute Islam Slimani appeared at the back post to finish a Michael Murillo cross in the 73rd minute as the Brussels side pulled off a shock in Spain. Zeno Debast headed off his own goal line and Gerard Moreno hit the bar for Villarreal in a frenzied first half, and Bart Verbruggen then kept his side in front with a terrific save from Moreno after the break, and a desperate one from Nicolas Jackson at the last.
Key stat
Anderlecht last reached the quarter-finals of a UEFA competition in 2016/17, when they lost out to eventual Europa League winners Man United.
Wednesday: İstanbul Başakşehir 1-4 Gent (agg: 2-5)
Gift Orban struck a record-breaking four-minute hat-trick as Gent stunned their Turkish hosts. After a circumspect first half-hour all hell broke loose, Orban sweeping in two goals either side of a fantastic long-range effort. Hugo Cuypers quickly added a fourth. Adnan Januzaj's late consolation did little to take the gloss off a win that takes Gent through to their second European quarter-final.
Key stat
Just 3 minutes 25 seconds separated Orban's first and third goals, making it the fastest ever hat-trick in UEFA men's club competition. The 20-year-old also struck four in Belgium at the weekend.
