Madrid, Feb 17 (IANS) Sevilla took a big step to the Europa League round of 16 on Thursday night with a 3-0 home win to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven.
The Spanish side confirmed their recently improved league form, which has seen them win three out of four domestic matches, with another assured display, reports Xinhua news agency.
Moroccan striker Youssef En Nesyri opened the scoring in the last minute of the first half as he got ahead of the PSV defense to score at the near post.
Lucas Ocampos doubled Sevilla’s lead four minutes into the second half with a powerful left-foot volley into the far corner of the goal.
With PSV reeling, Nemanja Gudjel netted Sevilla’s third of the night after a brilliant combination between Ivan Rakitic and Ocampos, who controlled the Croatian’s chip and put the ball across for the defender to score with a backheel.
Earlier in the evening, FC Barcelona and Manchester United drew a thrilling match 2-2 in Camp Nou.
Keepers Marc Andre Ter Stegen and David de Gea kept the score 0-0 in the first 45 minutes before Marcos Alonso put Barca ahead in the 50th minute with a header from a corner.
The impressive Marcos Rashford leveled just two minutes later with a powerful shot from a tight angle and in the 60th minute, his low cross following a shot corner led to Jules Kounde deflecting the ball into his own net.
Barca looked to be on the ropes, but Raphinha equalized when his low cross evaded everyone to end up in the corner of the net.
Casemiro almost scored an own goal in a frantic close to the game as Barca looked for a winning goal, but Manchester United will be happy with the result, especially as Barca will be without the suspended Gavi for the return leg, which Pedri picked up a hamstring injury.
–IANS
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