Shakhtar Donetsk are through to the Europa League semifinals for the third time in club history and the first since 2016.
The Ukrainian side dispatched FC Basel in a convincing 4-1 win in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. They will play Inter Milan in the semifinal for the right to reach the final on Monday, August 17. Inter dispatched Bayer Leverkusen on Monday.
The win came with more Brazilian flair thanks to goals from Junior Moraes, Taison, Alan Patrick and Dodo — all from the rich, footballing South America nation. If you recall, Moraes scored a brace in the restart of the competition last week in the round of 16. He got the party started again with a quick goal in the second minute of the match in the form of a header on a corner kick from Marlos, yes, another Brazilian.
Moraes now has 26 goals on the season in all competitions.
Taison scored on a deflected shot from inside the box to make it 2-0 in the 22nd minute. Marlos provided the assist and Alan Patrick aided with a sweet dummy.
The cherry on top of a big Tuesday for Shakhtar came in the 75th minute when Alan Patrick fired one home from the penalty spot after Taison drew a foul from Basel defender Yannick Marchand inside the box. Dodo scored in the final minutes.
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel scored a consolation goal for Basel in stoppage time.
The stage is now set for Inter vs. Shakhtar on Monday, with the winner advancing to the big final on August 21 at Stadion Köln in Cologne, Germany.
Source: Igor Mello
www.sports24ghana.com
