Porto confirmed an all-Portugal Europa League final as they beat Villarreal 7-4 on aggregate, although they lost their second leg 3-2 in Spain.
Villarreal win on the night but bow out
Porto confirmed an all-Portugal Europa League final against Braga as they beat Villarreal 7-4 on aggregate, although they lost their second leg 3-2 in Spain.
The Portuguese champions were already virtually assured of their place in the final having won the first leg 5-1.
Cani had given the home side some hope when he put them ahead on 17 minutes, but goals from either side of the break from Hulk and Falcao set-up Porto's passage into the final in Dublin.
Villarreal hit-back with two-goals in the final 15 minutes through Joan Capdevila and Giuseppe Rossi to seal victory on the night, but Porto eased through 7-4 on aggregate.
Porto will now meet Braga after they surprisingly got the better of Benfica in the other semi-final.
Early lead
It was imperative the hosts made a good start as they looked for an improbable comeback and they played from the off with a ferocious tempo.
Nilmar whipped in a second-minute cross from the right forcing Porto goalkeeper Helton to come off his line and punch away before the free-scoring Portuguese almost went further ahead, Cristian Rodriguez flashing a shot from the left across goal.
Marco Ruben then put a header over the bar for the hosts before Cani had a seventh-minute chance to reduce the arrears but struck the ball to the centre of the goal enabling Helton to palm the ball away.
Rossi just failed to connect with Ruben's delivery in front of goal before Villarreal got a potential lifeline, Ruben beating the offside trap and putting the ball across to Cani who had got ahead of his marker and slotted the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.
After the initial excitement there were few clear-cut openings for either side before Rossi shot into the side-netting rather than picking out Cani in front of goal on the half-hour.
However, any hopes the Spanish side had of a comeback evaporated when Porto levelled in cruel circumstances for the hosts.
Hulk went to shoot from 25 yards and, although his shot was on target, it hit Mateo Musacchio and looped over helpless goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
Hulk could have extended Porto's lead on the night in first-half injury time but Lopez saved his shot with his legs while Nilmar went inches wide just before the whistle.
It was all over two minutes after half-time when Falcao hit his 16th goal of this year's Europa League campaign - a new record, trapping and slotting home Fredy Guarin's pass from the left.
Guarin then hit the bar with a free-kick before Nilmar missed a good chance, failing to shoot on target when well-placed.
Capdevila took advantage of poor Porto defending when he collected a cross at the far post, brought the ball down and volleyed home with a quarter of an hour left.
Three minutes later the hosts were awarded a penalty when Nicolas Otamendi
brought down Ruben, Rossi coolly lifting the ball home.
| Villarreal |
Team Statistics |
FC Porto |
| 3 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 10 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 5 |
Corners |
2 |
| 9 |
Fouls |
18 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
4 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 82.2 |
Passing Success |
72.2 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
39 |
| 68.2 |
Tackles Success |
69.2 |
| 65.6 |
Possession |
34.4 |
| 51.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.4 |
|
