Last-gasp header earns Juventus draw

@juventusfcen

Federico Gatti scored with a header seven minutes into added time to earn Juventus a 1-1 home draw against Sevilla in their Europa League semi-final first leg.

Europa League kings Sevilla ignored the heavy rain and the pressure of the Italian crowd at a packed Allianz Stadium to dominate the game and looked well on course to continue their bid for a record-extending seventh title before Gatti's last-gasp effort left the tie evenly poised.

Sevilla started strongly and Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny made a brilliant save to stop Youssef En-Nesyri's close-range header.

Lucas Ocampos missed a sitter for the visitors but Morocco striker En-Nesyri scored with a tidy finish from close range in the 26th minuteafter a quick counter-attack led by Ocampos.

Sevilla could have extended their lead before the break but En-Nesyri and Ocampos wasted good chances and Szczesny denied a thunderous strike from distance by Ivan Rakitic with a superb diving save.

Toothless Juventus recorded their first shot on target in the 65th minute when substitute Samuel Iling Junior tried his luck from distance with a tame strike that Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou easily held.

Juventus were energised by substitute Federico Chiesa, who is still working his way back from a long injury layoff, and equalised with the last play of the game.

Chiesa won a corner, Paul Pogba headed the ball into a crowded six-yard box and Gatti jumped high to head home the equaliser.

The teams meet again at Sanchez Pizjuan stadium next Thursday with the winners to meet AS Roma or Bayer Leverkusen in the final on May 31 in Budapest.

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— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) May 11, 2023

Meanwhile AS Roma grabbed a 1-0 home victory over Bayer Leverkusen in their Europa League semi-final first leg thanks to 20-year-old Edoardo Bove's second-half goal.

Roma youth product Bove stabbed in the winner on the rebound in the 63rd minute for his first European goal.

Roma, bidding to win back-to-back European titles under coach Jose Mourinho following last season's Europa Conference League triumph, travel to Leverkusen next week for the return leg.

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BOVE! BOVE! BOVE!#RomaBayer 1-0 pic.twitter.com/zaByb6BmtN

— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) May 11, 2023

EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE

West Ham United came surging back with goals from Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio to beat AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands 2-1 after trailing at half-time in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final.

The Premier League side are now in a strong position to reach a first European final since 1976 as they head to the AZ Stadium in Alkmaar for the return next Thursday.

Benrahma equalised with a 67th-minute penalty and Antonio poached the winner nine minutes later after Tijani Reijnders had thrashed home a long-range effort to give the Dutch visitors a shock 41st-minute lead.

West Ham produced a dominant second-half performance and might have won by more as they finished much stronger against a tiring Dutch side.

Meanwhile, a stoppage-time goal from Zeki Amdouni earned Basel a 2-1 win at Fiorentina in the first leg tie.

The Swiss Super League side are now in a solid position to become the first team from their country to reach a European final.

Fiorentina's semi-final curse continued as they remain winless in their last nine European last-four matches and ending that streak will be tough as Basel have only lost two of their last 13 European matches.