Marseille edge Benfica on penalties to reach Europa League semifinals
Olympique de Marseille claimed a penalty shootout win over Benfica on Thursday to rethe Europa League semifinals for the first time in six years after Faris Moumbagna's late second-half goal levelled the tie at 2-2 on aggregate.
Benfica's Angel Di Maria missed the first kick of the shootout striking the post and goalkeeper Pau Lopez saved Antonio Silva's effort to hand Marseille the win with all of their penalty takers scoring their first four.
Di Maria earlier had the chance to bring the Portuguese champions closer to victory, but Lopez blocked his header in the first of two vital saves for Marseille in extra time.
The hosts broke the deadlock 11 minutes from time through Moumbagna's close-range header off Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's cross from the left.
"We're very happy, especially for the fans. We've had a complicated season, but the fans deserve this," Spanish keeper Lopez told M6.
"We gave everything we had so we're happy. This time we've been lucky enough to win. We've got to enjoy it, but we've got to focus on the league because we've still got a few games to play."
The Ligue 1 side will take on Atalanta in the semifinals, who went down 1-0 at home to Liverpool but progressed with a 3-1 aggregate win after their shock victory at Anfield last week.
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