Seville, April 17 (IANS) Braga produced a comeback for the ages as they responded to conceding two early goals to beat Real Betis 4-2 in the quarterfinal second-leg and 5-3 on aggregate to reach their first Europa League semi-final in 15 years.
Braga will face Freiburg in the semi-finals. The first leg takes place in Portugal on April 30, with the return match in Germany on May 7.
Betis started brightest and Cucho Hernandez curled narrowly wide but Braga didn’t heed the warning. Just seconds later, Betis had their opener as Abde Ezzalzouli lifted a cross to the waiting Antony, who steered in a delicate, cushioned header off the far post, reports UEFA.
It wasn’t long before they had a second as well. This time Pablo Fornals was the architect, playing a smart one-two with Antony before crossing for Ezzalzouli to tap in.
Just when it seemed like Betis might pull away for good, Braga hit back with their first shot on target, Pau Victor taking advantage of a defensive mix-up to score – and it was a clear turning point in the game.
Braga built on that goal by levelling soon after the restart as Vitor Carvalho headed in Ricardo Horta’s free kick, but even better was to come for the visitors. Four minutes later, Ricardo Horta put them ahead with a penalty after Demir Ege Tıknaz was brought down by Sofyan Amrabat.
Betis were stunned and there was time for one more from the away side. Perhaps their best of the night, a soaring volley from Jean-Baptiste Gorby with 16 minutes put gloss on a remarkable victory which few saw coming with half an hour gone.