Wolves' Adama Traore has enjoyed the best season of his career in 2019/20.The criticism about the winger was always his lack of end product. But he's added that quality to his skillset and the results have been incredible.
It was Sevilla's turn to face the Spaniard as they came up against Wolves in the Europa League quarter-final on Tuesday - and it didn't take long for Traore to burn them.The 24-year-old turned on the afterburners to win a penalty for Nuno Espirito Santo's side early on.Traore sprinted from inside his own box all the way into the Sevilla area before being brought down.Incredible.
But Raul Jimenez's penalty was saved and the score remained 0-0. Traore deserved better after his insane run.
There was controversy surrounding the penalty, though. Wolves had complaints that Sevilla goalkeeper Bono was off his line when the ball was struck, and the evidence suggests they have a point.
Sevilla midfielder Lucas Ocampos headed a late goal to snatch a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers as they reached the Europa League semifinals on Tuesday after the English side paid the price for an early penalty miss.
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The La Liga side will play Manchester United in their semifinal after the Red Devils beat Copenhagen 1-0 in a quarterfinal meeting on Monday.
Ocampos rose to direct a cross from fellow Argentine Ever Banega past goalkeeper Rui Patricio in the 88th minute of the single leg match and earn five-times winners Sevilla a last-four clash with Manchester United.
Wolves forward Raul Jimenez missed their best chance in the 13th minute when his hesitant penalty was saved by keeper Bono.
Wolves, playing in their first European quarter-final for 48 years, appeared to feel the effects of a marathon season which saw them play 59 matches, including 17 in the Europa League starting at home to Crusaders on July 25 last year.
Yet the Midlands team made a promising start with Adama Traore at the centre of things. Having set up an early chance which Jimenez headed straight at Bono, the Spaniard powered into the area and was tripped from behind by Diego Carlos.
Jimenez, who usually waits for the keeper to move, appeared caught in two minds and his effort was comfortably stopped by Bono with a dive to his left. It was the Mexican's first penalty miss for Wolves after converting his previous eight efforts.
Sevilla dominated the match after that, passing the ball around in the centre of the pitch, but it was fairly unproductive possession and they created few openings.The second half was a similar story with Wolves apparently happy to allow Sevilla to knock the ball around in midfield.But the Spaniards grew more dangerous towards the end and broke through with two minutes left. Their 13th corner was rolled to Ever Banega and he curled a cross into the area which Ocampos flicked past keeper Rui Patricio.
The five-time winners of the Europa League are now one step closer to yet another chance at getting their sixth title in this competition. Sevilla defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 on Tuesday thanks to a late goal that was the culmination of all the build-up efforts the Spanish side had put forward throughout the evening.
Wolves tried early to get the upper hand in the match with some heavy forward pressure. While it didn't work as it intended, it was able to equalize possession and opportunities in the beginning stages of the first half. This eventually led to an incredible break where Adama Traore ran an impressive 80 yards into the opposing box and drew a penalty after getting taken down from behind.
It sure seemed like the moment Wolves were desperately searching was about to arrive, especially when clinical finisher Raul Jimenez stepped up to take the penalty shot. He hadn't missed his last 18 makes, so surely he'd make this one too, right? Wrong. Jimenez had a strange run up to the ball and fired his shot right into the hands of Bono, who had guessed correctly which way the Wolves player was going to go.
From that moment on, Sevilla seemed to regain control of the match. This was particularly apparent in the second half of the match when it looked like the Spanish side had just decided to never lose possession of the ball. Not only did they dominate possession, but they dominated opportunities as well. Sevilla's wave after wave of attacks yielded corner after corner, but for a majority of the final 45 minutes of the match, nothing came out of those chance.
But that all changed just before the 90 minute mark when Éver Banega was able to whip a beautiful cross inside to find Lucas Ocampos, whose heading strength proved more than valuable and firing the ball into the back of the net past the outstreched arms of Rui Patricio.
Sevilla down Wolves to set up Europa League semi against Man United