Olympique Marseille cruised to a penalty shootout win over Benfica on Thursday to return to the Europa League semi-finals for the first time in six years after Faris Moumbagna’s second-half late goal levelled the score at 2-2 on aggregate.
Benfica’s Angel Di Maria missed the first shot of the shootout when it hit the post and goalkeeper Pau Lopez saved Antonio Silva’s shot to give Marseille the win, with all their shooters scoring their first four.
Di Maria had earlier had a chance to bring the Portuguese champions closer to victory, but Lopez blocked his header on the first of two important saves for Marseille in extra time.
The hosts broke the deadlock with 11 minutes remaining thanks to Moumbagna’s header from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s cross from the left.
“We’re very happy for the fans. We’ve had a confusing season, but the fans deserve it,” Spanish goalkeeper Lopez told M6.
“We gave it our all, so we’re happy. This time we were lucky enough to win. We have to enjoy it, but we have to do it in the championship because we still have some games left. “
Ligue 1 will face Atalanta, who lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool but stepped up with a 3-1 aggregate win following their shock win at Anfield last week, in the semi-finals.
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