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SEVILLE, Spain (AP) — U. S. foreigner Ricardo Pepi came off the bench as PSV Eindhoven rallied from a two-goal lead over Sevilla and advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2015-16.
Pepi came on in the 83rd minute and scored the winner in stoppage time to give PSV a 3-2 win over 10-man Sevilla on Wednesday.
“To be honest, when I saw that we scored the 2-2 goal, I talked to (teammate) Patrick (van Aanholt) and I said, ‘This is our moment,’” Pepi said. “We felt like it was an important goal that we scored and we knew the winner was coming.”
The Dutch club, trailing Group B leaders Arsenal, beat third-placed Lens 6-0 in London.
PSV has 8 points, 4 behind Arsenal and 3 ahead of Lens, who lost the tie-break against PSV.
Sevilla stayed with two points and was eliminated. It will fight for third-place — and a Europa League spot — when it visits Lens in the final round. It is the third straight season the Spanish club has failed to advance past the group stage.
“In the Champions League, the small details will make the difference,” said veteran defender Sergio Ramos, who scored the 10,000th goal in Champions League history from group stage to final. “We were in control but going a man down turned out to be crucial.”
It’s PSV’s first away win in the Champions League since 2007. PSV won back-to-back matches at the festival (not including the knockout stages) for the first time since the 2006-07 season, when they won 3 consecutive matches in the organisation phase. quarter-finals, when they eliminated Liverpool. PSV had beaten Lens in the last round.
Sevilla opened the scoring in the minute with Ramos scoring his first goal since his return to Sevilla.
Youssef En-Nesyri doubled the lead in the 47th minute, but PSV rallied after Sevilla striker Lucas Ocampos was sent off with a second yellow card in the 66th minute for a dangerous slip tackle.
Ismael Saibari brought the visitors closer two minutes later with a classy left-footed shot from the box after a cross from U. S. defender Sergiño Dest, and PSV equalized with an own goal from Nemanja Gudelj in the 81st before Pepi scored from Nemanja Gudelj. . Header near the penalty spot, two minutes into added time.
Sevilla midfielder Fernando was sent off in the final minutes.
The hosts had a few chances to add to its lead in the first half, first when Djibril Sow had a goal disallowed by video review for a handball in the 39th, and then a minute later when En-Nesyri hit the crossbar with a dangerous header.
Ramos, 37, scored his 10,000th goal on a free kick taken by Ivan Rakitic. It was the veteran defender’s first goal for Sevilla since scoring in a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in 2005, before joining the Spanish powerhouse.
“We have to hold our heads high,” Ramos said. But it’s disappointing because you can’t be part of this competition. Today was a difficult defeat for the club. “
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