Thursday 14 April 2016 23:13, UK
Villarreal cruised into the semi-finals of the Europa League on Thursday with a 4-2 second-leg victory away to Sparta Prague.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg in Spain, Villarreal put the tie to bed with three goals in the first half at the Generali Arena.
Cedric Bakambu scored his third of the tie in the fifth minute before two goals in three minutes at the end of the half from Samuel Castillejo and Bruno Soriano.
Bakambu then netted again in the 49th minute but Sparta kept fighting and managed consolation goals from Borek Dockal and Ladislav Krejci, making the final aggregate score 6-3.
Villarreal are through to a European semi-final for the fourth time and will bid to make their first final.
Liverpool progressed with a thrilling victory over Borussia Dortmund at Anfield, while Sevilla kept alive their hopes of a third successive title with a penalty shoot-out victory over Athletic Bilbao.
Bilbao's 2-1 victory on the night at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan sent the tie into extra-time, where there were no more goals.
The first six penalties were scored, but Athletic's Benat Etxebarria sent his spot-kick into the arms of David Soria and Kevin Gameiro was able to seal the win for Sevilla.
Earlier, Gameiro had cancelled out Aritz Aduriz's opener but Raul Garcia pulled Bilbao level in the tie with an 80th-minute goal.
Shakhtar Donetsk are also into the last four after beating Braga 4-0 at Arena Lviv to secure a 6-1 aggregate victory.
Captain Darijo Srna celebrated breaking Shakhtar's all-time appearance by scoring the opening penalty.
Srna's cross then forced Braga defender Ricardo Ferreira into the first of two own goals, as Shakhtar reached Europe's second-tier semi-finals for the first time since lifting the UEFA Cup in 2009.
And he capped his milestone masterclass with the cutback assist for Viktor Kovalenko to strike Shakhtar's third, before Taison's cross forced Ferreira to turn the ball into his own net for the second time.
