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Liberec bound into last 32

Liberec advanced to the Europa League knockout stages as they took advantage of Freiburg's defeat to Sevilla by beating Estoril 2-1.Josef Sural gave Liberec a first-half lead which was added to by Michael Rabusic.Junior Seba pulled a goal back but Liberec nonetheless leapfrogged Freiburg to claim second place in Group H.The opening quarter-hour was lacklustre, with Estoril's Fernandes Gerso unable to direct Javier Balboa's cross goalwards and Joao Pedro smashing a free-kick into the wall.Liberec burst into life in the 17th minute when Martin Frydek's excellent drive was blocked by Elvis Babanco and from the resulting corner, the Czech side took the lead.Sergiy Ribalka delivered from the right, Jirri Fleisman headed back across goal and Sural arrived at the right time to find the top corner.Another Balboa cross was again headed powerfully but waywardly by Gerso before Estoril lost goalkeeper Vagner to injury, with Ricardo Ribeiro taking his place.Balboa's next pinpoint delivery found a more adept target in Joao Pedro, but his excellent headed effort was saved by Lukas Hroso and Liberec retained their lead going into half-time.Hroso saved Diogo Amado's ambitious effort early in the second half while Ribeiro had his first test when he gathered Frydek's 25-yard blast.Joao Pedro sent a superb 30-yard shot dipping just over the bar for Estoril, but it was Liberec who struck again with 20 minutes left.David Pavelka slipped the ball into the box and Rabusic poked the ball high past Ribeiro.With Freiburg losing at home to Sevilla, the 2-0 scoreline made Liberec's qualification look certain - even when Estoril pulled a goal back with eight minutes remaining.Babanco crossed from the left and Junior Seba stroked the ball past Hroso from 12 yards.Seba was denied an equaliser when Hroso repelled his header and Balboa and Babanco saw shots blocked, though even a draw would have been enough for Liberec.

PA Sport

Estoril

SOCCER

Sevilla thwarted by late leveller

#INSERT type:image caption:Estoril keeper Vagner da Silva denies Victor Machin. END# Sevilla were held to a 1-1 home draw in a match they dominated for the second successive time in the Europa League – but still managed to seal their berth in the last 32.Kevin Gameiro's early goal looked to have set Sevilla on their way to victory, but they were hit with a sucker-punch in stoppage time when Estoril, who had threatened only sporadically, snatched an equaliser through Ruben Fernandes.The match mirrored Sevilla's last European outing, when Slovan Liberec netted a second-half equaliser to claim a draw from a game the Spanish side dominated but, fortunately for the 2006 and 2007 Europa League winners, it did not prove costly.Their point from Thursday's match, combined with Freiburg's win at Liberec, means they are now assured of a top-two finish in Group H.Sevilla, in buoyant mood following their 4-0 derby thrashing of arch-rivals Real Betis at the weekend, took the lead after just seven minutes with a clinical breakaway goal.The influential Jose Antonio Reyes created the chance as he beat two players inside his own half before threading a perfect through-ball for Kevin Gameiro to race on to, and the France international lashed a rising shot past Vagner da Silva.After that it was pretty much all Sevilla in the first half, but they could not add to their lead, with Vagner parrying Ivan Rakitic's low shot and Coke and Gameiro both failing to hit the target when presented with decent opportunities.Estoril's only real opportunity saw Evandro Goebel drill a 25-yard shot straight at home goalkeeper Javi Varas.Varas was called on again to keep out two efforts Luis Leal after the break as Estoril provided more of an attacking threat, but the hosts kept their noses in front.Sevilla also had chances to increase their lead, with arguably their best falling to substitute Vitolo six minutes from time when he raced into the area from the left and was denied by the outstretched left arm of Vagner.A goal then would have killed the game off, but Portuguese side Estoril made the most of the escape by grabbing an unexpected last-gasp equaliser.Sevilla lost the ball in their own half and Javier Balboa picked up possession and fed a pass into the unmarked Fernandes inside the area.The centre-back took a touch before poking his shot past Varas, but it did not prevent Sevilla progressing.

Freiburg see red and hopes fade

Freiburg had two players sent off in Estoril as both sides saw their hopes of progression in the Europa League fade in a dire goalless draw in Portugal.The Bundesliga side lost midfielders Nicolas Hofler and Karim Guede to red cards at the end of a match devoid of entertainment and inspiration.The hosts had the better of the chances without seriously testing Freiburg goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.The draw kept both sides in the bottom two spots in Group H, with third-placed Freiburg three points behind Slovan Liberec in second. Estoril are four points off the Czech side.Luis Leal was just about the most lively player on the pitch on Thursday night and he worked Baumann in the 14th minute, forcing the German into a save with his feet with a shot from the left side of the area.At the other end Oliver Sorg fired wide and Vladimir Darida's long-range free-kick was held by Vagner.Leal had another sight of goal just before the half-hour mark, but dragged his right-footed shot wide of the far post.The match threatened to burst into life early in the second half when first Baumann did well to punch away a powerful Seba header from a Leal cross and then his opposite number Vagner parried a Darida shot.But the moments of excitement continued to be rare.Baumann had to be alert to push away Carlitos' header from a Yohan Tavares corner and was called into action once more when he punched clear Evandro Goebel's free-kick.A game desperately lacking in quality scarcely deserved a winner, though, and instead finished with two late red cards.Hofler picked up a second booking in the 87th minute and Guede repeated the trick two minutes later to leave Freiburg with nine men, but they held on to a point.

Freiburg and Estoril share spoils

Freiburg and Estoril remain winless in Europe League Group H after Seba's second-half strike earned the visitors a point in Germany.Vladimir Darida had fired Freiburg ahead after 11 minutes but Seba levelled soon after the interval, and the teams cancelled each other out thereafter to finish tied at 1-1.Portuguese outfit Estoril, who are playing in Europe for the first time and are based further west on the map than any other team in the competition, came into the match without a point from their opening two games, after losing to Sevilla and Slovan Liberec, while Freiburg had lost to the Spaniards but drawn with Liberec.They have significant catching up to do over the remaining three rounds of games, and Estoril will be looking to make home advantage count when the teams that contested Thursday's game do battle again in Portugal in two weeks' time.Freiburg boss Christian Streich watched his team start brightly, with Vegar Eggen Hedenstad and Admir Mehmedi both causing flutters of concern for Estoril with early shots at Vagner's goal.The Brazilian goalkeeper was initially defiant but Darida found a way past him with a large slice of luck.Receiving the ball in a position to the left of goal, and needing a Hollywood finish to beat Vagner, Darida put his head down and cracked a fierce shot that took a hefty deflection off Yohan Tavares and squeezed inside the near post.Vagner had no hope, having followed the initial flight of the ball and moved in the opposite direction.The goalkeeper parried a strike from Julian Schuster as Freiburg looked to strengthen their position, but Estoril restricted the damage to one goal at the break.Their resilience was rewarded in the 53rd minute when Vagner's compatriot Seba equalised.The striker held his run perfectly before tearing beyond the home defence to prod Luis Leal's pass through the middle underneath goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.Darida tried his luck but missed the target as Freiburg looked to reclaim the lead, while Estoril began to think of the win, with former Hannover man Carlitos seeing a 20-yard shot saved by Baumann.Francis Coquelin, the on-loan Arsenal midfielder in Freiburg's ranks, had the final shot of the game that demanded a save, with Vagner proving up to the task.

Liberec hang on for win

Slovan Liberec held on to claim their first win in Europa League Group H over Estoril, triumphing 2-1, after both sides were reduced to 10 men.Josef Sural opened the scoring for Liberec in the 15th minute before Luis Leal levelled for the visitors on the stroke of half-time, Estoril defender Bruno Miguel having been sent off in the 38th minute for his second bookable offence.Radoslav Kovac restored Liberec's lead just after the hour mark but the Czech side were left facing an anxious final eight minutes after they too went a man down as Isaac Sackey was shown his second yellow card of the match.The result means Liberec have maintained their position in second place behind group leaders Sevilla, who beat Freiburg 2-0 in the night's other Group H match.Sural ensured the home side got off to a good start when he drilled David Pavelka's cross into the bottom right-hand corner of Vagner's net and their advantage seemed to have improved when Miguel saw red following a foul on Martin Frydek.However, it was Estoril who were the next to score through Leal's close-range effort in the 45th minute.Frydek put a shot over the bar 10 minutes into the second period but the home side did not have to wait long to reclaim their lead as Kovac fired home in the 63rd minute.Sackey, who was originally cautioned in the 65th minute, was sent off in the 82nd but Liberec were able to hold on to their slender lead to claim the first win of their European campaign.

Team	GP	W	D	L	GD	P
FC Porto	34	29	4	1	+64	91
Sporting CP	34	27	4	3	+50	85
Benfica	34	23	5	6	+48	74
Braga	34	19	8	7	+21	65
Gil Vicente	34	13	12	9	+5	51
Guimaraes	34	13	9	12	+9	48
Santa Clara	34	9	13	12	-16	40
FC Famalicao	34	9	12	13	-6	39
Estoril	34	9	12	13	-7	39
Maritimo	34	9	11	14	-5	38
Paços de Ferreira	34	9	11	14	-15	38
Boavista	34	7	17	10	-13	38
Portimonense	34	10	8	16	-14	38
Vizela	34	7	12	15	-21	33
Arouca	34	7	10	17	-24	31
Moreirense	34	7	8	19	-18	29
Tondela	34	7	7	20	-26	28
Belenenses	34	5	11	18	-32	26

Team

+64

+50

+48

+21