FC Porto beats Spartak Moscow 5-2 in Europa League

Posted Friday, April 15, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

MOSCOW (AP)—Hulk scored the opener and set up two more goals as FC Porto routed Spartak Moscow 5-2 in the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals to advance 10-3 on aggregate on Thursday.

“We are very, very happy with what we did today and in the first leg because we were able to go through to the semifinals,” Porto coach Andre Villas-Boas said.

In the semifinals in two weeks, Porto will face Villarreal, which beat FC Twente 8-2 on aggregate.

With a virtually insurmountable four-goal deficit after the first leg, Spartak Moscow was looking to secure some pride.

Spartak opened strongly and had its first chance in the seventh minute. Aiden McGeady broke down the right flank in the box but Helton tipped his shot from six meters over the crossbar.

Porto played defensively, relying on counterattacks which paid off.

Hulk beat the offside trap and ran from almost the center of the pitch to put Porto in the lead with a low left-footed shot past Andrii Dykan in the 28th minute.

Dykan blocked Hulk’s low shot a minute into first-half injury time before Cristian Rodriguez headed in Hulk’s corner kick in the next minute to make it 2-0.

“We created moments in the first half, they scored,” Spartak coach Valery Karpin said. “They had just one and a half chances and converted them.”

Right halfback Freddy Guarin shocked the home side, scoring two minutes into the second half. Dykan blocked Falcao’s shot from inside the penalty area but the Colombia striker controlled the rebound and passed it to Guarin, who found the left corner of the net.

Striker Artem Dzyba outplayed three Porto defenders to narrow the gap in the 52nd.

But Falcao, who scored a hat trick in the first-leg 5-1 win, headed in his 11th goal in the competition this season to make it 4-1 two minutes later. Rodriguez headed down Hulk’s corner kick and Falcao leaped to head in from three meters.

The game opened up more after that.

Second-half substitute Ari scored a narrow-angled goal for Spartak in the 72nd and Porto substitute Ruben Micael restored the three-goal advantage with one minute left in regulation.