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An Abde Ezzalzouli goal sent Real Betis to their first European final, breaking ACF Fiorentina’s hearts with a 2-2 after extra time draw in a dramatic UEFA Conference League (UECL) semi-final second leg at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The hosts put a scrappy, scruffy start behind them to create the first moment of real danger for either side, as Pietro Comuzzo’s header from a corner had to be hacked off the line. It would be a prelude to the impending horror story of Betis trying to defend corners, but at the other end, they opened the scoring in spectacular fashion. Looking for his third goal in three games, Antony hammered in an unstoppable free-kick that whizzed past David de Gea before clipping the inside of the post and nestling into the back of the net.
What felt momentous soon became ordinary, as Fiorentina refused to be bowed by Antony’s thunderbolt, and La Viola were level just four minutes after going behind. Robin Gosens moved away from goal to meet Rolando Mandragora’s fizzing corner, and the German’s glancing header found the bottom corner. Despite Johnny Cardoso rattling the crossbar for Betis, the Italian side were in the ascendancy, as history repeated itself.
This time, Yacine Adli was the corner-taker, but once again it was Gosens who backed away from goal and planted his header beyond Betis goalkeeper Fran Vieites. Having survived yet another scare from a corner on the stroke of half-time, as Moise Kean missed a free header from eight yards, Betis regrouped to have the upper hand in a nervy second half dominated by a titanic tussle between Luca Ranieri and Antony.
Time and again Fiorentina’s captain and Betis’ goalscorer went head-to-head, with the footballing battle often spilling over into arguments and scuffles. In a second half characterised more by ill-discipline than genuine quality, with five yellow cards being shown in a hectic 10-minute spell, Gosens went closest for the home side, while de Gea made a fine double save late on to deny the Spaniards.
As the game headed into extra time, Manuel Pellegrini produced a tactical masterstroke by putting full-back Aitor Ruibal on at centre-forward, and it took just seven minutes to pay dividends. Ruibal brought a long ball down and slipped a delicate through ball to Antony, and the Brazilian squared it for Ezzalzouli to slot home. After a tension-packed remainder, that proved to be enough to book his team’s place in the Wrocław final with Chelsea later this month.
