VALENCIA (Reuters) – Adrian Lopez’s fizzing volley earned Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at La
Liga rivals Valencia as they reached a second Europa League final in three seasons on Thursday although midfielder Tiago was
sent off near the end.
Adrian Lopez celebrates a goal against Valencia during their Europa League semi-final second leg soccer match at Mestalla
stadium in Valencia April 26, 2012. REUTERS/Albert Gea
Atletico, who won the first leg 4-2, survived a
first-half siege at a noisy Mestalla, but the hosts were unable to breach the visiting defence and the Madrid side will now
face Athletic Bilbao in the May 9 final.
Adrian scored at the end of a counter-attack on the hour when Diego found him
wide of the area and, after he chested the ball down, the Spanish youth international struck a spectacular shot inside the
far post.
Atletico had midfielder Tiago sent off 11 minutes from time, ruling him out of the final, but Diego
Simeone’s side hung on to book a place in next month’s showpiece match against fellow La liga side Bilbao in
Bucharest.
Valencia poured forward in search of an early goal to start the fightback from their first-leg deficit but
ran into inspired Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, on loan from Chelsea, who kept them at bay.
The hosts had one
of their brightest performers on the night, Sergio Canales, stretchered off in tears with what looked like a serious knee
injury in the 59th minute and almost immediately Adrian ended the game as a contest.
Tiago’s foolish red card came
after he appeared to have been penalised for a handball, when it struck a Valencia player’s hand in the area, and both teams
became involved in a messy scuffle.
Atletico beat Valencia in the quarter-finals in 2010 on their way to winning the
tournament with an extra-time 2-1 victory over Fulham in Hamburg.