Thursday, April 28, 2011

Benfica and Porto Take Europa League Semifinal Series Openers

The semifinal round of the Europa League opened with two games on Thursday.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

Oscar Cardozo (7) swings home a superb free-kick to give Benfica a 2-1 victory over Braga.

Oscar Cardozo scored the winning goal at 59 minutes (pictured here) as Benfica took the opening game of their two-match all-Portuguese series with Sporting Braga 2-1.

At Porto, Portugal:

Falcao celebrates after bringing Porto level from the penalty spot

After trailing 1-0 at halftime, FC Porto all but assured of an all-Portuguese Europa League final next month in Dublin with a 5-1 series-opening home fistbeating of Villarreal.  Radamel Falcao Garcia scored four, count 'em, four goals (PK-49', 67', 75', 90', that's him celebrating after scoring his first goal).

Both photos from Getty Images

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