Dnipro v Napoli: Europa League semi-final – live!

http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2015/may/14/dnipro-v-napoli-europa-league-semi-final-live

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10.04pm BST22:04

Well, Napoli can hardly say they didn’t have their chances. They should have won the first leg by some distance but this match was tricky for them: the conditions were dreadful and the crowd was noisy and fiercely partisan. But still, they were probably the better team and have every right to be annoyed with themselves. Dnipro won’t care a jot about that. They’re through on the back of grit and determination - will that be enough against Sevilla in the final? Possibly not. But we’ll see …

Thanks for your company. I’m off.

10.01pm BST22:01

Dnipro will face Sevilla in Warsaw in the final, and the fans go wild. There’s a full scale pitch invasion: flares and smoke everywhere, people swarming all over the centre circle, soaking wet but deliriously joyful. Good for them! Napoli’s players were busy looking very sick indeed but quickly had to leg it.

Dnipro Arena is erupting after the Dnipropetrovsk team reached the Europa League final pic.twitter.com/cpAmlGUUqT

Updated at 10.41pm BST

9.59pm BST21:59

THAT'S IT!

Dnipro go through to the Europa League final! That’s the first major final in their history! They face Sevilla and, it may have been a backs to the wall display, but you can’t say they don’t deserve it!

Updated at 9.59pm BST

9.58pm BST21:58

90 min +4: Napoli go forward. Hamsik strikes a fizzing shot at goal which deflects off something and goes behind. Mertens could have kept it in but was certain it was a corner. He was wrong. Boyko takes his time over the goal kick and is booked for time wasting. A minute to go.

Updated at 9.58pm BST

9.56pm BST21:56

90 min +2: Oooooh!!! Dnipro flaot in a free kick and Matheus in an acre of space, alone in the area, heads the ball onto the cross bar. That could have been it! Will that cost them. Three minutes to go...

9.55pm BST21:55

90 min +2: Rotan takes a tumble now, more time ticking down. Sevilla have beaten Fiorentina.

9.55pm BST21:55

90 min +1: Kalinic is sent to the floor by Britos, who barely breathed on the Dnipro man. But the home side have four minutes to survive and will try every trick.

9.54pm BST21:54

90 min: It’s frantic stuff now, the crowd roaring, Napoli ragged and Dnipro clinging on. Five more minutes of this.

9.53pm BST21:53

89 min: Rather than play the corner short and waste time, Dniprio sweep the ball into the box. Admirably, but unwise.

9.53pm BST21:53

89 min: The Dnipro penalty area is a war zone: Napoli are raining shots in one goal, two then three come in - one goes for a corner, another is blocked and the third cleared. And then Dnipro can suddenly counter! They race up the other end and blast a couple of shots of their own at Andujar. Napoli just about survive and then Kalinic blasts a long range effort at goal which is tapped behind for a corner.

9.51pm BST21:51

87 min: Mertens tries to cut the ball back to Hamsik but doesn’t get it quite right. But still Napoli continue to press, lofting ball after ball into the box. Finally the keeper claims one to give his defenders - who have been magnificent – a quick breather

9.50pm BST21:50

86 min: Albiol sends over two crosses from the right wing. The first is headed straight back out, the second is too long. The rain continues to pound the players, the pitch and the fans. Rafa continues to look ridiculous in his baseball cap.

9.49pm BST21:49

85 min: Napoli are sending most of their attacks up the left wing, where Mertens has been impressive since coming on. But some diehard defending from Dnipro is thwarting him as he wings over cross after cross. Bruno Gama comes on for Konoplyanka, who has been very impressive this evening - skilful, hard working and talented. He takes his time about getting off the pitch, mind, and is more or less shoved out of play by Callejon, who gets a yellow for his efforts.

9.47pm BST21:47

83 min: A looping cross comes into the Dnipro box. Two Napoli players, one of which is Callejon go for it, then “after you”, “no, no, after you” it so that neither actually gets a head to it.

9.46pm BST21:46

82 min: Dnipro do not have a single player in the Napoli half, but Napoli are ragged and scrappy, unable to break down their opponents.

9.44pm BST21:44

80 min: Mertens crosses for Henrique for a corner, but Dnipro clear. Napoli send the ball back in, Callejon doing the business. The result is that Cheberyachko nearly sends the ball back past his own keeper. Dnipro survive but Napoli are beginning to get desperate.

9.42pm BST21:42

78 min: Dnipro have replaced Seleznyov with Kalinic, while for Napoli, Henrique comes on for David Lopez

Updated at 9.43pm BST

9.41pm BST21:41

77 min: Napoli shape as if they’re going to whip a freekick in, but instead Mertens and Ghoulam work a routine from which the left back can slam a shot from closer range. He earns a corner, form which all manner of panic ensues. Napoli have several blasts, headers and hoiks at goal, the best of which is a Higuain chance at the back post which is blocked.

9.38pm BST21:38

74 min: David Lopez has a long range effort, Boyko shambles his way through a save. It must be deeply frustrating not to be able to score against a goalkeeper who looks as utterly shambolic as Boyko, but who nonetheless does the business.

9.36pm BST21:36

72 min: Rafa Benitez is standing in the rain, in a baseball cap, looking quietly furious. Poor Rafa.

Updated at 9.37pm BST

9.35pm BST21:35

71 min: Napoli get their attacking groove on again, pushing up the pitch. But they’re struggling to get the ball into the box and are resorting to long range shots and hoofs.

9.32pm BST21:32

68 min: Matheus’s first act is to concede a corner, Napoli elect not to cross it in and work a routine to allow Mertens to shoot from the edge of the box. His effort slices wide but would have had Boyko in difficulty had it been on target.

9.31pm BST21:31

67 min: Dnipro tell Luchkevych that his game is done. Matheus replaces him in a bid to keep Ghoulam and Mertens quiet on the Napoli left.

9.29pm BST21:29

65 min: Napoli continue to attack, with Dnipro very much planting their backs against the wall and keeping them there. Mertens has another shot from range and Boyko can’t decide whether to catch it or leave it to go out. Instead, he flaps at the ball and it goes out for a corner. Meanwhile Fiorentina have a penalty against Sevilla … which they hammer over the bar. Oh Fiorentina!

9.28pm BST21:28

64 min: Ghoulam blasts to the byline and then tries to blast the ball across the face of goal for someone to stab home. He gets a corner instead, but Dnipro manage to scramble it clear.

9.27pm BST21:27

63 min: Mertens has snuck onto the pitch for Napoli, though I’m not sure wh ohe has replaced. Anyway, he rifles a shot from distance at the Dnipro goal which Boyko deals with dismissively. Napoli are on the attack now and Callejon bullies his way into the box and blasts at the goal - corner. Mertens gets on the end of a cross, but can’t get enough on the end of it. So that’s that.

9.24pm BST21:24

61 min: Well that’s not good news for the neutral looking for a fun final, but is quite good news for Dnipro fans who have gone nuts. There is a thick fog of flare smoke in the stadium now, so much so that it’s reasonably hard to see the players on the pitch.

9.22pm BST21:22

GOAL! Dnipro 1-0 Naplo (Seleznyov, 56, agg 2-1)

Where did that come from? Konoplyanka runs up the left and dinks a cross in. Andujar is caught in two minds - should he come out or not? Seleznyov, who is backing into about four defenders, nods home. Napoli need two to go through, one for extra time.

Updated at 10.16pm BST

9.19pm BST21:19

55 min: From a loopy cross to the edge of the D, Callejon whistles a ropey shot over the bar. That’s enough for Benitez who hoiks Gabbiadini off and replaces him with Hamsik. And not before time.

9.18pm BST21:18

54 min: Maggio knocks Seleznyov over, who doesn’t take much knocking over if we’re being honest. But, basically, this match has involved quite a lot of niggle and not all that much quality in the second half. A moment later Konoplyanka, who is probably the most skilful player on the pitch at the moment, makes a good chance for Seleznyov but he can only shoot tamely at the keeper.

9.16pm BST21:16

52 min: Luchkevych wins a corner from a long, hopeful ball punted up the wing. Douglas, the big man, comes up and gets on the end of it but Napoli clear. Dnipro keep up the pressure and Leo Matas goes down claiming a hand to the face. The referee tells him to get on with it.

9.13pm BST21:13

48 min: Seleznyov bustles into the box, all huff and puff. The Napoli line are pushing up and caught cold but catch Seleznyov, who stops and passes the ball to Luchkevych who is unmarked on the other side of the area. His shot goes across the goal and wide, though. That was a very good chance for the home side.

9.11pm BST21:11

47 min: It’s still raining and the pitch is now so splashy that most players would have been forgiven for exchanging their studs for boats in the interval. Higuain has a couple of goes at sliding passes through the back four for attackers to run onto but screws both of them up #Analysis.

9.09pm BST21:09

Here we go again …

Peep, peep: We’re off again. As is traditional after Dnipro got the first half under way, Napoli are allowed to get the second half going.

9.01pm BST21:01

In other news from this match: Dnipro are not a brilliant side, but they are well-drilled. Napoli could be a brilliant(ish) side but appear to have forgotten how to score. A Sevilla v Dnipro final may not be much of a crowd pleaser, but Napoli are not making the most of their chances so - as much as they might think they deserve to go through – won’t unless Higuain can get past his own personal Kryptonite in the Dnipro goal.

8.58pm BST20:58

Steve Morgan has been kind enough to email in with some half-time entertainment so that I don’t have to provide you with any. “I recently re-started my Subbuteo-aping football comic at thepitifulgame.com (twitter: @thepitifulgame). Scott Murray was kind enough to take a look over the weekend and he seemed to like it.”

8.53pm BST20:53

Half time

Peep, peep: And that’s the half. Dnirpo 0-0 Napoli, (agg 1-1). As it stands, Dnipro are going through to a final against Sevilla.

8.52pm BST20:52

45 min: As half time looms, Dnipro camp outside the Napoli box. The crowd roar, but they can do little else but go continually sideways back and forth across the pitch. Eventually they cross to Seleznyov, who is offside.

8.50pm BST20:50

44 min: Inler lofts the ball into the box and Boyko comes out like a berserker off to war. He clatters one of his own players and fails to get the ball, but Napoli - despite trying quite hard to - can’t get the ball into the unattended net. From a corner, Boyko punches badly again but gets away with it. On the TV commentary Andy Townsend advises getting “someone in or around the goalkeeper” which may not be legal in public.

8.48pm BST20:48

43 min: Seleznyov hits the deck and is entirely ignored by the Napoli players and referee who all continue playing. Eventually, though, the fact that every Dnipro player has more or less stopped playing and is pointing at him means they have to attend to him as he rolls in agony on the floor. Benitez looks furious about it and he probably has every right to - Napoli were in a good position and there wasn’t very much wrong with Seleznyov. He limps off and is back on within 30 seconds.

8.47pm BST20:47

8.45pm BST20:45

40 min: Rotan aims a low, scudding ball into the mixer from a free kick which Kankava heads sharply at goal. Andujar saves but, in fact, someone was offside so it wouldn’t have counted even if it had gone in. Which it didn’t.

8.44pm BST20:44

39 min: Insigne spends a little while lining up a free kick. He delicately chips it into the box, hoping to curl it onto the head of a team-mate. But what actually happens is that he simply lobs it delicately into the keeper’s hands without a single one of his colleagues anywhere near him.

8.42pm BST20:42

37 min: It is wet in Kyiv, very wet indeed. Luchkevych tries to get on the end of a deep cross and is caught hard by Ghoulam. He goes down in a puddle, clutching various bits of himself lest they fall off and drift away. He’ll live though. Unless he drowns.

8.40pm BST20:40

35 min: Insigne’s shot has just come down.

8.40pm BST20:40

34 min: Dnipro get on the attack and Seleznyov hammers a low, skiddy shot at goal which Andujar just manages to tip wide. Very good effort.

8.39pm BST20:39

33 min: Maggio crosses to the far post, it’s a high looping one that finds Insigne, who is charging in at full speed. He gets a rush of blood to the head, and rather than take a touch he swings a wild foot at it and tries to volley it home. The ball, however, goes straight back up into the air and is yet to come down.

8.36pm BST20:36

31 min: Gabbiadini whips over a corner but the referee orders a retake after shome sillyshallying in the box. The second goes straight to Boyko, who punches clear.

8.35pm BST20:35

30 min: In Florence, Carrico has made it 2-0 to Sevilla, 5-0 on aggregate.

8.34pm BST20:34

29 min: Boyko does it again! Another sharp save from a Higuain effort is saved and goes behind for a corner. From a lovely ball in, Higuain flicks a clever header to the far post which seems destined to skid off the surface and into the bottom corner. But he is denied. He simply cannot bear this keeper .

8.33pm BST20:33

27 min: Gabbiadini, who has been warned already several times, earns himself a yellow card for scything Fedorchuk (I think) down from behind.

@TomBry can't understand why Higuain isn't at one of the top clubs, he's one of the best 9's around, he's wasted playing in Serie A.

Oh Serie A! Former home of some of the greatest No9s of all time, how has it come to this?

Updated at 9.12pm BST

8.29pm BST20:29

24 min: Free-kick to Napoli wide on the right. Gabbiadini hoofs it in, looking for a head to nod the ball home. Nothing doing. Meanwhile in Italy, Bacca has scored for Sevilla to give the side a 4-0 lead on aggregate, 1-0 on the night. Hard to see Fiorentina scoring five now.

8.28pm BST20:28

23 min: Rotam handballs in the middle of the pitch. The referee blows for handball and awards Napoli the free-kick, whereupon most of the Napoli player and Benitez have a go at him, and slightly urgently claim a free kick for handball. Having already awarded it to them, the referee has every right to wonder what more he could have done.

8.25pm BST20:25

19 min: Napoli are coming into the game now but while their build-up play is neat enough, they are struggling to get through an organised Dnipro defence. They got two rows of four behind the ball whenever Napoli get going but the Italians have some cause for optimism - both Inler and Higauin have played a couple of passes that have unlocked that defence, it’s just that they’ve not done much with them.

Updated at 8.25pm BST

8.21pm BST20:21

15 min: Higuain swirls a lovely, swerving ball into the box for Callejon who is running to the far post. Leo Matos, the Dnipro defender, is forced into a diving header to steer the ball behind for a corner. Boyko claims the resulting set piece very easily.

8.19pm BST20:19

14 min: It’s not been the defensive display that many (I) expected from Dnipro. They’ve been on the front foot for much of the opening quarter of an hour and, though they’ve rarely troubled the Napoli box, they have been the most attacking of the two sides. From a free-kick, Rotan launches an up and under into the penalty area. Somehow Seleznyov gets himself offside though and that’s the end of that.

8.17pm BST20:17

12 min: Dnipro are looking for Konoplyanka at almost every opportunity. He advances up the left wing and fizzes over a cross - but he gets it wrong and it whistles straight into the hands of Andujar.

8.16pm BST20:16

11 min: Dnipro attempt a ragged attack, but the move breaks down when Konoplyanka loses the ball on the left wing. Dnipro keep at it for a bit, though until Andujar puts his boot through the ball and Napoli get a chance to attack.

8.14pm BST20:14

9 min: Higuain basically just tried to smack that shot as hard as he could Boyko simply did a starfish. Higuain, basically, should have done better.

8.13pm BST20:13

8 min: Inler finds Higuain with a lovely slide ball into the area. The striker takes aim against his first leg nemesis, Boyko, and fires directly at him. He should really have scored there but the man who kept denying him last time around has done it again.

8.11pm BST20:11

5 min: Dnipro are not prepared to concede possession like they did last week today and they spend a good three minutes whistling the ball around between them. There’s not been much quality, though, and instead there’s something a little frantic about play as the ball whizzes about on the slick, wet surface.

8.08pm BST20:08

2 min: Dnipro whizz up the other end and send the ball into the box. It shoots about the place like a pinball in a, erm, pinball machine, before coming back out again. Napoli concede a free kick 15 yards outside the area: Konoplyanka fires a shot in but Andujar, the Napoli keeper, pats it down then claims.

8.06pm BST20:06

Peep, peep

We’re off. Dnipro are in blue, Napoli in white and the visitors have an early free-kick deep into Dnipro territory. Gabbiadini whistles the ball in and Higuain whistles it wide and over, with the keeper Boyko in no man’s land.

8.04pm BST20:04

The teams are ambling down the tunnel and out onto the pitch. It’s wet in Kyiv at the Olimpiyskyi stadium but there’s a hot atmosphere in the crowd where most of the crowd have their hands in the air, and are waving them like much like they don’t care.

7.54pm BST19:54

Whatever happens tonight, it seems clear that people are going to be limping afterwards. Here’s a stat from the good people at the Europa League: “Dnipro have committed (226) and suffered (214) the most fouls in this season’s competition. They have also received the most yellow cards: 45, 12 more than any other side, and 15 more than any other semi-finalist”

7.40pm BST19:40

So no Hamsik for Napoli, who is on the bench and so presumably fit. Gabbiadini does start at the top of midfield three, with Inler in the midfield to lend some defensive heft. Benítez seems to be looking for a more rigorous, rigid performance from his side then, while Dnipro are likely to be as defensive as they were in the first leg. Should be a thriller.

Updated at 7.43pm BST

7.13pm BST19:13

Team news

Dnipro: Boyko, Fedetskiy, Douglas, Cheberyachko, Leo Matos, Kankava, Fedorchuk, Luchkevych, Rotan, Konoplyanka, Seleznyov. Subs: Lastuvka, Vlad, Kalinic, Bezus, Bruno Gama, Shakhov, Matheus.

Napoli: Andujar, Maggio, Albiol, Britos, Ghoulam, David Lopez, Inler, Callejon, Gabbiadini, Insigne, Higuain. Subs: Rafael Cabral, Henrique, Jorginho, Mertens, Hamsik, Koulibaly, Gargano. Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)

7.05pm BST19:05

Napoli, like Sevilla in the other Europa League semi-final, ought to be home and hosed already. But, unlike Sevilla, they did not cement their first leg dominance over their opponents. So while their Spanish counterparts are sitting on a three goal second leg lead over Fiorentina, Napoli must travel to Dnipro looking to win as they are currently behind to an away goal.

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk’s substitute Yevhen Seleznyov snatched a late equaliser in Naples last week to make the scoreline 1-1 and Rafael Benítez’s Napoli side will be ruing the fact that they were all over their Ukranian opposition yet did not win. Gonzalo Higuaín had four second-half shots saved as Napoli sought a second goal after David López’s opener early in the second half, but the goalkeeper Denys Boyko was in imperious/lucky form and frustrated the jiggery out of them before Dnipro’s late strike. Napoli had 63% of the possession and 19 shots to Dnipro’s three so had every reason to feel a bit grumpy. Still, Europa League specialist Mr Benítez is now feeling quite a lot more bullish/patronising.

“We have lots of respect for Dnipro as we’ve seen what they are capable of,” he honked in the build-up to this. “We saw their strength; these are tough and tenacious opponents. However, I don’t see many reasons to be overly nervous about this game.”

His Dnipro counterpart Myron Markevych sounds a lot more cheerful. “We are in good spirits. We’ll play at home and I know there’ll be a lot of people at the stadium in Kyiv. I know my team’s strengths and I hope my players will show their best. Nobody knows what result we’ll get as we’re up against a really strong opponent. Anyway, after the first leg, the chances are a bit more even.”

Asked if this match was the biggest of his career, Markevych added: “I can’t tell. Let’s put it this way: I hope my most important one is still to come.”

These two sides last met in the Europa League (aside from the first leg of this fixture) in 2012-13. In a bad sign for Napoli, they lost the away leg 3-1. And they lost it to a side managed by Juande Ramos, so that’s really something.

Dnipro have won their last four European home games without conceding, but Napoli are unbeaten in their last four on the road (won two, drawn two) and scored four in both of those wins. Something’s got to give!

Kick-off: 8.05pm.