:format(webp)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/sports/soccer/2023/04/20/fiorentina-az-advance-to-semis-of-europa-conference-league/20230420160412-64419c98df7597e3e0ee14ffjpeg.jpg)
Fiorentina had to rely on late goals by Riccardo Sottil and substitute Gaetano Castrovilli to reach the semifinals of the Europa Conference League on Thursday despite a 3-2 home loss to Lech Poznan.
The Serie A club advanced 6-4 on aggregate after a comfortable 4-1 advantage from the first leg in Poland.
The visitors pulled even at 4-4 on aggregate when Artur Sobiech scored in the 69th minute in Florence. Afonso Sousa and Kristoffer Velde had scored earlier.
Sottil returned the overall lead to the home team 12 minutes from time with Castrovilli adding one more in stoppage time.
In another early game, AZ Alkmaar prevailed in a penalty shootout 4-1 over Anderlecht to reach the last four after a 2-0 home victory. Their quarterfinal matchup was 2-2 on aggregate after regulation and extra time.
AZ Alkmaar center forward Vangelis Pavlidis scored twice in the opening 13 minutes to erase Anderlecht’s 2-0 advantage from the first leg.
Pavlidis scored his first from the penalty spot five minutes into the game and leveled the aggregate score only eight minutes later. He was substituted at halftime due to an injury.
Fiorentina will next face either Nice or Basel. AZ will play either West Ham or Gent.
The remaining quarterfinals in Europe’s third-tier competition were scheduled for later Thursday.
West Ham was locked at 1-1 with Gent from the first leg as the English team bids to reach the semifinals of a European competition for a second straight year while Nice and Basel split the first leg 2-2.
Also, all four quarterfinal matches in the Europa League had late starts, with six-time winner Sevilla hosting Manchester United after the two drew 2-2 in the first leg at Old Trafford a week ago.
Juventus and Feyenoord have 1-0 leads over Sporting Lisbon and Roma, respectively, while Union Saint-Gilloise and Bayer Leverkusen were locked at 1-1 before their game in Belgium.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)
does not endorse these opinions.
:format(webp)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/sports/soccer/2023/04/20/fiorentina-az-advance-to-semis-of-europa-conference-league/20230420160412-64419c98df7597e3e0ee14ffjpeg.jpg&description=Fiorentina%2C+AZ+advance+to+semis+of+Europa+Conference+League){kind=link}