Europa League round-up: Battling Swansea knocked out in Naples

 
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Doug Revolta28 February 2014

A battling Swansea City side conceded two goals in the last 12 minutes as Napoli inflicted a 3-1 defeat on Garry Monk’s charges to eliminate them from the Europa League.

After a goalless first leg, Lorenzo Insigne put the Italians ahead before Jonathan de Guzman equalised to give Swansea the advantage in the tie on away goals.

Wilfried Bony missed a golden opportunity from close-range with the scores level at 1-1 and Gonzalo Higuain ensured the Ivorian would rue his missed chance, scoring for the hosts on 78 minutes.

As Swansea desperately threw men forward late on in their hunt for an equaliser, Gokhan Inler slotted home from a Marek Hamsik cross with the last kick of the game to send Benitez’s side through to the last 16.

Napoli face a mouth-watering fixture against Porto in the next round after the Portuguese side played out a six-goal thriller with Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany.

The Portuguese champions fought back from two goals down to draw 3-3 on the night and go through 5-5 on aggregate, thanks to their superior away goals tally.

The biggest shock of the round came as Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad knocked out Lazio 4-3 on aggregate courtesy of a last-minute goal from Brazilian striker Juninho Quixada.

Germany international Miroslav Klose’s 81st minute strike looked enough to send the Italian side through on away goals but the last-gasp strike from Quixada set up a dream tie against Valencia in the next round.

Shakhtar Donetsk crashed out following a home defeat to Czech side Viktorai Plzen, but Benfica, Fiorentina and Juventus all eased through their fixtures.

Southampton loanee Dani Osvaldo notched his second successive Europa League strike for the Turin side, who now face Serie A rivals Fiorentina in the last 16.

Last-16 ties to be played on March 13 and March 20:

AZ Alkmaar v Anzhi Makhachkala

Ludogorets Razgrad v Valencia

Porto v Napoli

Lyon v Viktoria Plzen

Sevilla v Real Betis

Tottenham v Benfica

Basel v Salzburg

Juventus v Fiorentina

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