published: thursday 20 march 2014, 20.51cet fc viktoria plzeň 2-1 olympique lyonnais (agg: 3-5)
daniel kolář and stanislav tecl struck to spark hopes of a comeback, but a penalty miss and some superb saves kept plzeň at bay.
olympique lyonnais received a nasty jolt, but nonetheless claimed a uefa europa league quarter-final place at the expense of fc viktoria plzeň despite conceding two goals – and giving away a penalty – in the space of ten minutes.
bafétimbi gomis had extended the french side's aggregate lead to 5-1 following a 4-1 victory in the round of 16 first leg, but daniel kolář and stanislav tecl struck inside three second-half minutes and dušan uhrin jr's team kept believing in the possibility of a miracle comeback even after tecl had smacked a 70th-minute spot kick against the base of the post.
plzeň looked dead and buried when gomis put lyon in front in first-half added time, beating his man with a flamboyant flick before firing a tidy left-foot shot into the far corner of petr bolek's goal. the czech champions had done all the running up until then, with kolář and milan petržela having sights of goal before marián Čišovský's volley drew a splendid stop from anthony lopes.
gomis had gone close with a languid overhead kick at the other end when plzeň chased upfield on the hour. lyon failed to repel one attack, allowing patrik hrošovský to lay the ball across for the unmarked kolář to stroke low into the net. on 62 minutes it was 2-1, tecl getting a head to petržela's cross and seeing the ball bounce into the net off the inside of lopes's right-hand upright.
lyon's anxiety intensified further when mouhamadou dabo clipped michal Ďuriš's heels in the box, yet tecl got less change out of lopes's other post from the penalty spot, watching in agony as his low conversion rebounded off the woodwork and bounced back across the face of goal to safety. plzeň kept pushing, but lopes saved superbly from Čišovský and then substitutes tomáš wágner and marek bakoš. wágner also hit the frame of the goal again at the death – close but not quite close enough.
