Braga dig in to seal last four spot on historic night for Portuguese

BRAGA capped a historic night for Portuguese teams in the Europa League as all three Primeira Liga representatives booked their places in the semi-finals of the competition.

Starting the night level after a 1-1 draw in Kiev last week, Braga shrugged off the 28th dismissal of Paulo Cesar to earn a goalless draw which saw them through on away goals.

Braga will meet Benfica in an all-Portuguese last four clash after Jorge Jesus’ men rode an early storm in the Netherlands before securing a 2-2 draw with PSV Eindhoven and a 6-3 aggregate win. Trailing 4-1 from the first leg, PSV stunned their visitors by clawing back to a single-goal deficit through Balazs Dzsudzsak in the 17th minute and a Jeremain Lens’ strike eight minutes later. But Benfica held their nerve and gave themselves breathing space when Luisao narrowed the gap on the night in first-half injury time. Oscar Cardozo’s 63rd-minute penalty ended PSV’s slim hopes.