Villarreal, Granada progress into Europa League quarterfinals

MADRID - Villarreal and Granada both qualified for the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Thursday night.

Villarreal had the easier night of the two sides as they quickly extended the 2-0 lead they brought back to Spain from last week's visit to play Dynamo Kiev.

Gerard Moreno's 13th-minute header, his 16th goal of the season, quickly put them 1-0 up on the night and 3-0 on aggregate and his second goal in the 36th minute following a pass from Dani Parejo assured his side's place in the last eight.

Granada had to work harder against Molde in the away leg, which was played in Budapest rather than Norway due to coronavirus restrictions.

Jesus Vallejo put the ball into his own net in the 29th minute and Granada had to dig deep before Roberto Soldado scored a vital away goal with 18 minutes left to play.

There was still time for late drama after Yan Eteki committed an 89th minute penalty and Eirik Hestad netted the spot kick to leave the result into the balance until the final whistle three minutes later.

Granada lost the second leg 2-1 but still progressed with a 3-2 aggregate win.