French striker Kevin Gameiro struck twice and missed a penalty to put Sevilla on the brink of reaching a Copa del Rey final against Barcelona with a 4-0 semifinal, first-leg win over Celta Vigo on Thursday.
Barca’s place in a fifth final in six years is assured after they thrashed Valencia 7-0 in the first-leg of their semifinal on Wednesday.
Sevilla have now won 12 consecutive games at home in all competitions and were worthy winners, even if the scoreline flattered Unai Emery’s men.
Gameiro had a great chance to open the scoring after half an hour but saw his spot-kick brilliantly saved by Ruben Blanco.
Celta then came desperately close to a precious away goal as Sergi Gomez headed against the bar before Pablo Hernandez flashed a shot inches wide on the counter-attack.
However, Sevilla’s pressure was rewarded in the last action of the first-half as Adil Rami rose highest to head home from a corner.
Gameiro then killed the tie with two goals in three minutes after the break as he sped in behind the Celta defence before coolly slotting past Blanco on both occasions.
And Michael Krohn-Dehli rounded off a fine night for Sevilla with the fourth against his old club three minutes from time.