Nartey sees red as Porto eliminate Stuttgart from the Europa League | OneFootball

VfB Stuttgart's dreams of reaching a quarter final of the UEFA Europa League were brought crashing down to earth this evening. A 2-0 win in the second-leg for FC Porto ensured Francisco Farioli's side comfortably advance on a 4-1 aggregate scoreline.

Stuttgart showed signs of intent from the off when Angelo Stiller's cross found Jeff Chabot which forced a save from Diogo Costa inside two minutes. Chris Führich also tested the Porto captain, while Deniz Undav curled wide inside a dominant 15-minute spell.

However a similar misfortune would strike the Swabians yet again, conceding on 21 minutes for a second Thursday in succession. Borja Sainz skipped past the tackles, delivered a ball into the six-yard box where William Gomes was on hand to convert.

Both goalkeepers were tested at their end either side of the half-hour. Zaidu's shot from the left met the gloves of Alexander Nübel, while Costa tipped a Bilal El Khannouss effort past the right post. An enticing first-half ended as Rodrigo Mora fired wide from range.

Victor Frohold replaced Mora to commence the second-half but it was Stuttgart who looked more threatening again as Undav put Costa to work with a fine save to repel a volley. Past the hour, the 29-year-old striker couldn't quite lob the Porto shot-stopper.

Sebastian Hoeneß turned to Tiago Tomas and Nikolas Nartey for a much-needed lift off the bench. Porto also withdrew the lively Sainz, but further threat arrived from Frohold. The Dane worked hard to win back the ball and rifle it to the roof of the net for 2-0 in the 72nd-minute.

Stuttgart's night took another turn for the worse as Nartey got himself sent off in the space of seconds. Yellow cards for a foul followed by a stamp compounded their evening. All in all, a disappointing end to what could've been a chance to go for in the Europa League.