Vilnius (Lithuania), Aug 17 (IANS) Sevilla routed Zalgiris Vilnius 5-0 here to win their third-round Europa League qualifying tie 6-0 on aggregate.
Nolito and Pablo Sarabia each had a brace to leave Sevilla, winners of three consecutive Europa League titles in 2014-2016, with just one more hurdle to clear to qualify for this season's competition, reports EFE news agency.
Sevilla attacked from the start on Thursday and needed just six minutes to claim a 1-0 lead, as Sarabia took a pass from Yissam Ben Yedder before setting up Nolito to score into an open net.
A minute later, Aleix Vidal relayed the ball to Sarabia in the box and Pablo beat Zalgiris goalkeeper Dziugas Bartkus -- outstanding in the first leg in Seville -- to make it 2-0 for the visitors.
Ahead 3-0 on aggregate, Sevilla relaxed to the point of allowing the hosts a solid scoring chance, but lucked out when Rolandas Baravykas kicked the ball straight to visiting keeper Tomas Vaclik.
Sarabia got his second of the night in the final minute of the first half, with a magnificent assist from Ben Yedder.
Sevilla coach Pablo Machin's decision to rest some of his starters in the second half created space for Zalgiris, but Vaclik handled a pair of dangerous shots from distance and Baravykas hit the cross-bar.
The final 10 minutes of the match saw a reprise of the opening.
Guilherme Arana scored for Sevilla in the 80th minute and Nolito completed his double in the 83rd to make the final margin 5-0.
Sevilla will face Sigma Olomouc in the final qualifying round.
--IANS
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