German Bundesliga side Schalke overpowered ten-men Czech club Viktoria Plzen 3-1 after overtime, owing a hat rick by Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar in the UEFA Europa League to seal semis at outsold Allianz Arena on Thursday night.
After the 1-1 draw at first leg, both sides were anxious to develop their offensive actions, and Schalke opened the scoring with eight minutes into the match as striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar utilized a follow-up shot from close distance to smooth the way for semi finals.
Other than expected, Schalke retracted with the neat lead giving Plzen the chance to take over.
The guests from Plzen pressed the "Knappen" into defense but they remained unlucky as midfielder Daniel Kolar rattled only the outside of the post at the 28th minute.
After the break Viktoria Plzen ensured the first negative highlight when striker Marek Bakos committed a violent conduct to book a straight red card with sixty minutes on the clock.
Schalke remained unimaginative against dedicated ten men Plzen therefore they had to swallow a late equalizer at the 88th minute by midfielder Frantisek Rajtoral who exploited a clearance attempt by Schalke to force overtime against stunned Schalke.
At overtime Schalke remembered that they were in superior numbers against ten men Plzen so that striker Jan Huntelaar ensured two goals at overtime to seal his hat rick and to UEFA Europa League semi finals for his side.
"We still have deficits in our stability but we have made a step into the right direction. The main thing is we progressed into next round," Schalke coach Huub Stevens said.
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