Moussa Diaby opened the scoring as Bayer Leverkusen fired four in a wonderful win at Union Saint-Gilloise to clinch their place in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.

Saint-Gilloise 1-4 Bayer Leverkusen (agg: 2-5)
Goals: 0-1 Diaby 2', 0-2 Bakker 37’ (assist: Hlozek), 0-3 Frimpong 60', 1-3 Terho (assist: Lapoussin), 1-4 Hlozek 79'

Despite being held to a 1-1 draw in the home leg, Leverkusen made the short journey to Brussels confident of progression with an 11-match unbeaten run behind them. They made a dream start, with Florian Wirtz tearing forward and Senne Lynen accidentally slotting the ball behind his own defence for Diaby to fire the visitors in front with just 66 seconds on the clock. The Werkself continued to show their intent with a series of fluent and pacy attacks that led to Jeremie Frimpong having a shot deflected behind and Diaby hitting wide. The hosts pushed towards the end of the first half without troubling an accomplished Leverkusen defence. They left extra space for Leverkusen to exploit on the break to deadly effect – Diaby charging forward and hitting it to Adam Hlozek on the right, whose cross was tapped under the Saint-Gilloise goalkeeper by Mitchel Bakker.

Saint-Gilloise looked to force a wayx back in the second period, with Victor Boniface heading over, but continued to offer Leverkusen ample opportunity to threaten on the break. Bakker pressed at the goalkeeper who passed straight to Jeremie Frimpong - who was delighted to slot the ball straight past him for 3-0. Saint-Gilloise struck back minutes later, with Loic Lapoussin providing some excellent supply work to cross for Casper Terho, who swivelled and shot straight in. Boniface was then almost played in at the far post from Teddy Tuema's chipped cross as the hosts sensed a comeback was on. Simon Adingra rattled the crossbar with around 20 minutes left, but Leverkusen remained calm in the face of the attempted onslaught. Hlozek's strike around 10 minutes from time on the rebound after Diaby's effort was saved secured their progression to the last four, where Jose Mourinho's Roma await.

Match stats

• Diaby is Leverkusen's biggest attacking threat this season, with 14 goals and eight assists in all competitions, including three and one respectively in the Europa League.
• Bakker scored his fourth goal of the season and first ever in a European competition.
• Frimpong is Bayer's top provider with 10 assists, including four in UEFA competition. He now has nine goals.
• Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen are unbeaten in their last five Europa League games, winning four.
• Leverkusen have made the last four of a European competition for the first time since 2001/02 - when they reached the UEFA Champions League final.
• Leverkusen won away in Belgium for the second time - after a 2-0 win at Lierse SK in the UEFA Champions League in November 1997.

Teams

St. Gilloise: Moris - Nieuwkoop, Kandouss (Terho 46'), Burgess, Machida - Lynen, Teuma (c) (El Azzouzi 87'), Lapoussin - Vertessen (Adingra 32'), Amani (Puertas 81'), Boniface (Nilsson 81')
Unused subs: Imbrechts, Fellous, Eckert, Sykes, Huygevelde
Out: Van der Heyden (suspended)
Coach: Karel Geraerts

Leverkusen: Hradecky (c) - Tapsoba (Kossounou 59'), Tah, Hincapie - Frimpong (Adli 71'), Andrich, Amiri (Demirbay 59'), Bakker - Diaby (Bellarabi 86'), Wirtz - Hlozek (Azmoun 86')
Unused subs: Pentz, Lomb, Fosu-Mensah, Azhil
Out: Lunev (back), Palacios (muscular), Schick (groin)
Coach: Xabi Alonso

As it happened

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First-leg report

Florian Wirtz secured Bayer Leverkusen a 1-1 draw against Union Saint-Gilloise in their UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg at the BayArena.

Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Saint-Gilloise
Goals: 0-1 Boniface 51' (assist: Teuma), 1-1 Wirtz 82' (assist: Azmoun)

Enjoying a seven-match winning run in all competitions, Leverkusen made a lively start. With just three minutes on the clock, Saint-Gilloise goalkeeper Anthony Moris was forced to save at the feet of Wirtz, who shot wide moments later. The visitors gave as good as they got, though, and had already gone close through Victor Boniface, when Lazare Amani clipped the woodwork from range. Lukas Hradecky saved well from Boniface as the Belgians turned the screw, before the goal frame prevented Ismael Kandouss from heading in a corner. Bayer responded in kind, with Moussa Diaby twice dragging wide either side of a golden opportunity for Piero Hincapie, who failed to hit the target with a header following a mistake by Moris.

Leverkusen were up against it after the restart as Boniface fired Saint-Gilloise ahead. Hradecky had to be alert to stop Yorbe Vertessen going through on goal with Gilloise's next attack, but Bayer rode the storm and managed to wrestle back momentum in the closing stages. Jeremie Frimpong miscued from close range, before Wirtz collected a pass from substitute Sardar Azmoun and drove an unstoppable equaliser into the top corner. Kerem Demirbay shot over and Azmoun tickled the side netting as Leverkusen pushed for a late winner. It wasn't forthcoming, but Xabi Alonso will be quietly confident of getting the result needed in next week's decisive return leg in Belgium.