Soccer-Sevilla earn two-goal cushion against Valencia

BARCELONA, April 24 (Reuters) - Stephane MBia and Carlos Bacca were on target for Sevilla as they took a big step towards reaching the Europa League final with a 2-0 victory over Valencia on Thursday. The Andalusian side continued their good form which has seen them win nine of their last 10 La Liga games as they took advantage of Valencia's defensive weaknesses to put them in the driving seat in the all-Spanish semi-final. After a frantic start to the game MBia knocked in the opening goal on the half hour mark and then Bacca added another shortly afterwards as he used his pace to get clear before finishing clinically. Valencia came close to reducing the arrears when an Edu Vargas shot curled just wide of the post midway through the second half and then in the final moments he also hit the crossbar, but they now have it all to do in the second leg at the Mestalla. (Reporting by Martyn Herman)