FREIBURG, Germany, May 7 (Reuters) - Freiburg reached the Europa League final after a 3-1 home win over 10-man Braga on Thursday earned the German side a 4-3 aggregate victory, with Lukas Kuebler scoring twice to fire the hosts into their first European showpiece match.
Freiburg, aiming to win the club's first major trophy, will meet Aston Villa in Istanbul on May 20, after they beat fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest 4-1 on aggregate.
Braga went down to 10 men in the seventh minute when the hosts beat the offside trap to send Jan-Niklas Beste through on goal and Mario Dorgeles, who came on to net a late winner in the first leg, was shown a red card for taking down the winger.
Freiburg got a fortuitous 19th-minute lead after an attempted clearance ricocheted off Kuebler and the ball bounced in off the upright.
The home side's intense pressure paid off four minutes from the break when Johan Manzambi collected the ball well outside the area and, as Braga stood off, had time to send a powerful curling strike into the far corner of the net.
Braga showed signs of life and almost levelled the tie on aggregate on the stroke of halftime.
Victor Gomez rounded goalkeeper Noah Atubolu but his shot came back off the upright and Rodrigo Zalazar's rebound effort was blocked by Freiburg defender Philipp Lienhart.
Manzambi forced Braga keeper Lukas Hornicek into a diving save as the hosts looked to press home their numerical advantage after the break and appeared to have finished off the tie with 18 minutes left.
Vincenzo Grifo floated a free kick into the box and Kuebler rose to head into the far corner. However, Braga ensured a nervy ending for the home supporters when Pau Victor headed in from close range 11 minutes from time.
The visitors piled on the pressure in the dying minutes, with Atubolu making a late save from Gabri Martinez before the Freiburg fans could celebrate, with security attempting in vain to keep the supporters off the pitch at the final whistle.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
