Europa League: Man United win narrowly over Nicosia; Arsenal continue dominant run
Marcus Rashford struck twice as Manchester United battled back for a 3-2 UEFA Europa League group stage win in Cyprus while last season’s UEFA Europa Conference League surprise package proved to be no match for Premier League leaders Arsenal in London.
Here is a round up the Thursday night action.
Omonoia 2-3 Man United
Erik ten Hag’s men secured successive Group E wins but had to come from behind in Nicosia. Karim Ansarifard applied the finish to a clever first-half counter to stun the visitors, but second-half substitutes Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial both struck in the space of ten minutes. Rashford then hit United’s third but Omonoia were not done, replacement Nikolas Panagiotou making the Red Devils sweat as he quickly pulled one back.
Key stat: United have won six of their last seven away matches in the UEFA Europa League.
Arsenal 3-0 Bodø/Glimt
Arsenal climbed to the top of Group A as first-half goals from Eddie Nketiah and Rob Holding helped them to overcome the Norwegian champions. Nketiah opened the scoring on the rebound after Kieran Tierney’s effort came back off the post before Holding nodded into the corner for number two. The visitors improved after the interval but Fábio Vieira put the result beyond doubt late on following a fabulous Gabriel Jesus run.
Key stat: Nketiah has now scored in each of his last four UEFA Europa League starts.
Fenerbahçe 2-0 AEK Larnaca
Michy Batshuayi’s fierce strike and an own goal kept Fenerbahçe top of Group B. The Belgian rifled home after being put through by Diego Rossi on 28 minutes. Kenan Pirić made a number of saves to keep AEK in the game, notably tipping Emre Mor’s shot on to the inside of his post. However, he could not prevent Rafail Mamas bundling into his own net ten minutes from time to ensure Yellow Canaries took the points.
Key stat: No club from Cyprus has ever won away from home against a team from Turkey.
Roma 1-2 Betis
Roma’s qualification hopes suffered a damaging blow after a late strike from Luiz Henrique at the Stadio Olimpico. Paulo Dybala gave the Serie A side the lead from the penalty spot but Guido Rodríguez equalised from long range before half-time. José Mourinho’s side had plenty of chances to score the winner but they were stunned in the closing minutes when Betis’s Brazilian forward headed in at the back post.
Key stat: Tonight’s defeat ended a 20-game unbeaten European home run for Roma that stretched back to 2018.
Monaco 3-1 Trabzonspor
Monaco moved level on points with Group H leaders Ferencváros following a comfortable victory. Visiting striker Maxi Gómez’s early dismissal for a challenge on Mohamed Camara was swiftly followed by Wissam Ben Yedder’s close-range opener, before the Monaco frontman doubled his and the hosts’ tally from the penalty spot. Axel Disasi’s close-range header made it 3-0, rendering Anastasios Bakasetas’ late effort a mere consolation.
Key stat: Ben Yedder has scored 40 of his 45 career penalties.
Best of the rest
Yorbe Vertessen and Cody Gakpo struck twice each as PSV took a 5-0 lead at Zürich, but the beleaguered Swiss champions struck late to prevent their guests matching their biggest ever UEFA competition away win.
Union Berlin are the shock Bundesliga leaders, but lost both of their opening Europa League games. They finally came good at Malmö, Sheraldo Becker hitting the only goal after the German side went down to ten men.
Freiburg are second to Union in the Bundesliga table, but are outperforming their countrymen in Europe. Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Vincenzo Grifo scored in a 2-0 win at Nantes to maintain their 100% Group G record.
All the Matchday 3 results
Group A: Zürich 1-5 PSV Eindhoven, Arsenal 3-0 Bodø/Glimt
Group B: Rennes 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv, Fenerbahçe 2-0 AEK Larnaca
Group C: HJK Helsinki 1-1 Ludogorets, Roma 1-2 Real Betis
Group D: Malmö 0-1 Union Berlin, Braga 1-2 St Gilloise
Group E: Sheriff 0-2 Real Sociedad, Omonoia 2-3 Man United
Group F: Sturm Graz 0-0 Lazio, Midtjylland 2-2 Feyenoord
Group G: Freiburg 2-0 Nantes, Olympiacos 0-3 Qarabağ
Group H: Crvena zvezda 4-1 Ferencváros, Monaco 3-1 Trabzonspor
