Europa League: Man Utd advance, Arsenal knocked out

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

Youssef El-Arabi scored in the last minute of extra-time as Olympiakos knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League on Thursday on a night when four former European champions were eliminated.

Ajax, Celtic, Benfica and Porto went out but Manchester United hardly broke sweat after Simon Deli of Brugge conceded a penalty and earned a red card in the 23rd minute at Old Trafford.

Youssef El-Arabi broke Arsenal hearts at the Emirates

Arsenal, last year's losing finalists, had won the first leg of the round of 32 tie 1-0 in Greece.

Defender Pape Abou Cisse cancelled out that advantage when he headed in a corner after 53 minutes.

Arsenal could not break through and were forced to extra time.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put them back in front with a spectacular flying kick.

Aubameyang thought he had put Arsenal through on a night of drama

However, in the final minute of extra time, Arsenal cleared an Olympiakos corner but were still disorganised when the ball was swung back into the area.

The cross found El Arabi free in front of goal for an unchallenged shot.

"Very hard, very tough," said Aubameyang. "Their last-minute goal was unlucky for us."

At Old Trafford, Bruno Fernandes gave United the lead with a penalty after Deli's flying save. 

Odion Ighalo, making his first start, hit his first goal for the club in the 34th minute.

Ighalo scored his first Manchester United goal

Tentative Ajax

For the Nigerian, who says United were his childhood club, it was a moment to celebrate, but the emotion was mixed.

Ighalo lifted his shirt to reveal a picture of his sister Mary Atole who died suddenly at her home in Canada in December. Ighalo also has her name stitched into his boots.

Scott McTominay and Fred, with two late goals, completed the rout.

Ajax, Champions League semi-finalists last year, kicked off two goals down to Getafe, this season's Liga surprise team, and conceded another after five minutes.

Jaime Mata exploited tentative Ajax defending to spin and drill in a low shot from close range.

That left the home needed needing to score four, they managed two, the first from young Brazilian Danilo Pereira, with his first for the club, and an own goal when Mathias Olivera deflected a free kick. Getafe held on comfortably.

Copenhagen scored three goals on three shots as they won 3-1 at Celtic, but deserved the victory.

Celtic and Copenhagen battled it out

Jozo Simunovic's weak back pass gave Copenhagen the ball close to goal after 51 minutes and Micheal Santos completed the punishment.

With seven minutes left, Odsonne Edouard levelled with a penalty but as Celtic tried to press, their defence panicked twice in the last five minutes. Pep Biel and Dame N'Doye coolly accepted the gifts to make the aggregate score 4-2.

"It just wasn't our day and we're big boys, we can take it on the chin and we've got to make sure we bounce back," said Celtic captain Craig Brown

Benfica went out 5-4 on a aggregate after repeatedly throwing away the initiative as they drew 3-3 at home to Romanians Cluj.

Porto subsided 3-1 at home to Bayer Leverkusen to go out 5-2 overall.

The game between FC Salzburg and Eintracht Frankfurt was postponed because of a forecast of dangerously high winds and will be played on Friday.

Action between Getafe and Ajax

 
How we covered the games on social media

⚽️ #EuropaLeague

Some of you call it "Ladies Night Football". Seven games get under way in tonight's second set of Europe's second-tier soccer. | #NewVisionXtra

[THREAD] pic.twitter.com/42WZWjLYuc

— The New Vision (@newvisionwire) February 27, 2020

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All Thursday's results

At Ghent, Belgium

Gent (BEL) 1 (David 25) Roma (ITA) 1 (Kluivert 29)

Roma win 2-1 on aggregate

At Malmo, Sweden

Malmo (SWE) 0 Wolfsburg (GER) 3 (Brekalo 42, Gerhardt 65, Victor 69)

Wolfsburg win 5-1 on aggregate

At Linz, Austria

LASK (AUT) 2 (Raguz 44-pen, 50) AZ Alkmaar (NED) 0

LASK win 3-1 on aggregate

At Basel, Switzerland

Basel (SUI) 1 (Frei 38-pen) APOEL (CYP) 0

Basel win 4-0 on aggregate

At Porto, Portugal

Porto (POR) 1 (Marega 65) Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 3 (Alario 13, Demirbay 50 Havertz 58)

Bayer win 5-2 on aggregate

At Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul Basaksehir (TUR) 4 (Skrtel 31, Aleksic 45, Visca 90+2, 119-pen) Sporting Lisbon (POR) 1 (Vietto 68) - after extra-time

Istanbul Basaksehir win 5-4 on aggregate

At Barcelona, Spain

Espanyol (ESP) 3 (Calleri 16, 57-pen 90+1) Wolverhampton Wanderers (ENG) 2 (Traore 22, Doherty 79)

Wolves win 6-3 on aggregate

At Lisbon

Benfica (POR) 3 (Pizzi 9, Ruben Dias 36, Rafa Silva 47) Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 3 (Ruben Dias 12-og, Stepanenko 49, Alan Patrick 71)

Shakhtar win 5-4 on aggregate

At Milan, Italy

Inter Milan (ITA) 2 (Biraghi 32 Lukaku 45+4) Ludogorets (BUL) 1 (Cauly Souza 26)

Inter win 4-1 on aggregate

At Manchester, England

Manchester United (ENG) 5 (Bruno Fernandes 27-pen, Ighalo 34, McTominay 41, Fred 82, 90+3) Club Brugge (BEL) 0

Manchester United win 6-1 on aggregate

At London

Arsenal (ENG) 1 (Aubameyang 113) Olympiakos (GRE) 2 (Cisse 53, El Arabi 120)

2-2 on aggregate. Olympiakos win on away goals

At Seville, Spain

Sevilla (ESP) 0 CFR Cluj (ROU) 0

1-1 on aggregate. Sevilla win on away goals

At Glasgow, Scotland

Celtic (SCO) 1 (Edouard 83-pen) FC Copenhagen (DEN) 3 (Santos 51, Falk 85, N'Doye 88)

Copenhagen win 4-2 on aggregate

At Amsterdam

Ajax (NED) 2 (Pereira 10 Olivera 64-og) Getafe (ESP) 1 (Mata 5)

Getafe win 3-2 on aggregate


Playing Friday

At Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg (AUT) v Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) (1-4)


Played Wednesday

At Braga, Portugal

Braga (POR) 0 Rangers (SCO) 1 (Kent 61)

Rangers win 4-2 on aggregate