The first round of the Europa League, in the absence of the Champions League this week, was split into two days. On Wednesday they played, among others: Manchester United, FC Porto or Marcin Bułka's Nice. The “Red Devils” only drew at Old Trafford with Twente Enschede 1-1, FC Porto unexpectedly lost away to Norwegian Bodo/Glimt 2-3, and there was also a 1-1 draw between Nice and Real Sociedad.
Hit in Rome for a draw. Nicola Zalewski is still not in the match squad
On Thursday, the highlight was certainly the match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where AS Roma played against Athletic Bilbao. In the second match under the leadership of Ivan Jurić, the Romans were very close to victory, but ultimately drew with the Basques 1:1.
Unfortunately, Nicola Zalewski was missing in this match, as he has not yet been included in the match squad after returning to training with Roma. His left-wing rival, Angelino, in turn, provided a very nice assist for Artem Dowbyk's goal in the 32nd minute, when, after the Spaniard's cross, the Ukrainian opened the scoring with a confident header.
Roma had a big advantage in possession, but they took more shots football players Athletic. However, there were not many favorable opportunities to score a goal for a long time and it seemed that in the second match during Jurić's term, Roma would keep their second clean sheet. Nothing. In the 85th minute, Aitor Paredes equalized the score after Unai Nunez's free kick.
90 minutes by Sebastian Szymański. Fenerbahce started with a victory
Sebastian Szymański played 90 minutes for Fenerbahce Istanbul and although he finished the match without a goal or assist, his team, after the unsuccessful Istanbul derby with Galatasaray (1-3), started the Europa League with a win.
2-1 victory over Belgian Union St. However, it did not come easy for Jose Mourinho's team for Gilloise, although for a long time it seemed that it would be otherwise. In the 26th minute, after a corner kick and Szymański's cross, Rodrigo Becao headed the ball and Caglar Soyuncu scored from close range.
In the 74th minute, the guests lost a player when Kevin Mac Allister – the brother of Liverpool player Alexis – was shown a red card. Eight minutes later, the Belgian players hurt themselves again when Christian Burgess scored in his own net.
However, towards the end, things started to get complicated for Fenerbahce. First, Bright Osayi-Samuel was sent off in the 90th minute, and after a while the guests received a penalty kick, which Franjo Ivanovic missed. A minute later, Union still scored a goal thanks to Ross Sykes, but despite a tense ending, Fenerbahce managed to get three points.
4:0 in Amsterdam! Ajax had fun with Besiktas. Crazy finish by Viktoria Pilzno
The conqueror of Jagiellonia Białystok, Ajax Amsterdam, under the leadership of coach Francesco Farioli, is trying to deny the thesis of a great crisis. After defeating the Polish champion in two legs, the Amsterdam team defeated Besiktas Istanbul in the first round of the Europa League 4-0, presenting very impressive football at times.
At the break, Farioli's players were leading 1-0 after a goal by Kian Fitz-Jim, who was even released from the club in the summer. In the second part of the game, Mika Godts (twice) and Kenneth Taylor scored for the Turks.
Viktoria Pilzno achieved a great feat in Frankfurt. The Czech team was losing 1-3 to Eintracht until the 86th minute, and eventually drew 3-3!
First, in the 86th minute, Prince Kwabena Adu scored a contact goal, and already in the added time, the hero of the Czechs was Vaclav Jemelka, who was the assistant to the previous goal. He was the most alert in the huge confusion after a set piece and scored the result with an aerial shot.
A wasted opportunity for Mateusz Kochalski's Karabakh. Tottenham played with ten players from the 8th minute and still won
Tottenham's match against Karabakh Agdam in London was delayed by over half an hour after the bus carrying Mateusz Kochalski's team got stuck in a London traffic jam. The Polish goalkeeper played the full 90 minutes for the champions of Azerbaijan, who wasted a great chance to make a surprise against the “Roosters”.
All because Tottenham had to play with ten players from the 8th minute of the match, after Rade Dragusin was irresponsibly sent off.
However, Karabakh, despite many opportunities, including Toral Bairamov's wasted penalty kick in the second half, was completely unable to take advantage of it, and Kochalski pulled the ball out of the net three times. In the 12th minute, Brennan Johnson surprised him with a flat shot from the penalty area, and after the break, the Pole's goal was scored by Pape Matar Sarr (53') and Dominic Solanke (68') and the match ended with Tottenham winning 3-0.
Results of Thursday's Europa League matches:
- Fenerbahce Istanbul – Union St. Gilloise 2:1 (Soyuncu 26', Burgess-sam. 82' – Sykes 90+3')
- Malmoe FF – Glasgow Rangers 0:2 (Bajrami 1', McCausland 76')
- AS Roma – Athletic Bilbao 1:1 (Dowbyk 32' – Paredes 85')
- Ajax Amsterdam – Besiktas Istanbul 4-0 (Fitz-Jim 32', Godts 51', 73', Taylor 55')
- Sporting Braga – Maccabi Tel Aviv 2:1 (Bruma 88', 90+5'-k. – Dawid's 30'-k.)
- Eintracht Frankfurt – Viktoria Plzen 3:3 (Ekitike 38', Dina Ebimbe 62', Kristensen 67' – Sulc 41', Adu 86', Jemelka 90+3')
- FCSB – RFS Riga 4:1 (Birligea 8', Stefanescu 32', Olaru 58', 69' – Lipuscek 23')
- Olympique Lyon – Olympiakos Piraeus 2-0 (Cherki 65', Benrahma 71')
- Tottenham Hotspur – Karabakh Agdam 3-0 (Solanke 12', Sarr 53', Solanke 68')