Europa League review: Wins for Leicester and Arsenal but Tottenham lose
A review of Thursday's action in the Europa League, where Leicester beat AEK Athens 2-1 but Tottenham suffered defeat at Royal Antwerp.
Results
AEK Athens 1-2 Leicester
Jamie Vardy inspired Leicester to a nervy Europa League victory at AEK Athens.
The 33-year-old became the Foxes’ oldest European goalscorer after netting from the spot in a 2-1 win.
Hamza Choudhury’s strike also helped ensure Leicester maintained their 100 per cent start to Group G.
Muamer Tankovic netted after the break to make it an anxious evening before missing a golden chance to make it 2-2.
Cengiz Under hit the bar but the Foxes survived an improved second-half performance from the hosts.
They remain join top with Braga, who beat Zorya Luhansk, with the Portuguese side travelling to the King Power Stadium next week.
Royal Antwerp 1-0 Tottenham
Lacklustre Tottenham slumped to a 1-0 Europa League defeat at Royal Antwerp which saw Jose Mourinho make four changes at half-time.
Gareth Bale and Dele Alli were among those handed a start in Belgium, but a poor first-half display saw them trail to Lior Refaelov’s 29th-minute strike.
Mourinho did not like what he saw and Alli was one of four men hauled off at the break, the second time in three starts this season he has not made it out for the second half.
Ring-rusty Bale lasted only 58 minutes as Mourinho resorted to bringing Harry Kane on, with in-form Son Heung-min one of those already having been sent into action.
Even that duo, who have been in deadly form so far this season, could not spare Tottenham’s blushes as they were beaten for the first time in 10 games.
Antwerp, leaders of the Belgian Pro League, were well worthy of their win, which could have been more handsome, and they remain unbeaten at home in 14 months, taking an early lead in Group J.
Lille 2-2 Celtic
Celtic let slip a two-goal interval lead to draw 2-2 with Lille in their thrilling Europa League encounter at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.
Neil Lennon’s side were under the spotlight after losing to Rangers and AC Milan in their first Group H fixture before drawing 3-3 with Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday but they raced into a two-goal lead through attacker Mohamed Elyounossi who scored twice in a four-minute spell in the first half.
Hoops keeper Scott Bain, preferred to Vasilis Barkas, saved a Jonathan David penalty five minutes before the break and it looked like it was going to be Celtic’s night but Lille dominated in the second half.
Defender Zeki Celik pulled a goal back in 67th minutes and Jonathan Ikone levelled in the 75th minute with Celtic hanging on for a valuable point although they will feel it should have been more.
Arsenal 3-0 Dundalk
Arsenal saw their fringe players shine as they secured a comfortable Europa League victory over Dundalk at the Emirates Stadium.
With the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Thomas Partey left on the bench, Mikel Arteta’s much-changed side ran out 3-0 victors over their Irish opposition.
Eddie Nketiah opened the scoring with a close-range effort before man of the match Joe Willock doubled the lead just 125 seconds later. Nicolas Pepe wrapped up the win with a fine strike just seconds after the interval.
With a Premier League trip to Manchester United on Sunday, Arteta made 11 alterations from the weekend loss to Leicester, but his team here were still far too strong for the Irish champions.
Rangers 1-0 Lech Poznan
Alfredo Morelos equalled Ally McCoist’s European goalscoring record for Rangers as the second-half substitute netted the only goal against Lech Poznan at Ibrox.
The Colombia striker powerfully headed home a wonderful Borna Barisic cross in the 68th minute to take his European tally for Rangers to 21 goals.
Morelos had come off the bench six minutes earlier and quickly enhanced Rangers’ threat with the aggression they had been lacking in the final third.
The goal was enough to earn Gers an eighth straight win in all competitions and put them in a commanding position alongside Benfica in Europa League Group D with both sides on six points from two matches.
It was a first goal in seven games for Morelos, who had been left on the bench during Sunday’s win over Livingston and had to play second fiddle to Kemar Roofe, who was rewarded for his wonder strike in last week’s victory over Standard Liege.