Arsenal and Chelsea on Thursday reached the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League after the Gunners comfortably saw off BATE Borisov 3-0 and Maurizio Sarri’s troubled side relieved some of the pressure on him with the same scoreline against mediocre Malmo.
After falling 1-0 in Belarus, Arsenal were level on aggregate after just three minutes when Zakhar Volkov sliced Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s low cross past Denis Scherbitski into his own goal.
Unai Emery’s side deservedly went through thanks to two thumping headers from Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis either side of halftime which put them into yesterday’s draw.
Photo: AFP
“We wanted this result, but also we wanted to play for our supporters here. We did our best to come back [in the tie] and the team worked very well,” Emery told BT Sport.
Ahead 2-1 from the first leg in Sweden, Chelsea had to wait until 10 minutes after the break for the first sign of excitement, Olivier Giroud tapping in the decisive goal of a humdrum encounter at Stamford Bridge.
Ross Barkley made sure of the win with a super free-kick in the 74th minute, just after Malmo’s Rasmus Bengtsson was sent off for his second bookable offense, before 18-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi made the most of a rare start by crashing home the third.
“The boys really played well today. We worked hard throughout the game,” said Hudson-Odoi, a Bayern Munich target last month. “The goal that came at the end was definitely a bonus for the way that we played.”
Carlo Ancelotti’s SSC Napoli breezed to a 2-0 win over Zurich that saw them win 5-1 on aggregate, while Inter went through 5-0 after sweeping four goals past SK Rapid Vienna without reply at the San Siro.
French side Stade Rennais are into the round-of-16 of a major European tournament for the first time after winning possibly the most entertaining tie of the round 6-4 on aggregate following a barnstorming 3-1 win at Real Betis Balompie.
Goals from Ramy Bensebaini and Adrien Hunou fired Rennes into a two-goal lead within the opening half an hour, but the tie was put back in the balance when Giovani Lo Celso pulled one back four minutes before halftime.
With Betis pushing to equalize and go through on away goals, M’Baye Niang finished a stoppage-time break to see the mid-table Ligue 1 side through.
RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb and Zenit Saint Petersburg all overturned first-leg deficits, with Austrians Salzburg hammering Club Brugge 4-0 to go through 5-2 and Croatian champions Dinamo 4-2 winners on aggregate after a storming 3-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen.
Zenit overcame Fenerbahce 3-1 in Russia, Magomed Ozdoev and Sardar Azmoun giving the hosts an aggregate lead before Mehmet Topal put the Turks ahead on away goals just before halftime.
However, on his home debut for Zenit, Iran international Azmoun struck again 14 minutes from time to see Sergei Semak’s side through.
Pablo Fornals snuck Villarreal past Portugal’s Sporting with a fine curling strike that gave the Spanish side a 1-1 draw on the night and a 2-1 win overall, while SL Benfica eased past Galatasaray 2-1 after a goalless draw in Portugal.
Krasnodar shocked Bundesliga outfit Bayer 04 Leverkusen with a 1-1 draw that saw them through on away goals.
Eintracht Frankfurt saved Germany’s blushes by sweeping past Shakhtar Donetsk with a pulsating 4-1 win that gave them side a 6-3 aggregate victory.
Scotland’s participation in Europe ended after 10-man Celtic fell 1-0 at Valencia, already 2-0 up from the first leg in Glasgow and the winners in Spain thanks to Kevin Gameiro’s 70th-minute strike.
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