Bruno Fernandes on Thursday netted a hat-trick as Manchester United beat Real Sociedad 4-1 in their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 second leg, while Tottenham Hotspur bounced back to edge AZ 3-2 on aggregate and Rangers knocked out Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce 3-2 on penalties.
Two spot-kicks and a late arrowed finish from Fernandes sent United into the quarter-finals by a 5-2 aggregate margin against 10-man Sociedad.
“We need to help him win titles, because he deserves it,” United head coach Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports of his captain. “It was a good performance. The physicality was there... Even without the sending-off, you felt that the team were going to win this game.”
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A 10th-minute penalty gave the visitors the lead at Old Trafford, before Fernandes converted from 12 yards in the 16th and 50th minutes.
Jon Aramburu saw red shortly after the hour and United took full advantage with Fernandes rifling in a third three minutes from time and Diogo Dalot rubber-stamping an emphatic victory in stoppage-time.
Amorim’s side are to meet Olympique Lyonnais in the next round.
Photo: AFP
Goals in either half from Wilson Odobert and James Maddison in London earned Spurs a 3-1 win against AZ.
Odobert scored following sloppy AZ defending to get Spurs level on aggregate in the 26th minute, after the first leg finished 1-0 to the Dutch side.
Maddison put the hosts 2-0 up three minutes into the second half with an arrowed finish, before Peer Koopmeiners responded after the hour to level the tie.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Odobert grabbed his second and Spurs’ third on the night in the 74th minute to set up a quarter-final meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt.
“We’ve progressed, which is the main thing,” Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou said. “We played pretty well, I thought we were really in control of the game, but we were our own worst enemies at times. It got a bit nervy towards the end, but we thoroughly deserved to progress.”
After losing the first leg in Istanbul 3-1, Fenerbahce fought back at Rangers to win 2-0.
Polish winger Sebastian Szymanski produced two cute finishes in the 45th and 73rd minutes to force extra-time with the aggregate score locked at 3-3, but three missed spot-kicks by the Turkish side handed Rangers a 3-2 win in the shoot-out and a last-eight clash with Athletic Bilbao.
“We deserved to win over 90 minutes, we deserved to win after 120 minutes, we were the best team by far,” Mourinho said. “We did everything to win. The ref and the VAR [video assistant referee] decided that we should go to penalties. Congratulations to Rangers, but I think my team deserves everything from me, from our supporters and even from Turkey as a country.”
Euro 2024 winner Nico Williams grabbed a vital brace as Athletic Bilbao overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit to progress 4-3 on aggregate against AS Roma, who lost centerhalf Mats Hummels to an early red card.
It was a better evening for fellow Italian capital club SS Lazio, who progressed 3-2 on aggregate against Viktoria Plzen after a 1-1 draw in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Mario Goetze netted a brace as Eintracht Frankfurt won 4-1 at home against Ajax, claiming a handsome 6-2 victory over both legs.
Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt lost 2-1 against Olympiakos in Athens, but went through 4-2 on aggregate.
Olympique Lyonnais scored four without reply at home to thump Romania’s FCSB 7-1 on aggregate.
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