The Europa League action you might have missed: misery for Vagner and Celtic

in , , , , , , ,

The Europa League returned for another exciting night of action on Thursday as the group stage starts to take form.

Premier League clubs Chelsea and Arsenal both continued their perfect starts to the competition while seven-time European champions AC Milan were also in action among others.

Here are X things you might have missed from the night’s Europa League action.

1. Jimmy Briand finally again scores in Europe

Prior to Bordeaux’s game against Zenit on Thursday night, Jimmy Briand had scored 115 goals in his long career, though only five had come in European competitions (from 34 appearances).

His last in continental competition came in April 2014, netting for Lyon against Juventus in April 2014.

But, after 1,659 days the forward finally found the net again in Europe, opening the scoring for Bordeaux in Russia – though his side would eventually lose their lead and the match.

2. Celtic’s poor European run continues

Celtic’s hopes of getting out of the Europa League group stages are seriously in danger.

The Scottish champions have won just three points from their opening three games and will need to win all their remaining matches to even stand a chance of advancing to the knockout stages.

But, given the Bhoys’ poor form away from home, that is unlikely. Celtic have now kept just one clean sheet in their last 27 European away games, excluding qualifiers.

3. Vagner’s howler in Azerbaijan

While the majority of eyes in Group E would have been on Arsenal’s game against Sporting, in Vorskla’s match with Qarabag, goalkeeper Vagner had a moment to forget.

With the match evenly poised, Vorskla midfielder Vladyslav Kulach had a prospective shot from range, which surely would have only been meant to test the goalkeeper.

But it did more than test him. It beat him with the Brazilian palming the low effort weakly into his own net, when even swinging a leg at the ball should have been sufficient enough to save.

4. Arsenal continue winning run

A lot has been made about Arsenal’s winning run from the third game of the new season, having started with two defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea.

The Gunners have now won their last 11 games in all competitions, which is their best run of wins since October 2007 when they managed 12 in a row.

Then, the run was ended by a 1-1 draw with Liverpool in the Premier League, but Arsenal could see their run extended to 13 before the face the Reds at the start of November with games against Crystal Palace and Blackpool in the next week.

5. Ruben Loftus-Cheek makes his mark

Ruben Loftus-Cheek had scored 2 goals in his first 35 games for Chelsea’s senior team prior to Thursday night’s game.

After just eight minutes against BATE Borisov, the England midfielder had doubled his tally and was already searching for a hat-trick.

And that hat-trick came after 54 minutes, meaning Loftus-Cheek has scored more goals against BATE than he has in the rest of his Chelsea career to date.

The hat-trick also saw Loftus-Cheek score his first goals for Chelsea since April 2016, when he netted in a 4-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League – a game when Alexandre Pato scored his only goal for the club.

6. Kedziora’s stunner for Dynamo Kiev

The wonderful thing about the Europa League is you often find a gem which surprises you.

Tomasz Kedziora, 24, may never be a household name in European football but he will be remembered as the man who scored a simply magnificent goal for Dynamo Kiev against Rennes.

Everything about this goal is wonderful. The air-shot from Denys Garmash, greeted with cheers from the Rennes fans. Followed by stunned silence as Kedzioroa – a right-back – launched a thunderous effort into the top right corner.

7. Sevilla’s six-goal win sees six different scorers

Sevilla wouldn’t have expected too hard a match when welcoming Akhisar Belediyespor to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, but the La Liga side had a very easy ride.

Going 1-0 up against just seven minutes through Roque Mesa, the Hispalenses doubled their lead minutes later from the spot thanks to Pablo Sarabia.

From then on it was a procession, with an own goal, Luis Muriel, Quincy Promes and Gabriel Mercado all finding the net for Sevilla before full-time.

Though the win still sees them second, behind Krasnodar who bested Sevilla last time out.

8. Rangers and Spartak play out Europa League’s second goalless draw

After 72 games in the Europa League group stages, there have only been an impressive two goalless draws. The first came on the opening night as Olympiacos and Real Betis cancelled each other out.

And the second was in a drab affair in Glasgow with Rangers and Spartak failing to inspire themselves to more than a point.

Such was the poor standard of some of the football, Spartak failed to have a single shot or touch in Rangers’ box in the first half.

9. Eintracht Frankfurt continue winning run

While it may not be at the same length of Arsenal’s, Eintracht Frankfurt are enjoying a good winning run of their own.

Beating Apollon Limassol at home, the German side have now won five consecutive competitive games for the first time since March 2012.

The post The Europa League action you might have missed: misery for Vagner and Celtic appeared first on Squawka News.



From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2O7j4to
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)