Europa League: Liverpool, West Ham, Roma win; Brighton with epic comeback | OneFootball

There were a number of interesting fixtures in the Europa League this Thursday night.

Read about everything that happened right here.

Liverpool make it two from two but don’t have it all their own way

Scorers: Gravenberch 44′

As expected, Liverpool dominated from the outset but could not find an early breakthrough.

Their first opportunity to do so came after just five minutes but for a change, Mohamed Salah could not finish a one-on-one chance after being played in by Ryan Gravenberch.

Darwin Núñez then saw a goal ruled out for offside before missing a guilt-edged chance, putting the ball past the post when it seemed easier to score.

Gravenberch eventually broke the deadlock right before the break after a quick break saw Núñez set up Trent Alexander-Arnold for a shot which Union keeper Antony Moris could not hold. The young Dutchman strolled in to slot home the loose ball for his first goal in red.

Union showed a lot more in the second half with the game there for them as long as Liverpool failed to score a second.

Luis Díaz hit the post with just over 10 minutes left when he really should have converted. Luckily for his sake, the offside flag then went up.

The three points were finally sealed by Diogo Jota, who ran through on goal and slotted home after Union got caught on the break.

A second straight win for Liverpool, who now move to back-to-back clashes with Toulouse looking to seal an early round of 32 spot.

Roma get some respite from Serie A struggles with dominant display

Scorers: Lukaku 22′, Belotti 46′, 59′, Pellegrini 52′

Roma took the lead after 22 minutes, through Romelu Lukaku, who continued his strong start to life in the Eternal city.

The Belgian received the ball inside the box from Zeki Çelik and saw his shot loop over the Servette keeper.

After the break, Roma sealed the points with two goals in six minutes and both involved Lorenzo Pellegrini, who was a half-time substitute.

Andrea Belotti was the beneficiary of the captain’s headed knock-on, finishing sharply from the left hand side of the box. Pellegrini then got a goal of his own, and Çelik his second assist. It was another great finish as Mourinho’s men got some welcome respite from their shaky league form.

Sadly, Pellegrini would go off minutes later with another injury. A devastating blow for the player who had just returned from a layoff.

It was four before the hour, Belotti getting his second, this time heading home from a Leandro Paredes cross.

A strong result for Roma, who will have eyes on going one better after final penalty heartbreak last season.

Leverkusen and Alonso just can’t stop winning

Scorers: Breivik 87′; Frimpong 14′, Tella 18′

Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga table topping side took their domestic form to Europe, taking the lead after just 14 minutes.

After a nice one-two between Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli, the former finished coolly to put Leverkusen one up.

It was two just four minutes later, this time former Southampton man Nathan Tella finishing brilliantly after some great build up play from Adam Hložek.

Emil Breivik pulled one back late on for Molde but it was a little too late for the Norwegians who could not find an even later equaliser.

Seven changes made but Leverkusen just keep on rolling.

West Ham’s European success continues with win at Freiburg

Scorers: Sallai 53′; Paquetá 8′, Aguerd 66′

After an even enough start, West Ham took the lead in the eighth minute and what a goal it was.

Jarrod Bowen picked the ball up on the right-hand side of the pitch, danced down the wing and put an inviting cross towards the box. From here, it was all about Lucas Paquetá, the Brazilian leaping to power home a brilliant header.

West Ham built on their goal and could have made it 2-0 but Mohammed Kudus’ shot was touched onto the bar by Freiburg keeper Noah Atubolu. Minutes later, Paquetá had the ball in the net again but he was judged to be offside.

After dominating the first half, West Ham ended up ruing those missed opportunities in the 53rd minute when Freiburg equalised through Roland Sallai, the winger smashing home after both his and Lukas Kubler’s shots were brilliantly saved by Lukasz Fabiasnki.

The Irons regained the lead in the 66th minute via a James Ward-Prowse corner and a Nayef Aguerd header combination. Not in the England squad once again but he is quickly becoming West Ham’s key man.

David Moyes’ men held out for yet another big European win and made a bit of history in the process, becoming the first-ever English side to go 17 games unbeaten in continental competition.

What a night to be an Iron!

All square in Athens between AEK and Ajax

Scorers: Bergwijn 30′; Vida 75′

After a relatively even and quiet opening half hour, Ajax took the lead and it came from the penalty spot.

Steven Bergwijn was taken down inside the box and promptly dusted himself down to slot home from 12 yards out.

The Dutch giants were pegged back in the second half after Nordin Amrabat (brother of Sofyan) saw his corner headed home by Domagoj Vida.

A draw was probably only fair in truth.

Brighton earn their first-ever European point with brilliant comeback

Scorers: Mbemba 19′, Veretout 20′; Gross 54′, Pedro 88′

After being on top for the opening stages of the game, Marseille took a deserved lead in the 19th minute and it was a former Premier League player who punished Brighton.

After playing a neat one-two with Jaoquin Correa, Jonathan Clauss picked out ex-Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba in the box, who smashed home.

It was 2-0 just 89 seconds later. Lewis Dunk lost the ball on his European debut, and Jordan Veretout had no problem finishing Amine Harit’s cross from the edge of the box.

The former Aston Villa man following on from where his old club started at the weekend!

Brighton almost found a way back into the game as the half drew to a close, Ansu Fati’s angled header only being stopped by the fingertips of Marseille keeper Pau Lopez.

They did get that goal after the break, work from Tariq Lamptey and Karou Mitoma leading to Pascall Gross finishing from inside the box.

Brighton’s push for an equaliser was rewarded with just minutes left in the game from the penalty spot. After Clauss took down Lamptey, João Pedro made no mistake from 12 yards to make it all square.

A famous night for Brighton as they make their mark in Europe for the first time.

Managerless Rangers find no solace in Cyprus as they lose again

Scorers: Moucketou-Moussounda 9′, Babicka 59′; Sima 70′

In their first game of the post-Michael Beale era, Rangers got off to the worst possible start, falling behind after just nine minutes.

A cross from the right-hand side found Aris centre-back Alex Moucketou-Moussounda and he glanced in past Jack Butland. It was all too easy.

It was 2-0 to the Cyrpiots in the 59th minute, Shavy Babicka finishing after a Leo Bengtsson cross came his way. Again, it was too simple and worrying for Rangers’ fans.

The Gers got a lifeline in the 70th minute and it was a brilliant goal, both in terms of its creation and finish. John Lundstram bent a beautiful ball in from the right and Abdallah Sima glanced in a header just as good. Game on.

No equaliser would be found as Rangers fell to a new low.

Other results

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