Man United squander another lead plus other stories you might have missed from tonight’s Europa League action | OneFootball

It was business as usual in the Europa League, with 16 matches on Thursday evening.

Seven matches kicked off early, while most of the action occurred at 8 PM, featuring English teams Manchester United and Tottenham, who faced Fenerbahçe and AZ, respectively.

United played away in Turkey, while Spurs hosted their fans at home.

With so much happening, missing some significant or memorable moments is easy. But don’t worry—Squawka is here to highlight five things you might have overlooked from this latest round of games.

Déjà vu

Manchester United entered tonight’s match without a win in their last five European games (D3 L2), marking their longest winless streak since 1980–1983, when they went six games without a victory. Therefore, it’s fair to say that there was significant pressure to succeed. Erik ten Hag’s team received a ‘warm’ reception from the Fenerbahçe supporters but remained composed in the challenging atmosphere.

They took the lead with a stylish opening goal. Joshua Zirkzee lays a low pass off to Christian Eriksen as part of an incisive passing move, and the Danish playmaker uses his cultured right foot to find the back of the net with a composed, rising finish.

Eriksen has now had a hand in seven goals in his last seven starts for United across all competitions (4 goals, 3 assists), as many as in his previous 35 starts for the club. Indeed, only Alejandro Garnacho (8) has more goal involvements for the Red Devils this season than the Dane (7).

Dusan Tadic believed he had equalised after Andre Onana pushed the ball into his six-yard box, but Manuel Ugarte unexpectedly slid in to block his weak effort. It was one of the best defensive plays you will see this season.

Onana then made an exceptional double save. Sebastian Szymanski delivered an inviting cross from the left to the near post, where United’s shot-stopper expertly denied Youssef En-Nesyri’s powerful header. Onana then demonstrated remarkable agility by tipping En-Nesyri’s follow-up header over the bar. Truly impressive reflexes.

En-Nesyri, a familiar name to United supporters, got his goal early in the second half with a close-range header. It was his third effort against United; against no opponent has he scored more in his European career.

This meant the Red Devils maintained their record of squandering a lead after going ahead in each game of this season’s competition. Soon after, Fenerbahçe believed they had earned a penalty, which referee Clément Turpin waved off, leading to an outcry from ex-United boss José Mourinho, who received a straight red card for his troubles.

The points were ultimately shared, meaning Manchester United equalled their longest winless streak in European competition. It has been exactly a year since Manchester United last won a UEFA-sanctioned match, which was a 1-0 victory against FC Copenhagen.

Perfection maintained

After the opening three matches of this season’s Europa League, only three sides hold a perfect 100% record: Lazio and Tottenham defeated Dutch opposition this evening, plus Anderlecht, who left it quite late against winless Ludogorets.

Lazio overcame Twente in Enschede while Spurs defeated AZ at home, meaning they’ve won all seven of their Europa League games at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium with an aggregate score of 19-0.

A much-changed Spurs team posted 16 shots on goal with five on target but needed a 53rd-minute Richarlison penalty to settle the contest effectively. It’s the fifth season, and the first time since 2013-14, also in the Europa League, that Spurs won their opening three games in major European competitions.

AZ left-back David Møller Wolfe (22y 184d) saw red in the 85th minute. He became the youngest Norwegian to be sent off in the Europa League since Mohamed Elyounoussi against Fenerbahçe in September 2015 (21y 44d).

On the road to recovery

Under the leadership of Francesco Farioli, the disappointing echoes of last season’s campaign in Amsterdam are beginning to fade. Ajax is still not where they want to be, but there has been noticeable progress. With two wins, one draw, eight goals scored, and one conceded from their opening three Europa League group matches it’s a promising start. In their latest match, they also ended a six-game winless streak on the road in this competition, which included three draws and three losses.

Qarabağ contributed to Ajax’s success by going down to ten and then nine men: Júlio Romão seeing red before Elvin Cafarquliyev picked up his second yellow card. The visitors secured a 3-0 victory with goals from Kenneth Taylor, Wout Weghorst, and Chuba Akpom. This result also kept their impressive record intact, losing only one of their last nine games against opponents making their European debut (five wins and three draws).

Roman victory

After earning just one point from their first two Europa League matches this season, Roma has finally secured a victory, ending a four-game winless streak in this competition, their longest in Europe’s second-tier tournament. Ukrainian marksman Artem Dovbyk, familiar with facing compatriots Dynamo Kyiv, settled the match in Rome with a penalty kick, resulting in a 1-0 win. This success means that Dynamo Kyiv remains one of two teams, alongside Ludogorets, yet to score in the Europa League this season.

It’s also worth noting that, apart from the previously mentioned success of Ajax, four out of the six 5:45 PM games ended with a one-goal margin: Maccabi Tel Aviv lost to Real Sociedad 1-2, Ferencváros defeated Nice 1-0, Midtjylland won against Union Saint-Gilloise 1-0, and Eintracht Frankfurt triumphed over Rīgas with a score of 1-0. However, the match between PAOK and Viktoria Plzeň ended in a 2-2 draw.

Not on Clement’s watch

Rangers began their Europa League group stage campaign with a win on the road at Malmö, but they followed it up with a disappointing 4-1 loss against Lyon in front of their home supporters. This means that Rangers have lost their last three home European matches, including the qualifiers. As they prepared for tonight’s match against FCSB, they knew they had never lost four consecutive such games at Ibrox in their history.

However, that streak was not extended, as Philippe Clement’s team secured a 4-0 victory. They owed much of their success to Václav Cerny, who assisted Tom Lawrence’s opening goal before scoring himself with a beautifully curled strike. The former Ajax winger then doubled his efforts on a night to remember. Hamza Igamane came off the bench to add Rangers’ fourth. This is the first time they have won a major European match by a 4+ goal margin since beating Hapoel Tel Aviv 4-0 in the UEFA Cup in February 2007, with tonight’s victory their biggest ever in the Europa League since its rebrand (2009/10).

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