Gladbach, Anderlecht, Celta and Lyon take headlines
Thursday, February 23, 2017
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A sensational comeback by Mönchengladbach, decisive late goals for Anderlecht and Celta, and a record-equalling win for Lyon were among the headlines as the round of 32 concluded.
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Mönchengladbach and Anderlecht were among the most dramatic qualifiers as the UEFA Europa League round of 32 came to a close on Thursday.
Thursday's UEFA Europa League round of 32 second legs (click for highlights)
Ajax 1-0 Legia (agg: 1-0)
APOEL 2-0 Athletic (agg: 4-3)
Beşiktaş 2-1 Hapoel Beer-Sheva (agg: 5-2)
Fiorentina 2-4 Mönchengladbach (agg: 3-4)
Genk 1-0 Astra (agg: 3-2)
København 0-0 Ludogorets (agg: 2-1)
Lyon 7-1 AZ (agg: 11-2)
Osmanlıspor 0-3 Olympiacos (agg: 0-3)
Roma 0-1 Villarreal (agg: 4-1)
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-2 Celta (aet, agg: 1-2)
Sparta Praha 1-1 Rostov (agg: 1-5)
Tottenham 2-2 Gent (agg: 2-3)
Zenit 3-1 Anderlecht (agg: 3-3, Anderlecht win on away goals)
Mönchengladbach, already 1-0 down from the first leg, were 3-0 adrift on aggregate 29 minutes into their trip to Florence. Lars Stindl struck a 12-minute hat-trick either side of half-time, however, to propel them to a remarkable comeback.
Nabil Fekir also registered a treble, for Lyon against AZ as the Ligue 1 side racked up the second-biggest aggregate victory in UEFA Europa League history (after Valencia's 10-0 defeat of Rapid Wien at this stage last season). The 13-goal tally for the tie also equals the record for this competition, set by Porto and Spartak Moskva's quarter-final meeting in 2010/11.
APOEL, meanwhile, pulled off one of the results of the night, ousting Athletic Club. With Villarreal eliminated despite winning at Roma, there looked likely to be no Spanish representation in the UEFA Europa League last 16 for the first time until Celta's last-gasp penalty against Shakhtar forced extra time. The Liga side prevailed.
Anderlecht secured perhaps the most dramatic progress of all, Isaac Kiese Thelin's 90th-minute header squeezing them past Zenit on away goals. Fellow Belgians Gent – at the expense of Tottenham – and Genk also made it through.
Wednesday's results
Fenerbahçe 1-1 Krasnodar (agg: 1-2)
Schalke 1-1 PAOK (agg: 4-1)
St-Étienne 0-1 Manchester United (agg: 0-4)
On Wednesday, meanwhile, Manchester United led three teams through despite a second-half red card for Eric Bailly.