United and Beşiktaş impress, Ajax stumble
Monday, December 12, 2016
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Manchester United beat fellow contenders Tottenham and Beşiktaş moved level at the Turkish summit ahead of Monday's draw, while Ajax suffered a costly loss in the Eredivisie.
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Manchester United and Beşiktaş built their confidence up ahead of Monday's UEFA Europa League round of 32 draw courtesy of notable domestic wins at the weekend.
United ended a run of three consecutive draws in the Premier League with a 1-0 success against fellow last-32 hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur, Henrikh Mkhitaryan continuing his return to form with the only goal after 29 minutes as the Red Devils closed within three points of fifth-placed Spurs.
As for Beşiktaş, they are now level on points with İstanbul Başakşehir at the top in Turkey, having bounced back from their UEFA Champions League exit by edging Bursaspor 2-1. It was a different story for Ajax, however, as they slipped three points behind Feyenoord in the Eredivisie race following a 1-0 reverse at Twente, the leaders defeating UEFA Europa League side AZ 4-0.
Elsewhere, Spanish duo Athletic and Celta Vigo both lost, French pair Lyon and St-Étienne clinched wins and ten-man Schalke suffered a late defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen.
SATURDAY
Beşiktaş 2-1 Bursaspor
Ludogorets Razgrad 1-0 Lokomotiv Plovdiv
SUNDAY
Twente 1-0 Ajax
Astra Giurgiu 1-0 Steaua București
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 Mainz
Piast Gliwice 1-5 Legia Warzawa
Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Akhisar Belediyespor 1-2 Osmanlıspor
MONDAY
APOEL 2-1 Anorthosis Famagusta
Dynamo Kyiv 3-4 Shakhtar Donetsk
Beitar Jerusalem 1-3 Hapoel Beer-Sheva
Villarreal 3-0 Atlético Madrid
No game
Krasnodar, Rostov, Zenit: the Russian Premier-Liga is on winter break until 4 March
Sparta Praha: the Czech First League is on winter break until 18 February