Milan survive scare, Celtic on cusp, Salzburg, Zenit and Sporting into Europa League knockouts

Football

AC Milan were given a helping hand by two own goals as they survived a big scare before beating Dudelange of Luxembourg 5-2 in the Europa League on Thursday.

The seven-time European Cup winner trailed 2-1 midway through the second half, but came storming back with four goals in the last 24 minutes of the Group F tie.

Patrick Cutrone gave Milan a 1-0 lead before Dudelange hit back with a right-foot shot high into the net from Dominik Stolz and a strike by Dave Turpel.

The Italian heavyweights leveled with an own goal from Stelvio Rosa da Cruz in the 66th minute and four minutes later Hakan Calhanoglu made it 3-2.

Tom Schnell also put through his own net with 13 minutes to go before substitute Fabio Borini finished off Dudelange.

Milan have 10 points from five games in Group F, one behind Betis, who made the knockout stage for the first time since 2014 thanks to its win over Olympiakos.

Sevilla, who have outplayed Barcelona and Real Madrid so far this season to lead the way in the Spanish Primera Division, suffered a surprise 1-0 loss at Standard Liege in Group J after a 62nd-minute strike from Moussa Djenepo. To make matters worse for the visitors, they had Pablo Sarabia sent off six minutes later.

Krasnodar are top of the group with 12 points from five matches after beating Akhisar 2-1. Sevilla and Standard are three behind.

Salzburg clinched a place in the knockout stage with a 1-0 win over Leipzig in the so-called Red Bull derby in Group B, while Zenit defeated Copenhagen by the same score to go through from Group C.

Dynamo Kiev went through with a 1-0 triumph at Astana in Group K, and were joined in the last 32 by Fenerbahce after they drew 0-0 with Dinamo Zagreb in Group D.

Benjamin Verbic scored in the first half as Kiev topped Group K with 11 points. Astana are second on eight points, two more than Rennes, who defeated Jablonec 1-0.

Eintracht Frankfurt won Group H after thumping last season’s finalists Marseille 4-0 helped by two own goals which added insult to injury for the Ligue 1 side who had already been eliminated on the previous matchday.

Scott Sinclair’s header gave Celtic a 1-0 win at Rosenborg and, with Leipzig having lost, the Scottish champions need a draw at home to Salzburg in the final Group B match to guarantee progress as they sit three points ahead of the Germans.

Chelsea made it five straight wins in Group L with a 4-0 rout of 10-man PAOK. Olivier Giroud scored twice and there was also one goal for Alvaro Morata, but the star of the show was Callum Hudson-Odoi. The young winger, who turned 18 earlier this month, grabbed his first goal for the club, provided an assist for Morata and hit the crossbar with a long-range drive.

Arsenal secured top spot in Group E with a 3-0 victory at Vorskla on Thursday, a game that was switched from Poltava to Kiev because of political tension between Ukraine and Russia.

Organizer UEFA ordered the game to be moved to the capital city after Ukraine imposed martial law in some regions of the country.

At the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, a second-string Arsenal team eased past Vorskla with goals from Emile Smith Rowe, Aaron Ramsey (penalty) and Joe Willock.

Sporting thrashed Qarabag 6-1 to finish second behind Arsenal in the group.

Two goals from Bruno Fernandes and Abdoulay Diaby, and one apiece from Bas Dost (penalty) and Nani led Sporting to its comfortable win at Qarabag.

Arsenal tops Group E with 13 points, three ahead of Sporting.

In Group G, Mert Muldur and Philipp Schobesberger netted in the last 10 minutes to guide Rapid Vienna to a 2-1 win at Spartak Moscow that kept the Austrian team’s hopes alive.

A fan ran onto the pitch when Spartak were leading and appeared to confront captain Denis Glushakov. Many Spartak supporters have accused Glushakov of helping to force out former coach Massimo Carrera, a fan favorite, last month.

The supporter was led off the field by home goalkeeper Artyom Rebrov and security staff. Vienna lead the group with seven points.

Rangers had Daniel Candeias sent off just before halftime as it drew 0-0 at home to Villarreal. Rapid and Villarreal top the section with seven points, one ahead of Rangers and two in front of Spartak.

In Group I, Alejandro Pozuelo and Joseph Paintsil put Genk 2-0 up before Malmo hit back to force a 2-2 draw with goals from Oscar Lewicki and Marcus Antonsson.

A double blast from Jeremain Lens and a goal by Vagner Love helped Besiktas rally from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Sarpsborg and climb to second on seven points, one behind Genk. Malmo have six points and Sarpsborg five.

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