Milan beat Slavia 4-2 and Freiburg beat West Ham 1-0, as a result of which they took the lead in qualifying from the round of 16 of the Europa League. Marseille dismantled Villarreal.
AC Milan booked their place in the last 16 of the Europa League after a 4-2 win over ten-man Slavia at the Giuseppe Meazza.
The outcome of the match was largely set in motion by El Hadji Diouf’s straight red card in the 26th minute. The “rosoneri” dominated with one more player and opened the scoring with Olivier Giroud in the 34th minute. A stunning shot from David Dudera two minutes later leveled the game, but the Czechs were unable to hold on.
At the end of the 1st half, Tijani Raiders regained the home team’s lead and Ruben Loftus-Cheek made it 3-1 in stoppage time. The difference led to a relaxation of the Italians, who paid for it in the 64th minute with Ivan Schranz’s goal. Rafael Leao in the 85th minute made sure to regain the safety lead and bring back the smiles in the stands.
Marseille put on a show of strength against their former coach, Marthelino, after thrashing Villarreal 4-0 at the Velodrome and now look like absolute favorites to qualify. The Marseilles were stormy and at no point of the match did they leave room for the “yellow submarine” to control the pace.
Within twenty minutes of the 1st part everything was decided. In the 23rd minute, Jordan Vertou opened the scoring and five minutes later Gerson Mosquera scored a goal with a tackle at the wrong goal. The streak ended with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty, which took him to 32 goals in the competition and became its top scorer, surpassing Henrik Larsson.
Everything had been decided and the party of the French followed. Aubameyang’s lob set the tone in the 59th minute, while Alberto Moreno’s dismissal in the 62nd minute made the night even more difficult for Marthelino. The only black point for Marseille are the two forced changes due to injuries, which, however, do not inspire concern.
Freiburg defeated West Ham 1-0 after a thriller final for the two teams that had also met in the groups (along with Olympiakos) and took the first step towards qualifying for the quarter-finals of the institution. In a game of few chances, in which the Germans were superior in the 1st half and the English (with Dino Mavropanos in the starting line-up) in the 2nd, the action was all about the last quarter of the game.
In the 81st minute, Christian Streich’s “golden substitution”, Michal Gregoric, opened the scoring for the Germans. The lead was almost lost in stoppage time when a fumble hit the outstretched hand of Noah Weishaupt. The phase was controlled for about five minutes by VAR and the referee, with the latter concluding that there was no foul, resulting in the game ending with protests from the English.
Benfica and Rangers left everything open for qualification after a 2-2 draw at Luz. The Scots took the lead twice, the Portuguese found the answer and everything will be decided at Ibrox next week. The Portuguese were coming off back-to-back derby defeats to Sporting and Porto and looked to bounce back against Rangers. Thomas Lawrence’s goal changed their plans, as did the huge miss in the final effort.
An Angel di Maria penalty in the 2nd minute of stoppage time could have helped to reverse the situation, but a lapse in defense gave Dujon Sterling the opportunity to give the visitors the lead again. The Eagles continued to dominate the game and create chances and eventually a Connor Goldson own goal leveled the game, a result that stayed until the final whistle and kept everything open.
Round of 16 results
FIRST GAMES
- Sporting – Atalanta 1-1 (17′ Paulinho / 39′ Skamaka)
- Sparta – Liverpool 1-5 (46′ Bradley / 6′ pen. McAllister, 25′, 45+3′ Nunes, 53′ Dias, 90+4′ Somboslai)
- Roma – Brighton 4-0 (12′ Dybala, 43′ Lukaku, 64′ Mancini, 68′ Cristante)
- Garabagh – Leverkusen 2-1 (26′ Benzia, 45+2′ Zuninho / 70′ Wirtz)
- Marseille – Villarreal 4-0 (23′ Vertou, 28′ auto. Mosquera, 42′ pen., 59′ Aubameyang)
- Benfica – Rangers 2-2 (45+2′ pen. Di Maria, 68′ auto. Goldenson / 7′ Lawrence, 45+5′ Sterling)
- Freiburg – West Ham 1-0 (81′ Gregoric)
- Milan – Slavia 4-2 (34′ Giroud, 44′ Raiders, 45+1′ Loftus-Cheek, 85′ Leao / 36′ Dutera, 65′ Schranz)
The highlights
Sporting – Atalanta 1-1
Garabagh – Leverkusen 2-2
Roma – Brighton 4-0
Sparta – Liverpool 1-5
SECOND MATCHES
- 14/03 19:45 Villarreal – Marseille
- 14/03 19:45 Rangers – Benfica
- 14/03 19:45 West Ham – Freiburg
- 14/03 19:45 Slavia – Milan
- 14/03 22:00 Liverpool – Sparta
- 14/03 22:00 Brighton – Roma
- 14/03 22:00 Atalanta – Sporting
- 14/03 22:00 Leverkusen – Garabagh