Two own goals helped Arsenal recover from falling behind to crush Molde 4-1 in Europa League Group B on Thursday, with Nicolas Pepe and Joe Willock also scoring for the Londoners.
Arsenal struggled to deal with Molde’s aggressive pressing game and that led to Martin Ellingsen’s opening goal as the Norwegians won the ball in midfield and he fired home a dipping shot from outside the area in the 22nd minute.
The home side equalised in first-half stoppage time after a sweeping move from a Molde corner. Eddie Nketiah whipped in a low centre from the right and Kristoffer Haugen bundled the ball into his own net.
Defender Sead Kolasinac missed a glorious chance for Arsenal, hoofing the ball over an open goal from close range, but they went ahead in the 62nd minute when Willock pulled the ball across and Sheriff Sinyan shanked it into his own net.
Pepe made it three eight minutes later with a thumping left-foot shot before Arsenal turned the tables by pressuring a Molde clearance, winning the ball and setting up Willock to score.
Arsenal top Group B on a maximum nine points from three games, three ahead of Molde. Rapid Vienna, who beat Irish side Dundalk 4-3 earlier in the evening, are third on three points.
Granada consolidated its leadership in group E of the Europa League, with seven points in three games, when they beat Omonia Nicosia 0-2 this Thursday in a match in which they were far superior.
The goal in the opening stages of the match by Venezuelan Yangel Herrera paved the way for Granada, which certified its victory in the second half with a goal from Colombian Luis Suárez against a Cypriot team that he was left with ten players in the 41st minute after the Slovakian Michal Duris was sent off for a double yellow card.
The absence of Spanish coach Diego Martínez, that he had to stay at his home confined after an inconclusive result of COVID-19, and at the last minute of the attacker Antonio Puertas due to symptoms also compatible with the coronavirus, did not prevent the Spanish team from offering a good image and being very recognizable from the start of the game.
In fact, in his first approach he scored 0-1, in minute 4, with a hard shot by Yangel Herrera that surprised Brazilian goalkeeper Fabiano Ribeiro.
Granada was clear dominator of the first half against a rival crouched behind and that he barely had the ball, and enjoyed several more occasions to extend his advantage.
Yangel Herrera sent out a shot by very little in another clear option to score coming from behind and Fabiano later showed off against tight shots from the Colombian Luis Suárez and the Venezuelan Darwin Machís.
Omonia Nicosia, who requested a penalty for a fall in the area of Frenchman Eric Bautheac against Carlos Neva, he was outnumbered in the 41st minute when he saw two yellow Duris cards.
The script did not change in the second half, although it took more work for Granada to penetrate the armed defense of the Cypriots, who with one less player on the field barely left their own field.
The goal of tranquility for the rojiblancos came in the 63rd minute and marked the debut as a scorer with Luis Suárez’s Granada, who arrived at the same time as Fabiano on the ball after a pass into space by Luis Milla and He took advantage of the ball hitting his body after the Brazilian goalkeeper touched it before.
Granada, despite having a couple more good chances in the following minutes, relaxed with the 0-2 and the Portuguese Rui Silva had to do two great saves against Brazilian Thiago Dos Santos to avoid both the locals, grown in the final minutes, in two clear options to score.
Harry Kane netted his 200th goal for Tottenham Hotspur as they won 3-1 at Ludogorets and AC Milan’s 24-match unbeaten run ended with a 3-0 loss to Lille in the Europa League on Thursday.England striker Kane headed home Lucas Moura’s corner to set Spurs on course for a victory over the Bulgarians that put them top of Group J on goal difference with six points from three games after Royal Antwerp lost 1-0 to Austrian side LASK.
AC Milan’s superb run in all competitions came to a shuddering halt as Lille’s Turkish winger Yusuf Yazici opened the scoring with a penalty and added two second-half goals in a comprehensive win that put the French side top of Group H.
Yazici’s second hat-trick in three Europa League group games put Lille on seven points, one ahead of Milan. Sparta Prague are third after their 4-1 drubbing of Celtic in Glasgow.
England’s Leicester City took control of Group G with their third win in three games, thrashing second-placed Braga 4-0, while AEK Athens beat FC Zorya of Ukraine 4-1 to stay third.
Arsenal also notched a third successive win, 4-1 over Molde, helped by two own goals from the Norwegians. The London side lead Group B on nine points, three ahead of Molde and six clear of Rapid Vienna who beat bottom side Dundalk 4-3.
In Greece, PAOK bounced back from a goal down with four second-half strikes to defeat Dutch visitors PSV Eindhoven 4-1 and go second in the table on five points, two behind Granada, who won 2-0 at bottom side Omonia Nicosia.
AS Roma put in their most impressive performance of the Group A campaign with a 5-0 drubbing of Romania’s CFR Cluj, Borja Mayoral netting twice for the Italians. They top Group A ahead of Swiss side Young Boys who downed CSKA Sofia 3-0.
A stoppage-time goal by Darwin Nunez snatched a 3-3 draw for 10-man Benfica at home to Scottish side Rangers in Group D. Rangers lead the group on goal difference from Benfica.
There were goals galore in Group C with leaders Slavia Prague beating French side Nice 3-2 while second-placed Bayer Leverkusen came back from a goal down to win 4-2 at bottom side Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Group F remains tight with AZ Alkmaar top on goal difference despite losing 1-0 to Real Sociedad. Alkmaar, Sociedad and Italian side Napoli, who won 2-1 at Rijeka, all have six points.
Villarreal’s home clash with Maccabi Tel Aviv was delayed by over an hour due to torrential rain which left the pitch waterlogged.
