Twelve places in the UEFA Europa League league phase are still up for grabs. The losing teams will not be eliminated from Europe altogether, as they will drop directly into the Conference League league phase. The return legs will take place next Thursday.
Swiss champions Thun demolished in Poznań
The biggest defeat of the night belonged to FC Thun. The surprise Swiss champions were beaten 7-0 by Lech Poznań and can effectively write off their chances of reaching the Europa League before the second leg has even been played.
What was particularly striking was how quickly the contest was settled. Patrik Wålemark opened the scoring in the tenth minute before Allahyar Sayyadmanesh doubled the lead ten minutes later. Wålemark then struck again to make it 3-0. Mateusz Skrzypczak and Radoslaw Murawski added two more before the break to send Lech into half-time with a 5-0 advantage. Daniel Håkans scored immediately after the restart, with Robert Gumny completing the rout in the 79th minute.
The possession numbers only partly reflect the gulf between the teams. Lech had just 56 per cent of the ball but registered eleven shots on target. Thun still forced Lech goalkeeper Mateusz Lis into four saves of his own, but defensively the Swiss side had no answer to the hosts’ rapid attacking play.
Lech coach Niels Frederiksen explained afterwards that his team had deliberately targeted Thun’s man-oriented defensive approach. The key was exploiting the spaces that opened up behind the Swiss players when they stepped out of position. Lech executed that plan almost perfectly, particularly with runs in behind the defensive line.
The collapse did not come entirely out of nowhere. Thun completed one of the great recent stories in Swiss football only in May, winning the championship in their first season back in the top flight. The new campaign has been far less convincing, however, particularly at the back. At the beginning of August they were beaten 6-0 at home by Young Boys, and the trip to Poznań brought an even heavier defeat.
Salah’s first home appearance ends in defeat
There was another surprise in Trabzon, where Trabzonspor lost 1-0 at home to Ferencváros and will now travel to Budapest next week needing to overturn a deficit.
Mohamed Salah made his first start for Trabzonspor against the Hungarian champions and also played in front of the club’s home supporters for the first time. The former Liverpool star was inevitably the centre of attention but was unable to prevent his side from slipping to defeat.
Salah almost enjoyed the perfect start. In the eighth minute he raced clear after a long ball and found himself one-on-one with Ferencváros goalkeeper Dénes Dibusz, but the Hungarian keeper denied him. Nine minutes later the visitors struck at the other end, Oliver Nagy crossing from the right for Kristoffer Zachariassen to head home the only goal of the game.
Trabzonspor improved after the break and pushed for an equaliser for long spells but failed to make their chances count. There was more frustration deep into stoppage time when Chibuike Nwaiwu was sent off in the 95th minute, ruling him out of the return leg.
Coach Fatih Tekke remained defiant afterwards. He felt his team had created enough opportunities and applied significant pressure, particularly in the second half. The task has become harder, he admitted, but is far from impossible. Alongside the defeat itself, he described Nwaiwu’s red card as the second major setback of the evening.
Anderlecht, Jagiellonia and Beşiktaş close in on qualification
Several favourites put themselves in commanding positions in their first legs. Anderlecht won 3-0 away to Kairat Almaty. The Belgians benefited from a Jaakko Oksanen own goal after just three minutes before Lukas Ambros doubled the lead in the 24th. Kairat’s Aleksandr Shirobokov was sent off in the 39th minute and Danylo Sikan made it 3-0 before half-time.
Jagiellonia Białystok were even more convincing. The Polish side, who had eliminated Rangers in the previous round, beat Iberia 1999 of Tbilisi 4-0. Jesús Imaz opened the scoring from the penalty spot, with Jeremy Agbonifo adding a second shortly before the interval. An own goal and a late Sergio Lozano strike completed the victory. Having already overcome Rangers, Jagiellonia are now on the brink of reaching the Europa League league phase.
Beşiktaş also made light work of Kauno Žalgiris. Oh Hyeon-gyu headed them in front after six minutes and Amir Murillo doubled the advantage only six minutes later. Rıdvan Yılmaz supplied both assists. Orkun Kökçü converted a second-half penalty to seal a 3-0 win, giving the Turkish club a comfortable cushion ahead of the trip to Lithuania.
Arnautović helps Red Star to convincing win
Red Star Belgrade also took a major step towards the Europa League league phase with a 3-0 victory over Viktoria Plzeň. Captain Mirko Ivanić was the decisive figure with goals in the 36th and 53rd minutes, before Aleksandar Katai converted a late penalty. It was a successful first match in charge for new Red Star coach Alberto Riera.
Marko Arnautović started up front and remained on the pitch until the 72nd minute. Austria’s record international had an excellent chance after around a quarter of an hour, rounding the goalkeeper before finding the side-netting. He was eventually replaced by Jay Enem. Red Star were by no means overwhelmingly dominant, with shots on target finishing only 7-5, but the Serbian champions were considerably more clinical.
Salzburg strike late, OFI claim emphatic win
RB Salzburg had to wait until stoppage time to break through away to Swedish champions Mjällby. Danny Röhl’s side controlled much of the first half but lost some of that grip after the interval. A late move involving Karim Konaté eventually resulted in Tom Pettersson turning the ball into his own net, giving Salzburg a useful advantage ahead of the second leg.
OFI Crete recorded one of the most eye-catching results of the European evening. The Greek side beat CSKA Sofia 3-0 and are now close to reaching a UEFA league phase for the first time. Former SK Rapid forward Taxiarchis Fountas opened the scoring in the 19th minute and added a penalty shortly after half-time. CSKA later went down to ten men before Lorenzo Dickmann completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Benfica also did what was expected of them against AGF Aarhus. Rafa opened the scoring in front of 59,147 spectators after just two minutes and Leandro Barreiro made it 2-0. Sebastian Jørgensen pulled one back for the Danish side, but Vangelis Pavlidis converted a penalty before half-time to seal the 3-1 final score. Barreiro said afterwards that Benfica could have won by an even bigger margin given the number of chances they created.
Three ties remain wide open
The situation is much less clear between Universitatea Craiova and Ararat-Armenia. The Romanian champions were held to a 1-1 draw at home and will now have to fight for qualification in Armenia.
There were no goals at all between Albanian champions Egnatia and Lillestrøm. After the 0-0 draw, everything will be decided in next week’s second leg in Norway.
Sint-Truiden hold a slender advantage over Omonia Nicosia. The match in Belgium looked set to finish goalless until Shogo Taniguchi struck in the fourth minute of stoppage time to make it 1-0. The tie nevertheless remains finely balanced ahead of the return leg in Cyprus.
