First legs: Dortmund delirium, Athletic gloom
Thursday, August 20, 2015
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Borussia Dortmund pulled off an extraordinary comeback, Athletic Bilbao wilted in Slovakia, and Robin van Persie scored his first Fenerbahçe goal; UEFA.com selects the highlights.
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Borussia Dortmund pulled off an extraordinary comeback in Norway, Athletic Bilbao were surprised in Slovakia while Robin van Persie scored his first Fenerbahçe goal to earn a first-leg lead; UEFA.com selects the highlights from a night of comebacks.
• Thursday's results
• Play-offs: Number crunching
• Group stage draw: 13.00CET, 28 August, streamed live in the UEFA.com DrawCentre
Pick of the action
Odd 3-4 Borussia Dortmund
A goal down inside a minute – Jone Samuelsen crashing in a header – and 3-0 down midway through the first half, Dortmund produced an extraordinary comeback in Skien, as Odd were denied the result of the night. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice either side of a Shinji Kagawa effort for Thomas Tuchel's side to make it 3-3, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan getting the winner on 85 minutes.
Žilina 3-2 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic's evening unraveled in spectacular fashion in Slovakia. Goals from Sabin Merino and Kike Sola had sent the Spanish side in at the break 2-0 up, but they conceded three in the final 25 minutes as Žilina claimed a memorable win. Jakub Paur got the first and William the second, with the final goal coming deep into added time as Athletic failed to clear a corner. William got a touch and the despairing Carlos Gurpegi could not stop the ball crossing the line.
Atromitos 0-1 Fenerbahçe
Having failed to make an impact in his first Turkish league appearance, Robin van Persie came off the bench to score his first Fenerbahçe goal in Peristeri. Having come on in the 80th minute, it took the summer signing from Manchester United 10 minutes to make his mark, getting his head to a 90th-minute chance.
Steaua Bucureşti 0-3 Rosenborg
The Romanian champions are yet to win in seven competitive home games this season (D5 L2), with the latest result the worst of the lot. Steaua kept their visitors at bay for an hour but tired badly in the closing stages allowing Tobias Mikkelsen (61), Pål André Helland (67) and finally captain Mike Jensen (90+3) to score, leaving the Trondheim side with one foot in the group stage.
Bordeaux 1-0 Kairat Almaty
The longest journey in UEFA club competition history ended in defeat for Kairat, but the Kazakh contenders can take plenty of positives, knowing that Les Girondins have the reverse voyage to make next week. Tunisian striker Wahbi Khazri got the only game, sending in a fine strike off the underside of the crossbar on 27 minutes.
Milsami Orhei 1-1 Saint-Étienne
Romain Hamouma had an eventful night in Moldova as ten-man St-Étienne came away with a draw. Radu Mîţu saved the 28-year-old winger's penalty on 16 minutes, but Hamouma made amends, finishing on 40 minutes after Nolan Roux's effort was saved. However, he was then sent off after the break, Cristian Bud replying as Milsami took full advantage of the resulting free-kick.
Astra Giurgiu 3-2 AZ Alkmaar
Substitute Alexandru Dandea scored the last of five first-half goals to earn Astra a narrow victory, the Romanian side rallying after Markus Henriksen and Vincent Janssen struck for the visitors inside 13 minutes. Fernando Boldrin got his head to a corner to give Astra hope, before Denis Alibec equalised from close range following a free-kick. Dandea – on for the injured Boldrin – finished in added time after AZ failed to deal with another set piece.
Ajax 1-0 Jablonec
The Czech side leave the Netherlands with plenty left to play for after Ajax were unable to build on a penalty scored nine minutes into the second half. Arkadiusz Milik converted low into the right hand corner for Frank de Boer's side after Vít Beneš's foul on Davy Klaassen in the box but Jaroslav Šilhavý's men threatened in the later stages and have cause for optimism in the return fixture.
Molde 2-0 Standard Liège
The Norwegian side struck twice in the space of five first-half minutes to leave group-stage regulars Standard with much to do next week. Tommy Høiland intercepted a slack defensive pass to make it 1-0 on 24 minutes and Martin Linnes then laid on a great ball for Mohamed Elyounoussi – cousin of Hoffenheim's Tarik Elyounoussi – to make it 2-0. Standard had more possession after the break but threatened infrequently.
Dinamo Minsk 2-0 Salzburg
Salzburg are in danger of elimination after a late goal altered the complexion of their game against Dinamo Minsk in Belarus. Serbian winger Nenad Adamović set up 20-year-old Gleb Rassadkin for the home side's opener and then finished at the death after substitute Igor Voronkov had struck the woodwork. Vuk Rašović's side are on target to reach the group stage for a second season in succession.