Europa League highlights: Lyon, West Ham and Frankfurt seal progress, vital wins for Napoli and Celtic
Thursday, November 4, 2021
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Lyon led the way into the UEFA Europa League knockout phase, with Eintracht Frankfurt and West Ham also progressing and Napoli and Celtic earning crucial wins.
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![Islam Slimani of Lyon, Henrique of Lyon, Houssem Aouar of Lyon during the UEFA Europa League match between Lyon and Sparta Praha at Groupama Stadium on November 4, 2021 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Emmanuel Foudrot/Icon Sport via Getty Images) Islam Slimani of Lyon, Henrique of Lyon, Houssem Aouar of Lyon during the UEFA Europa League match between Lyon and Sparta Praha at Groupama Stadium on November 4, 2021 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Emmanuel Foudrot/Icon Sport via Getty Images)](https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/026f-13ac577e9f97-df1188af1019-1000/format/wide1/olympique_lyonnais_v_sparta_praha_-_uefa_europa_league.jpeg?imwidth=158)
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Three teams confirmed their places in the UEFA Europa League knockout stages on Matchday 4, with Lyon wrapping up first place in Group A to reach the round of 16 – and maintain the competition's only perfect record after West Ham dropped points.
The London club nevertheless made sure of a top-two finish, as did Eintracht Frankfurt, while Napoli, Celtic and Bayer Leverkusen claimed significant wins. UEFA.com rounds up the Thursday night action.
Legia 1-4 Napoli
Napoli fought back to move ahead of their opponents at the top of Group C with an ultimately commanding victory in Warsaw. The Italian side dominated possession from the first minute but fell behind when Mahir Emreli tapped in. Napoli's Polish international Piotr Zieliński and Dries Mertens converted penalties, both awarded after Josué infringements, to turn the match around before Hirving Lozano and Adam Ounas sealed the points.
Key stat: Napoli have scored two or more goals in five successive European games for the second time in their history, after their victorious UEFA Cup campaign in 1988/89.
Brøndby 1-1 Rangers
Rangers recovered from Leon Balogun's own goal in first-half stoppage time to claim a draw in Denmark and keep alive their hopes of progress from Group A. Substitute Ianis Hagi's equaliser means they are now level on points with second-placed Sparta Praha, and Brøndby two points further back.
Key stat: Rangers have conceded first in each of their last four games in all competitions but have come back to win or draw on every occasion.
How does qualifying for the knockouts work?
The eight group winners progress automatically to the round of 16. The eight group runners up play the eight third-ranked teams from the UEFA Champions League groups in the additional knockout round play-offs prior to the round of 16.
Olympiacos 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Frankfurt surged four points clear in Group D after securing a late victory away to the Greek champions thanks to an added-time goal from substitute Jens Petter Hauge. Youssef El-Arabi's third goal in this season's UEFA Europa League put Olympiacos ahead, but Daichi Kamada levelled shortly afterwards to set the scene for Hauge's late heroics.
Key stat: Eintracht are the only side to beat Olympiacos in normal time this season in all competitions; indeed, having won 3-1 in Frankfurt on Matchday 3, they have done so twice.
Galatasaray 1-1 Lokomotiv Moskva
Lokomotiv earned just their second point in Group E, although it was their Turkish hosts who stayed clear at the top. Galatasaray looked set to make it three wins from four when Sofiane Feghouli's delightful curling effort broke the deadlock just before the interval, but the Russian side clawed their way back into the match and the unmarked François Kamano tapped in Konstantin Maradishvili's low cross at the far post. It took a fine double save from home goalkeeper Fernando Muslera to deny Fedor Smolov and Murilo late on.
Key stat: Kamano's goal was the first Galatasaray had conceded in this group stage.
Genk 2-2 West Ham
Tomáš Souček put through his own net two minutes from time to deny West Ham a win that would have all but secured their place in the round of 16. Joseph Paintsil ran through to give the home side an early lead that Junya Ito might have doubled, although Patrik Hrošovský cleared off the line at the other end as West Ham finished the half strongly. A brilliant double from Said Benrahma turned the game on its head, only for Souček to divert Angelo Preciado's cross into his own net.
Key stat: West Ham conceded their first goals of the UEFA Europa League group stage in their fourth game.
Leicester 1-1 Spartak Moskva
Substitute Jamie Vardy had his penalty saved as Leicester missed the chance to make up ground in Group C. Boubakary Soumaré thundered a shot against the woodwork as the home side dominated the first half, but they fell behind early in the second when Victor Moses nodded in. The lead lasted just seven minutes as Daniel Amartey thumped in a header and Moses then brought down Ademola Lookman in the area, but the recently introduced Vardy's kick was too close to Aleksandr Selikhov.
Key stat: Having been unbeaten in nine European home games, Leicester are now without a win in their last three at home.
Marseille 2-2 Lazio
Marseille rescued a late point at home to Lazio, taking the lead through Arkadiusz Milik's penalty only for Felipe Anderson to level before the break. The visitors began the second half in inspired fashion, Ciro Immobile giving Maurizio Sarri's side the lead just after the restart, but a moment of inspiration from Dimitri Payet late on gave the French side a draw.
Key stat: Immobile's goal was his 160th in all competitions for Lazio, making the striker the club's all-time leading scorer.
Leverkusen 4-0 Real Betis
Leverkusen took a big step towards securing top spot in Group G with a thumping win against second-placed Betis. Moussa Diaby was the star of the show with the opening two goals, both first-time shots either side of half-time, before turning provider to set up Florian Wirtz and Nadiem Amiri late on. Betis's Nabil Fekir and Kerem Demirbay of Leverkusen were both sent off in added time.
Key stat: This was Betis's first defeat in six against German clubs and their first ever loss in Germany.
Ferencváros 2-3 Celtic
Celtic's resurgence in Group G continued, a second consecutive win taking them within a point of second-placed Betis. Kyogo Furuhashi put the visitors ahead inside three minutes, but Josip Juranović's own goal quickly levelled. Crisp finishes from Jota and Liel Abada either side of the break gave Celtic breathing space before Myrto Uzuni's late consolation for the hosts.
Key stat: This was just Celtic's third away victory in 27 UEFA Europa League fixtures, while Ferencváros remain without a home win in a UEFA group stage.
Assured of a top-two finish
Frankfurt (GER)
Lyon (FRA)
West Ham (ENG)
Best of the rest
- Lyon made sure of first place in Group A in style, defeating Sparta Praha 3-0 to remain the only side in the group stage with maximum points. Islam Slimani's double was added to by Karl Toto Ekambi in the closing stages, the OL forward's sixth goal in this season's competition keeping him clear in the scoring charts.
- Fenerbahçe closed to within a point of second-placed Olympiacos in Group D with a thumping win at Antwerp thanks to three goals in the opening 29 minutes.
- Braga went two points clear in Group F by finally seeing off a dogged Ludogorets 4-2 in Portugal, while Midtjylland closed to within two points of Crvena zvezda thanks to Guélor Kanga's own goal in Belgrade.
All the Matchday 4 results
Group A: Brøndby 1-1 Rangers, Lyon 3-0 Sparta Praha
Group B: Real Sociedad 1-1 Sturm, Monaco 0-0 PSV
Group C: Legia 1-4 Napoli, Leicester 1-1 Spartak
Group D: Olympiacos 1-2 Frankfurt, Antwerp 0-3 Fenerbahçe
Group E: Galatasaray 1-1 Lokomotiv Moskva, Marseille 2-2 Lazio
Group F: Crvena zvezda 0-1 Midtjylland, Braga 4-2 Ludogorets
Group G: Ferencváros 2-3 Celtic, Leverkusen 4-0 Betis
Group H: Genk 2-2 West Ham, Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 Rapid Wien