Europa League roundup: Napoli reach last 32 with 100% record
The Chelsea loanee Nathaniel Chalobah’s goal helped Napoli advance with the Europa League’s only 100% record. The England Under-21 international, who is yet to play a senior game for José Mourinho’s side, broke the deadlock in Naples as the Italians made it six wins from six with a 5-2 win over Legia Warsaw.
Their qualification had already been sealed before kick-off and FC Midtjylland joined them in advancing from Group D thanks to a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge, for whom the ex-Middlesbrough and Burnley forward Jelle Vossen scored.
It finished 1-1 between Ajax and Molde too, a result that was good enough for the visitors to finish top of Group A ahead of Fenerbahce with the Dutch side going out alongside Celtic.
Sporting Lisbon came from behind to make it out of Group H as Besiktas threw away a lead given to them by Mario Gómez to lose 3-1 and go out. The former Fulham midfielder Bryan Ruiz scored the second goal and Teofilo Gutiérrez sealed the result with a goal he celebrated by using the referee’s vanishing spray.
Lokomotiv Moscow, 3-0 winners over Skenderbeu, finished at that group’s summit while Krasnodar and Sporting Braga did likewise ahead of Borussia Dortmund and Marseille respectively.
Krasnodar were 3-0 victors over Gabala whereas Dortmund stumbled to a 1-0 home reverse to PAOK Salonika while Braga’s 0-0 draw with Groningen proved enough despite Marseille’s 4-2 triumph at Slovan Liberec.
Augsburg got the win they needed to advance behind the Group L winners, Athletic Bilbao, who drew 2-2 with AZ Alkmaar. Partizan Belgrade succumbed to a 3-1 home loss to the Germans to be eliminated on goal difference.
Schalke went through in first and Sparta Prague as runners-up following their respective 4-0 and 3-1 success over Asteras Tripoli and Apoel Nicosia.
Bruno Soriano’s stoppage-time equaliser saved the second-placed Villarreal in a 3-3 draw with Viktoria Plzen, who had gone ahead in the 90th minute through Tomas Horava at the Doosan Arena. Rapid Vienna sealed Group E’s top spot with a 2-1 success over Dinamo Minsk.
St Etienne and Lazio, who had already qualified in second and first, drew 1-1 in France while Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, finalists last year, bowed out with a 3-0 win over Rosenborg.
Basel and Fiorentina went through as one and two in Group I after they defeated Lech Poznan and Belenenses 1-0 respectively.