It was a packed Thursday night for football fans as we’ve been treated to eight fun Europa League Round of 16 matches.
Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, Juventus, and Sevilla took care of business in the first leg, beating Real Betis, Ferencvaros, Real Sociedad, SC Freiburg, and Fenerbahce. Meanwhile, Union Berlin, Sporting, and Shakhtar Donetsk had draws at home against Union Saint-Gilloise, Arsenal, and Feyenoord, respectively.
If you missed the action, don’t worry, as SBOTOP is here to recap the biggest takeaways from last night’s Europa League 2023 results.
Manchester United put Anfield disaster behind them
Following their horrific performance against Liverpool on Monday, Manchester United owe their fans, and they responded in a positive way by dominating Real Betis at Old Trafford with a scoreline of 4-1.
It didn’t take long for the Red Devils to get into the scoring column, as Marcus Rashford netted after six minutes, but Los Verdiblancos worried the hosts when they equalised through Ayoze Perez 26 minutes later.
But Real Betis’ hopes of pulling off an upset were ruined when Manchester United came out firing in the second half, as Antony, Bruno Fernandes, and Wout Weghorst essentially put the game – and probably the tie – to bed.
Weghorst was particularly happy when he ended his goal drought because it was his first goal at Old Trafford. Before this game, the towering Dutchman had only scored one goal for the club in their 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup last January.
Erik ten Hag is also delighted with the character his players have shown. He also complimented Bruno Fernandes for his man-of-the-match performance after the Portuguese captain was singled out for criticism in the aftermath of their Liverpool defeat.
So, the Red Devils are back on track, and they’re hoping to keep the momentum going when they face the Saints on Sunday in the Premier League. As for Real Betis, they’ll visit Villarreal on Sunday for their next La Liga contest.
Sporting brought the fight to Arsenal
The Europa League 2023 odds have tilted towards Manchester United’s favour after their fellow Premier League team, Arsenal, were held to a 2-2 draw by Sporting last night.
As expected, Mikel Arteta rotated his squad, making six changes from the lineup that defeated Bournemouth on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League standings.
Reiss Nelson, the hero in the Bournemouth match, was given a start while Matt Turner took over the goal post to give Aaron Ramsdale the night off. Jorginho, Granit Xhaka, Jakub Kiwior, and Ben White were all started as well over Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Arsenal and Sporting exchanged goals from corners in the first half, as centre-backs William Saliba and Goncalo Inacio both found the back of the net.
In the second half, it was Sporting who scored first and took the lead, as Paulinho netted in the 55th minute. However, Arsenal drew level when Granit Xhaka’s ball deflected in off Hidemasa Morita for an own goal.
Many have pointed out (including Arteta himself) that defending set-pieces is becoming an issue for Arsenal, as shown in this game. Sporting exploited Matt Turner and Jakub Kiwior in particular, so Arteta is likely bringing back Ramsdale and Gabriel into the starting XI for the second leg next week.
Serie A teams move one step closer
Juventus and AS Roma pulled out important home wins against SC Freiburg and Real Sociedad with scorelines of 1-0 and 2-0, respectively.
I Bianconeri put the Black Forest under immense pressure, but they were wasteful in the first half. They pushed forward in search of the opener, and they got it in the 53rd minute when Angel Di Maria headed the ball in from an accurate Filip Kostic cross.
Freiburg thought they restored parity when Lucas Holer fired past Wojciech Szczesny, but it was called off due to Matthias Ginter’s handball during the build-up.
But with a slender 1-0 deficit, Christian Streich’s men have hope that they can turn things around in the second leg next week.
Unlike Juventus, it didn’t take long for AS Roma to claim the edge over Real Sociedad, as Stephan El Shaarawy scored off of a clever sequence from Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala.
Marash Kumbulla extended their lead to two goals in the 87th minute when he converted a corner kick from Dybala, and the capital club now has a two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg, when they visit Real Sociedad at the Reale Arena.
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