PLZEN — Manchester United learned lessons from their bland first half at Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday and sped up the action in the second period, allowing them to get a 2-1 win, coach Ruben Amorim said.
Forward Rasmus Hojlund scored twice in the second half to allow United to come back from a goal down at six-times Czech champions Plzen for their third consecutive European win.
The Europa League match between Turkish club Besiktas and Maccabi Tel-Aviv from Israel on Nov. 28 will be contested in a neutral territory in Hungary, UEFA said on Monday.
The match was originally a home game for Istanbul-based Besiktas, but the Turkish government had earlier decided not to host it in Turkey. It will now be played at Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen.
Besiktas vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
ISTANBUL — Fenerbahce coach José Mourinho was sent off as his side drew 1-1 with his former club Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday after Christian Eriksen’s early goal was canceled out by Youssef En-Nesyri.
United keeper Andre Onana pulled off a stunning acrobatic double save just before halftime to deny Fenerbahce and keep the dominant hosts from equalizing.
Mourinho reaction to Onana save
Captain America had the best individual season of his career.
Christian Pulisic found no trouble in acclimating his talents to the Serie A since signing for AC Milan last summer, providing 25 goal contributions across all competitions for the Rossoneri. He sealed his incredible tally with a clean assist against Salernitana in the final game of the season.
Atalanta have done what no team had accomplished all season: they defeated Bayer Leverkusen. A historic Ademola Lookman hat trick vs Leverkusen paired with terrific defending was enough to secure Atalanta’s 3-0 victory and their first European trophy.
This was Atalanta’s first major trophy since winning the Coppa Italia in 1963. The Italian underdogs lost in the Coppa Italia final to Juventus this season but bounced back with an even larger reward.
LEVERKUSEN — Bayer Leverkusen staged a stunning late comeback to move into the Europa League final with a 2-2 draw at home against AS Roma on Thursday as they won 4-2 on aggregate and set the longest unbeaten run in all competitions including European matches.
Bundesliga champions Leverkusen, who have also reached this month's German Cup final as they chase a treble, played their 49th match without defeat to surpass Benfica's record set from 1963–65 but they had to battle for the second leg draw.
49 GAMES
Star Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels couldn’t resist poking fun at the Premier League’s woes in Europe this week as four different EPL teams crashed out of their respective competitions.
Arsenal and Manchester City both suffered quarterfinal exits in the Champions League while Liverpool and West Ham fell short in the Europa League.
EPL fans have mocked the Bundesliga and other leagues for years now with the term “farmer’s league.” The joke is an insult about the league not being competitive as one team always wins it and overall, the league being worse.
With VAR’s introduction to the world of soccer it’s become incredibly rare when a goal that shouldn’t count stands. That was the case on Thursday with a failed offside call during Roma’s 1-0 victory vs. AC Milan in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals.
The peculiar situation happened in the first half when Roma sprung an attack through Romelu Lukaku who appeared to be in an offside position.
Lukaku offside vs Milan
Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in AC Milan’s 3-1 victory against Slavia Praha in the Europa League Round of 16 on Thursday. Milan advanced to the quarterfinals 7-3 on aggregate with Pulisic scoring two of the goals in the tie.
The Pulisic goal vs Slavia Praha on Thursday came in the first half when Rafael Leão found the American open near top of the box. Pulisic was composed, evaded a defender and tucked away the finish into the bottom corner.
If you’ve already seen the Christian Pulisic goal from Thursday’s Europa League game between AC Milan and Slavia Praha, then you know we’re being sarcastic with our headline.
Pulisic scored Milan’s fourth goal in a 4-2 victory at San Siro, but we’ll admit he may or may not have stolen a goal from Rafael Leão.
In the 85th minute Pulisic was involved in the build-up of what turned out to be a dazzling run and clever finish from Leão. Pulisic then helped it over the line at the last moment.
The internet is quick with the memes and joke videos.