Europa League round-up: Auba hattrick hands Dortmund easy win; Liverpool held by 10-man Rubin Kazan
Borussia Dortmund and Villareal the two teams in yellow continued their good form as they added fresh wins to their set of results. Both English sides, though, disappointed in the Europa League as Tottenham failed to capitalise on an early lead and lost to Anderlecht and Liverpool could not find a winner against 10-man Rubin Kazan at home.
Elsewhere, there was more disappointment for La Viola who despite trying incredibly hard lost to Lech Poznan. Sporting and Napoli also registered big wins in this round of Europa League action.
Qabala 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
A massive loss to Bayern Munich has been the only blip in an otherwise superb start to the season for Thomas Tuchel’s Borussia Dortmund and that continued for them in the Europa League tie against Qabala. One of their stars from the start Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a superb hat-trick to give his side the win while a consolation goal was all the home side could manage.
Liverpool 1-1 Rubin Kazan
Jurgen Klopp probably envisioned a better first game at Anfield. The Reds went behind to Rubin Kazan within the first 20 minutes heaping pressure on them. However, the game turned around within a minute when the visitors were reduced to 10 men and Emre Can scored from the resulting freekick. Teh initiative was now with Liverpool, but despite all their huffing and puffing, the closest they came to winning the game was when substitute Christian benteke hit the post with his shot.
Anderlecht 2-1 Tottenham
Spurs haven't lost in the Premier League since the first day when a Kyle Walker own goal sunk them against Manchester United. Since then, Tottenham have been accumulating points at decent pace despite the goals drying up for their main man up front Harry Kane. It was one of the issues that came up against Anderlecht, who despite going down early to a Christian Eriksen strike, came from behind to clinch all three points against the English side.
Fiorentina 1-2 Lech Poznan
La Viola may be on top of the Serie A table but their wastefulness against Lech Poznan in the Europa League meant that they would suffer a 1-2 defeat at home. They dominated proceedings for most of the game and it only seemed like a case of when they would take the lead, not if. But out of the blue Poznan went ahead and would go on to double that lead before Giuseppe Rossi pulled one back for the Italians. Despite Fiorentina’s persistent efforts for the rest of the game, they could not get back on level terms despite coming painfully close to it.
Sporting CP 5-1 Skenderbeu
The Portuguese side playing at home went ahead 2-0 in the first half through 2 penalties. They capitalised on a stellar first half by scoring three more before the 70 minute mark. The men in green and white had put themselves in a very strong position and all Skenderbeu could do to dent them was get a single consolation goal in the 89th minute.
Midtjylland 1-4 Napoli
Jose Callejon and Gabbiadini gave Napoli a great start scoring 3 in the first half and setting them up for a cruise to the finish of the game. A goal from the home side just before half-time threatened to derail their smooth ride but it was not to be. Gonzalo Higuain would score in stoppage time at the end of the second half just to put the cherry on top of the classy performance.
Villareal 4-0 Dinamo Minsk
The Yellow Submarine have been doing extremely well in the La Liga, topping the league for a short period as well and they carried their form into Europe. Two goals in either half handed them the initiative and they did not let up from there. Bakambu scored a brace in the first half to demoralise their opponents, Soldado and Bailly added the finishing touches in the second half.
Here are the rest of the results from this round of Europa League ties:
Partizan 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Lokomotiv Moscow 1-1 Besiktas
AZ Alkmaar 0-1 FC Augsburg
AS Monaco 1-0 Qarabag
Lazio 3-1 Rosenborg
FC Basel 1-2 Belenenses
Dnipro 0-1 ASSE
APOEL Nicosia 2-1 Asteras Tripolis
Schalke 2-2 Sparta Prague
Rapid Wien 3-2 Viktoria Plzen
Bordeaux 0-1 Sion
Liberec 1-1 Groningen
Legia Warsaw 1-1 Club Brugge
Molde 3-1 Celtic
Fenerbahce 1-0 Ajax
Braga 3-2 Marseille
PAOK 0-0 Krasnodar