Arsenal, Milan by in Europa League; Napoli, Germans out

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored late to steer Arsenal into the final 16 of the Europa League with a 3-2 win over Benfica on Thursday, whereas Napoli and each German groups had been knocked out.
Arsenal needed to come from behind to advance 4-3 on combination, whereas Napoli is out regardless of beating Granada 2-1 within the second leg. The modest Spanish membership surprisingly superior 3-2 on combination.
“The dream continues!” Granada midfielder Luis Milla mentioned on Twitter.
Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim went out with 2-0 losses at dwelling to Swiss facet Young Boys and Norwegian minnow Molde, respectively.
“A huge disappointment,” Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz mentioned after dropping 6-3 on combination.
Manchester United drew 0-0 with Real Sociedad for a 4-0 combination win, and Milan progressed on away targets, 3-3 on combination, after drawing 1-1 at dwelling with Red Star Belgrade.
Goals from Lukas Provod and Abdallah Sima within the second half gave Slavia Prague a 2-0 win at Leicester to progress after their goalless first leg.
Roma had little issue getting previous Sporting Braga with a 3-1 win at dwelling for 5-1 over two legs.
AUBAMEYANG’S LATE DECIDER
Aubameyang scored twice for Arsenal, together with the decisive 87th-minute winner simply because the Gunners had been poised to exit on the away targets rule regardless of enjoying each video games overseas resulting from coronavirus-related journey restrictions.
The groups performed the second leg in Athens whereas the primary leg ended 1-1 in Rome after Benfica’s dwelling recreation was relocated from Portugal.
Aubameyang opened the scoring within the twenty first, ending clinically after Bukayo Saka performed him by.
Diogo Gonçalves equalized with a superbly positioned free kick inside the highest left nook within the forty third.
A mistake from Dani Ceballos gifted Benfica its second purpose after an Arsenal nook within the 61st. Benfica goalkeeper Helton Leite produced a protracted kick out that Ceballos tried heading again to his personal goalkeeper, however solely inadvertently laid it off for Rafa Silva, who rounded Bernd Leno earlier than ending into the empty internet.
Napoli’s Matteo Politano, proper, and Granada’s German vie for the ball throughout the Europa League, spherical of 32, return match between Napoli and Granada, on the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse through AP)
It was simply the Portuguese group’s second effort heading in the right direction on the night time.
But left again Kieran Tierney replied with a strike contained in the far put up within the 67th after displaying good composure to elude a Benfica defender, and Aubameyang accomplished the turnaround with a close-range header to the 19-year-old Saka’s cross.
“We never seem to do it the easy way,” Tierney mentioned.
UNITED YOUNGSTER MAKES BOW
Shola Shoretire got here on as an alternative to develop into Manchester United’s youngest participant in European competitors. Aged 17 years, 23 days, Shoretire changed earlier file holder Norman Whiteside.
Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal missed a very good probability to start out an unlikely comeback when he despatched a penalty excessive and large within the thirteenth minute, and United did sufficient thereafter to maintain the guests from stepping into the sport.
United defender Axel Tuanzebe thought he scored his first senior purpose halfway by the second half, nevertheless it was disallowed as teammate Victor Lindelöf had crashed along with his knee into Jon Bautista’s head whereas leaping for the ball. The Swedish defender was booked after a VAR assessment.
TRIBUTE FOR TA BI
Milan ahead Franck Kessié paid tribute to Atalanta youth participant Willy Ta Bi after scoring his penalty early towards Red Star Belgrade. The 21-year-old Ta Bi died of most cancers on Tuesday. Kessié held up a shirt with the textual content “To God, champion.”
Mirko Ivanic performed an excellent move for ahead Ben to equalize within the twenty fourth, two minutes after he hit the crossbar with a free kick.
Belgrade defender Marko Gobeljic, who had conceded the penalty early on, was despatched off along with his second yellow card within the seventieth as his group was chasing the purpose it wanted to get by.
EINDHOVEN OUT, AJAX THROUGH
Egyptian ahead Kouka scored late for Olympiakos to knock PSV Eindhoven out regardless of a 2-1 defeat. The Greek group gained 5-4 on combination.
Ajax progressed with a 2-1 win over Lille (4-2 on combination), Rangers cruised by with a 5-2 win over Belgian group Antwerp (9-5), Shakhtar Donetsk beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0 (3-0), Villarreal defeated Salzburg 2-1 (4-1), Dinamo Zagreb beat Krasnodar 1-0 (4-2), and Dynamo Kyiv gained 1-0 at Club Brugge to progress 2-1 on combination.