Bruno Fernandes netted a hat-trick as Manchester United beat Real Sociedad 4-1 in their Europa League last-16 second leg on Thursday, while Tottenham bounced back to edge AZ Alkmaar 3-2 on aggregate. Rangers knocked out Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce 3-2 on penalties as Chelsea saw out a 1-0 home win against Copenhagen to ensure their place in the last eight of the Europa Conference League. Two spot-kicks and a late arrowed finish from Fernandes sent Man Utd into the quarter-finals by a 5-2 aggregate margin against 10-man Sociedad.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“We need to help him win titles, because he deserves it,” Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports of his captain.
“It was a good performance. The physicality was there… Even without the sending-off, you felt that the team were going to win this game.”
A 10th-minute penalty gave the visitors the lead at Old Trafford before Fernandes converted from 12 yards in the 16th and 50th minutes.
Jon Aramburu saw red shortly after the hour and Man Utd took full advantage with Fernandes rifling in a third three minutes from time and Diogo Dalot rubber-stamping an emphatic victory in injury-time.
Amorim‘s side will meet Lyon in the next round.
Goals in either half from Wilson Odobert and James Maddison in London earned Spurs a 3-1 win against AZ Alkmaar.
Odobert powered home following sloppy AZ defending to get Spurs level on aggregate in the 26th minute, after the first leg finished 1-0 to the Dutch side.
Maddison put the hosts 2-0 up three minutes into the second period with an arrowed finish before Peer Koopmeiners responded after the hour to level the tie again.
Odobert grabbed his second and Spurs’ third on the night in the 74th minute to set up a quarter-final meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt.
“We’ve progressed, which is the main thing,” said Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
“We played pretty well, I thought we were really in control of the game, but we were our own worst enemies at times.
“It got a bit nervy towards the end but we thoroughly deserved to progress.”
After losing the first leg in Istanbul 3-1, Fenerbahce fought back at Rangers to win 2-0.
Polish winger Sebastian Szymanski produced two cute finishes in the 45th and 73rd minutes to force extra-time with the aggregate score locked at three-apiece.
But three missed spot-kicks by the Turkish side handed Rangers a 3-2 win in the shoot-out and a last-eight clash with Athletic Bilbao.
“We deserved to win over 90 minutes, we deserved to win after 120 minutes, we were the best team by far,” said Mourinho.
“We did everything to win. The ref and the VAR decided that we should go to penalties.
“Congratulations to Rangers but I think my team deserves everything from me, from our supporters and even from Turkey as a country.”
– Chelsea through –
Euro 2024 winner Nico Williams grabbed a vital brace as Athletic Bilbao overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit to progress 4-3 on aggregate against Roma, who lost centre-half Mats Hummels to an early red card.
But it was a better evening for fellow Italian capital club Lazio, who progressed 3-2 on aggregate against Viktoria Plzen after a 1-1 draw in the Stadio Olimpico.
Mario Goetze netted a brace as Eintracht Frankfurt won 4-1 at home against Ajax, claiming a handsome 6-2 victory over both legs.
Norwegians Bodo/Glimt lost 2-1 against Olympiakos in Athens, but went through 4-2 on aggregate.
Lyon scored four without reply at home to thump Romania’s FCSB 7-1 on aggregate.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall got the winner 10 minutes into the second half at Stamford Bridge to send Chelsea through the Conference League quarter-finals at the expense of Copenhagen, 3-1 over both legs.
Defeated finalists in 2023 and 2024 Fiorentina overturned a first-leg deficit against Panathinaikos with a 3-1 win in Tuscany, progressing 5-4 on aggregate.
Celje of Slovenia emerged victorious after a penalty shoot-out at Lugano, at the end of a topsy-turvy night in Switzerland which the 10-man hosts won 5-4 before misfiring badly from the spot.
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from: NDTV Sports-Latest