Arsenal lose but make the grade
EUROPA LEAGUE Despite defeat to Ostersunds, Gunners move to Round of 16 on better aggregate; Napoli make shock exit on away goals BERN:
Napoli came agonisingly close to pulling off a dramatic Europa League comeback when they won 2-0 at RB Leipzig but went out on away goals at the last 32 stage on Thursday while Arsenal got through despite an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat by Ostersund. Borussia Dortmund snatched a late goal at Atalanta to progress with a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, both with three-goal leads from the away legs, completed the formality of qualifying with 1-0 wins at home on Thursday.
The evening was marred by the death of a policeman in Bilbao after rivals fans fought in the streets before the match between local side Athletic and Spartak Moscow, won 2-1 by the Russian team who still went out 4-3 on aggregate.
Arsenal had a three-goal lead from last week’s win in Sweden but were rattled when Hosam Aiesh and Ken Sema scored twice in two minutes for Ostersund midway through the first half.
The North London side were spared further humiliation, though, after Ronald Mukiibi miscued when trying to clear a cross and defender Sead Kolasinac thumped the ball into the net from close range two minutes into the second half.
Napoli lost 3-1 in last week’s first leg against Leipzig with a performance that embarrassed coach Maurizio Sarri, though he has emphasised that winning Serie A is the priority.
They restored some pride in the return as Piotr Zielinski scored from a rebound in the 33rd minute and Lorenzo Insigne turned in Jose Callejon’s cross
with five minutes to go.
That set up a rousing finale and Callejon could even have won the tie in stoppage time but his shot sailed over.
Atalanta scored against Dortmund when Rafael Toloi prodded the ball home at the far post after in Betera”, near Valencia, Las Provincias newspaper said.
Villarreal later issued a statement saying they had opened disciplinary proceedings against the player to investigate what had happened. Semedo, who was remanded in custody when he appeared in court, is also accused of assault and battery. Michy Batshuayi said he was racially abused by Atalanta fans during the second leg of their Europa League last-32 tie Thursday. The Belgian, who is on loan from Premier League champions Chelsea, scored two goals in the first leg and helped Dortmund secure a 1-1 draw with Atalanta in the return leg as the German side progressed to the last 16 with a 4-3 aggregate win. “2018 and still racists monkey noises in the stands ... really ?!,” Batshuayi wrote on his official Twitter account after the match. Lokomotiv Moskva 1 Nice 0 (Aggregate score: 4-2) Villarreal 0 Olympique
Lyonnais 1
(Aggregate score: 1-4)
Atlético Madrid 1 København 0 (Aggregate score: 5-1)
Viktoria Plzen 2 Partizan 0 (Aggregate score: 3-1) Dynamo Kyiv 0 AEK Athens 0 (Aggregate score: 1-1)
Lazio 5 FCSB 1
(Aggregate score: 5-2)
RB Leipzig 0 Napoli 2 (Aggregate score: 3-3)
Zenit 3 Celtic 0
(Aggregate score: 3-1) Sporting CP 3 Astana 3 (Aggregate score: 6-4) Sporting Braga 1 Olympique Marseille 0
(Aggregate score: 1-3) Salzburg 2 Real Sociedad 1 (Aggregate score: 4-3)
Athletic Club 1 Spartak Moskva 2 (Aggregate score: 4-3)
Milan 1 Ludogorets 0 (Aggregate score: 4-0) Atalanta 1 Borussia Dortmund 1 (Aggregate score: 3-4)
Arsenal 1 Östersunds FK 2 (Aggregate score: 4-2) “Hope you have fun watching the rest of Europa League on TV while we are through #SayNoToRacism.” Atalanta hosted the match at the Mapei Stadium after their home ground, the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia, was deemed unsuitable for European competitions by UEFA. Several Italian clubs’ supporters have been accused of displaying racist behaviour towards opposition players, with Juventus’ Blaise Matuidi alleging racist abuse in
Serie A matches against Verona and Cagliari earlier this season.