Rennes punish 10-man Arsenal as Chelsea win

Arsenal suffered more away day blues as their 10 men were well beaten by Rennes in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie in France.

The Gunners raced into an early lead courtesy of Alex Iwobi’s fortuitous cross after three minutes, but a red card for Sokratis Papastathopoulos just before half-time turned the game in favour of Rennes.

Hatem Ben Arfa, facing his former Paris Saint Germain boss Unai Emery, looked sharp as a stunning strike from Benjamin Bourigeaud immediately after the red card, Nacho Monreal’s own goal and a late Ismaila Sarr header saw the hosts run out deserved 3-1 winners.

Competition favourites Chelsea and Napoli were both comfortable 3-0 winners at home in the late kick-offs.

Pedro, Willian and Callum Hudson-Odoi were on the scoresheet for the Blues at Stamford Bridge against Dynamo Kiev.

Napoli overcame Red Bull Salzburg at the San Paolo Stadium thanks to efforts from Arkadiusz Milik and Ruiz Fabian and an own goal by Jerome Onguene.

Rodrigo scored twice as Valencia won 2-1 at home against FK Krasnodar, who gave themselves a chance back in Russia next week with an away goal by Viktor Claesson.

Villarreal were also 3-1 winners away at Zenit St Petersburg. Former Leicester midfielder Vicente Iborra gave the Spanish side the lead but Sardar Azmoun immediately equalised.

Second-half goals from Gerard Moreno and Manu Morlanes put the LaLiga team in control heading back to the Estadio de la Ceramica next week.