Europa league: Arsenal pass Milan test, Atletico win
MILAN: Arsenal turned the form book upside down and gave manager Arsene Wenger muchneeded respite with a 2-0 win away to AC Milan in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
The London side, who had lost their last four games in all competitions and were facing a Milan team unbeaten in 13 matches, stunned the San Siro with firsthalf goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey in the round of 16 first leg.
Lazio completed an unhappy night for Italian clubs when they were held 2-2 at home by Dynamo Kiev while Borussia Dortmund suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat by Salzburg. Twice former champions Atletico Madrid eased past Lokomotiv Moscow 3-0 as all three Russian clubs lost.
Arsenal went ahead after 15 minutes after Mesut Ozil found Mkhitaryan on the left side of the penalty area and the Armenian scored his first goal for the London club with a deflected shot.
Ozil produced another inspired pass to send Ramsey clear and he rounded goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to add the second in the 45th minute.
Valon Berisha scored twice early in the second half as Salzburg stunned Dortmund, who replied through Andre Schuerrle.
Saul Niguez set Diego Simeone’s Atletico on their way against Lokomotiv Moscow before Diego Costa and Koke struck. Olympique Lyonnais won 1-0 at CSKA Moscow thanks to Marcelo’s strike and RB Leipzig beat Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 after second-half goals from Bruma and Timo Werner. However, Domenico Criscito brought Zenit right back into the tie.
There were four second-half goals in less than half an hour in Rome where Viktor Tsigankov gave Kiev the lead in the 52nd minute before Ciro Immobile, and Felipe Anderson turned the game around for the Serie A side. Dynamo levelled in the 79th minute with a superb effort from Junior Moraes. In other results Marseille beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 and Sporting Lisbon won 2-0 against Viktoria Plzen.