Europa League roundup: Loftus-Cheek double powers Milan to win over Rennes
Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored twice as Milan beat Rennes 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League knockout playoff.
The England international continued his fine recent form with headers in the 32nd and 47th minutes, with Rafael Leão adding a third goal in the 52nd minute. Milan, who finished third in their Champions League group, have one foot in the last 16 ahead of next week’s second leg.
There was a big away win for Qarabag, who defeated Braga 4-2 in Portugal. Marko Jankovic opened the scoring for the visitors from the penalty spot midway through the first half, but Simon Banza levelled matters just before the break. However, Qarabag were not to be denied and Abdellah Zoubir scored twice either side of a goal from Juninho before João Moutinho grabbed a late second for Braga from the penalty spot.
It was a better night for the other Portuguese sides, with Sporting and Benfica both winning. Sporting will fancy their chances of going through after beating Young Boys 3-1 away from home. An own goal from Aurèle Amenda was followed by a penalty from Viktor Gyökeres, before Young Boys pulled one back just before halftime through Filip Ugrinic. Gonçalo Inácio restored the two-goal advantage three minutes after the restart and Young Boys finished with 10 men after Mohamed Ali Camara was sent off late on.
Benfica still have work to do against Toulouse after snatching a very late 2-1 victory courtesy of two Ángel Di María penalties. The first was cancelled out by Mikkel Desler, but the second came eight minutes into stoppage time after Christian Mawissa was shown a red card.
Both sides finished with 10 men as Galatasaray defeated Sparta Prague 3-2 in Istanbul. Kerem Demirbay scored the only goal of the first half, but Ángelo Preciado levelled for Sparta two minutes after the break and, just after Dries Mertens had put Galatasaray back ahead on the hour mark, Victor Nelsson was sent off. Jan Kuchta promptly equalised again only for Matej Rynes to pick up a second yellow card 10 minutes from time and Mauro Icardi to find a winner in added time.
There was also a dramatic finish in Hamburg, where Shakhtar Donetsk, continuing to play away from their wartorn homeland, drew 2-2 with Marseille. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the French side ahead in the 64th minute, but the lead only lasted for two minutes before Mykola Matviyenko equalised. And history repeated itself right at the end of the match, with Iliman Ndiaye appearing to win it for Marseille only for Eguinaldo to level.
Romelu Lukaku cancelled out Igor Paixão’s opener as Roma claimed a 1-1 draw against Feyenoord, while Lens and Freiburg finished goalless.