UEFA Europa League – Round of 32 (Second Leg)

APOEL                                        2-0                       Athletic Club

                                                                   (4-3) agg.

Pieros Sotiriou 46’

Giannis Gianniotas 54’(pen)

Athletic Club could hold on to their first-leg advantage as APOEL moved into the  Round of 16 of the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League with a 2-0 home victory; overturning a 3-2 away defeat in the first leg.

After a goalless first half, APOEL started the second half with a winning goal that changed the incentives of both teams for the remainder of the match.   

Ten minutes after doubling their lead, APOEL were reduced to 10 men when their winning goal scorer Pieros Sotiriou was sent off for the accumulation of yellow cards.  Tactical defending and sitting deep in their half helped APOEL deny Athletic Club a chance of getting a goal.

Zenit Saint-Petersburg            3-1                     Anderlecht

                                                                (3-3) agg.

Giuliano 24’ 78’                                                                             Isaac Kiese Thelin 90’

Artem Dzyuba 72’

Heartbreak for Zenit Saint-Petersburg!

It was probably the worst exit in the 2016/17 Europa League.

Just when Zenit thought they had done enough to overturn a ‘2-0’ away defeat at Belgium to Anderlecht, Isaac Kiese Thelin delivered a late blow to give Anderlecht a very important away goal to see them move on to the Round of 16 in the 2016/17 Europa League.

Tottenham Hotspur                   2-2                             Gent

                                                                      (2-3) agg.

Christian Eriksen 10’                                                                   Harry Kane 20’(o.g)

Victor Wanyama 61’                                                                    Jeremy Perbet 82’

Came from Champions League to get dropped in their first stage.

Despite being numerically disadvantaged,  Tottenham was still the dominant side in this fixture. After a great start and getting an early goal, Tottenham couldn’t keep a lead to get the two-goal margin victory they needed to move on to the next round.

Fiorentina                            2-4                Borussia Monchengladbach

                                                         (3-4) agg.

Nikola Kalinic 16’                                                                  Lars Stindl 44’(pen) 47’ 55’

Borja Valero 29’                                                                      Andreas Christensen 60’

Lars Stindl scored a hat trick with the space of 10 minutes to help Borussia Monchengladbach come from two goals down and get an away victory that sends them into the stage of the competition.

Lyon                                    7-1                                       AZ Alkmaar

                                                         (11-2) agg.

Nabil Fekir 5’ 27’ 78’                                                                             Levi Garcia 26’

Gnaly Maxwell Cornet 17’

Sergi Darder 34’

Houssem Aouar 87’

Mouctar Diakhaby 89’

Lyon improved on their ‘4-1’ away victory over AZ Alkmaar and showed the gulf in class by thrashing them again; ‘7-1’ was the score.   

Shakhtar Donetsk                0-2                 Celta Vigo

                                                             (1-2) agg.

                                                                                                Iago Aspas 90’(pen)

                                                                                               Gustavo Cabral 108’

Celta Vigo scored in the second half of extra time to defeat Shakhtar Donetsk.

A late penalty awarded to Celta Vigo allowed them to get a goal that sent the match into extra time.