Europa League Round up | Arsenal qualify into the round of 16 as Everton crash out

11/03/2017

Despite a drab goalless draw against Serbian side Red Star Belgrade, Arsenal have booked a place in the knockout stages, thanks to FC Cologne defeating BATE Borisov. Everton's poor form continued as the Toffees went down 3-0 to French side AS Lyon, which resulted in their elimination from Europe.

Arsenal 0-0 Red Star Belgrade

Arsene Wenger opted for his customary B team when Arsenal took on Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade on Thursday. With an eye on their huge fixture against Manchester City this weekend, the Frenchman decided to make eleven changes from the side that faced Swansea City last weekend.

23-year-old Matt Macey made his debut in Europe with David Ospina still injured, and the English goalie did well to keep a clean sheet with some confident saves, which included tipping a header from Vujadin Savic against the crossbar as the visitors threatened to take a lead into half-time.

Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud, and Theo Walcott, who combined to score a wondergoal in Serbia a fortnight ago, couldn’t materialize their magic again. However, Arsenal enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and had as many as seven shots on goal. Third-placed side BATE Borisov went down 5-2 to bottom club Cologne, which helped Arsenal progress to the next round.

AS Lyon 3-0 Everton

Ligue 1 giants AS Lyon compounded further misery on Everton’s horrific season on Thursday as a convincing display by the hosts saw the Toffees go down 3-0 at the Groupama Stadium. Interim manager David Unsworth fielded a makeshift side filled with young and backup players and paid the price.

Though Everton absorbed relentless attack until the 68 minute, the deadlock was finally broken by former Chelsea player Bertrand Traore, who took advantage of a loose ball in a fantastic way. The second goal came eight minutes later when Memphis Depay collected a rebound and teed up Houssem Aouar to curl a first-time finish in the right-bottom corner.

Depay sealed off the victory for Lyon with a powering a header from Jordan Ferri's cross that went past Jordan Pickford, despite him getting his hands to the ball.

Vitoria Guimaraes 1-0 Olympique Marseille

The game drew little traction for Marseille’s surprise defeat to the bottom-placed Portuguese side because the main attraction of match was defender Patrice Evra, who got send-off even before the start of the game in Portugal, after a heated confrontation with a supporter.

The full-back was named as a substitute for the Group I tie and appeared to try a kick at a fan, which prompted the red card before the French side went on to lose the game 1-0. The dull game saw Vitoria Guimaraes striker Christopher Hurtado getting a late goal after 80 minutes, which proved to be the winner in the end.

Marseille saw another sending off in Boubacar Kamara later in the game. Salzburg top the group after a goalless draw with Konyaspor with Marseille in second place.