Europa League: Shock exit for Arsenal, Inter, Man U enter last-16

London, February 28

Arsenal suffered a shock Europa League exit to Olympiakos Piraeus on away goals after a 2-1 extra-time home defeat, while Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers cruised into the last-16 with emphatic aggregate wins on Thursday.

The North London club were among several heavyweights who slumped out as the Portuguese trio of Benfica, Sporting and Porto as well as Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic were also eliminated from Europe’s second-tier competition in the Round of 32. Arsenal had beaten Olympiakos 1-0 in the first leg.

Manchester United breezed to a 6-1 aggregate win over 10-man Bruges after a 5-0 return-leg rout of the Belgians at Old Trafford, while Wolves advanced with a 6-3 overall victory against Espanyol despite a 3-2 second-leg defeat in Spain.

Leverkusen blew Porto away with a 3-1 win on the road, after taking a 2-1 lead in Germany last week.

Sporting exited after losing 4-1 at Istanbul Basaksehir following extra time to go down 5-4 on aggregate after Edin Visca gave the hosts a lifeline with a late goal in normal time and then netted a penalty to take them through.

Shakhtar Donetsk edged Benfica 5-4 on aggregate after a thrilling 3-3 draw in Lisbon, while Ajax endured a bittersweet 2-1 home win over Getafe which meant a 3-2 aggregate defeat against the Spanish side.

Celtic could not capitalise on a 1-1 first-leg draw at FC Copenhagen as they suffered a 3-1 home defeat, while Inter Milan strolled to a 2-1 home win over Bulgarians Ludogorets Razgrad to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory. The match at the San Siro stadium was played behind closed doors as the authorities try to contain the coronavirus that has made northern Italy the focal point of the outbreak in Europe. — Reuters