Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Europa League: West Ham, Napoli record wins

Last updated on: October 22, 2021 09:58 IST

West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen celebrates with Declan Rice on scoring their third goal against KRC Genk at London Stadium in London on Thursday

IMAGE: West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen celebrates with Declan Rice on scoring their third goal against KRC Genk at London Stadium in London on Thursday. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters

West Ham United moved closer to the Europa League knockout stage as goals from Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Jarrod Bowen secured a 3-0 home win over Belgium's Genk on Thursday and continued their perfect start in Group H.

 

West Ham top the standings on nine points ahead of Dinamo Zagreb, Rapid Vienna and Genk who have three each, after the London side kept a third successive clean sheet in Europe's second-tier competition.

Dawson fired West Ham ahead with a looping header on the stroke of halftime and Diop made it 2-0 from a second assist by Aaron Cresswell before Bowen added the third with a deflected shot on the hour.

Napoli kept alive their hopes of advancing from Group C after Lorenzo Insigne, Victor Osimhen and Matteo Politano secured a 3-0 home win over Legia Warsaw.

Legia stayed top with six points from three games while Napoli and Leicester City, who enjoyed a rollercoaster 4-3 win at Spartak Moscow on Wednesday, have four each. Fourth-placed Spartak have three points.

Insigne fired Napoli ahead in the 75th minute with a superb first-time shot before in-form Osimhen netted his ninth goal of the season in all competitions and Politano sealed the win with a long-range strike.

Olympique Lyonnais maintained their perfect start in Group A as they overturned a two-goal deficit for a 4-3 win at Sparta Prague, who took a 2-0 lead thanks to a first-half brace from Lukas Haraslin.

Lyon hit back as Karl Toko Ekambi scored twice while Houssem Aouar and Lucas Paqueta added one each before Ladislav Krejci pulled one back in stoppage time.

Lyon stayed top on nine points ahead of Sparta on four and Rangers, who have three after beating Brondby 2-0 at home thanks to first-half goals from Leon Balgoun and Kemar Roofe.

In Group D, Eintracht Frankfurt leapt into pole position on seven points, one ahead of Olympiakos after a 3-1 home win over the Greek side.

Both teams are well-placed to progress as third-placed Fenerbahce have two points and Royal Antwerp one after their 2-2 draw.

Monaco went top of Group B on seven points from three games with a 2-1 win at PSV Eindhoven and Real Sociedad are two points behind after a 1-0 victory at Sturm Graz.

Horror night for Mourinho as Roma hit for six in Norway

AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho watches in disbelief during the team's 6-1 loss

IMAGE: AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho watches in disbelief during the team's 6-1 loss. Photograph: AS Roma/Twitter

Jose Mourinho suffered one of biggest defeats of his coaching career as AS Roma stumbled to a shock 6-1 loss at Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.

Erik Botheim and Ola Solbakken scored twice each for the home side, who led 2-1 at halftime and ran rampant in the second period to stun the Italians.

It was the first time in 1,008 games as a coach that a Mourinho side conceded six goals or more.

He did rest a number of first-team regulars, perhaps in anticipation of a comfortable night, and was made to pay.

"I decided to play with this line-up, so the responsibility is mine," the 58-year-old Portuguese told Sky Sport Italia.

"I did it with good intentions, to give an opportunity to those who work hard and to rotate the squad on a synthetic pitch in cold weather.

"I never disguised the fact we were a squad with real limitations. We have 13 players who represent one team, the others are on a different level. We lost against a team that showed more quality on the night. It's that simple."

The defeat may not have been quite as painful for Mourinho as Real Madrid’s humiliating 5-0 loss to Barcelona in 2010 but Roma, who started the Europa Conference League with two wins, are now in second in the group on six points, one behind Bodo/Glimt.

Tottenham Hotspur were also on the end of a surprise as they succumbed to Vitesse, but Feyenoord, PAOK, Gent, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and AZ Alkmaar were more impressive as they seized control of their groups.

Vitesse earned their first ever victory against an English team in UEFA competition thanks to Maximilian Wittek's thumping 78th-minute volley. Spurs lacked inspiration and creativity, though they came closest to scoring before the only goal when Bryan Gil's curling effort cannoned back off the bar just after half-time.

 

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.