AN OUTRAGEOUS OVERHEAD kick, another win for Borussia Monchengladbach and thrilling victories for FC Zurich and PSV capped a fine evening in the Europa League.
Dynamo Moscow, Fiorentina, Legia Warsaw and Salzburg became the first teams to reach the Europa League’s knockout phase on Thursday.
Besiktas, Borussia Monchengladbach, Club Brugge, Everton, PSV, Sevilla, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolfsburg also won to leave themselves in commanding positions with two games to play.
Kevin Kuranyi rose from the bench to score the only goal against Estoril, extending Dynamo’s unbeaten record in Europe to nine games and leaving them nine points clear of their third-placed visitors in Group D.
Estoril find themselves four points behind PSV, who twice came from behind to win 3-2 at Panathinaikos thanks to goals from Memphis Depay, Luuk de Jong and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Salzburg cruised through with a 5-1 success at Dynamo Zagreb, with Spanish striker Jonatan Soriano’s hat-trick decorated by a majestic chip.
Celtic are close to joining Salzburg. A 1-1 draw at Astra Ploiesti sent the Scottish giants five points above Zagreb.
Lior Refaelov also hit a treble, inspiring Club Brugge to a surprising 4-0 triumph at FC Copenhagen. HJK upset Torino 2-1 in Helsinki in the section’s other game.
Besiktas recorded a 2-1 win at home to Partizan to move level with Tottenham at the top of Group C.
Villarreal lost 3-2 at FC Zurich, allowing Borussia Monchengladbach, who won 2-0 away to Apollon Limassol, to replace them at the Group A summit.
Dnipro won 2-1 at Qarabag in Group F’s other game, leaving what is realistically a race for second place wide open after Inter’s 1-1 draw with Saint-Etienne.
Feyenoord climbed from bottom to second with a 2-0 reverse of Rijeka, while another wonder goal transpired in Warsaw – but it was not one the home fans embraced. Vasyl Kobin’s sublime overhead-kick gave Metalist Kharkiv the lead, but Ondrej Duda’s late goal snatched Legia a 2-1 win and a last-32 berth.
Lastly, Trabzonspor drew 1-1 at Lokeren and remain three points above their adversaries in the battle for Group L’s runners-up spot.
Vasyl Kobin Bicycle Kick Goal ~ Legia 0-1… by rubin7190
