West Ham United and Rangers advanced to the knockout rounds of the 2021-22 UEFA Europa League on Thursday, while Leicester and Celtic crashed out.
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A roundup of Thursday’s Europa League results involving the pair of Premier League clubs…
Napoli 3-2 Leicester City
Leicester’s Europa League run came to an end on Thursday, and though it may have seemed like an incredibly chaotic way to go out, it will likely turn out to be a blessing for Brendan Rodgers and Co., as they battle not only a few long-term injuries to key players, but now also a COVID-19 outbreak.
Despite all of the above, and even the defeat to Napoli on Thursday, they still had a chance to go through to the knockout rounds as late as the 98th minute of the other game in Group C.
Legia Warsaw had the chance to eliminate Spartak Moscow from the Europa league in the 95th minute while sending Leicester through to the next round...then this happened 😳 pic.twitter.com/Z3hP1LHhnu
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 9, 2021
Napoli needed just four minutes to take the lead and 20 more to double it, though the Foxes fought back immediately and were level at 2-2 after 33 minutes. That scoreline would have sent Leicester through, ahead of Napoli, but Eljif Elmas wriggled free and beat Kasper Schmeichel in the 53rd minute.
ADAM OUNAS CHOSE PRECISION 🎯 pic.twitter.com/FPAyddw2aA
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 9, 2021
A BREATHTAKING FIRST EUROPEAN GOAL FROM DEWSBURY-HALL AND LEICESTER ARE LEVEL! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cFnXt5pn0O
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 9, 2021
ELMAS PUTS NAPOLI BACK IN FRONT WITH HIS SECOND OF THE GAME! 🔵 pic.twitter.com/nuw7GB9gtv
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 9, 2021
HOW DID JAMES MADDISON MISS?! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/02X6zbKT3t
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 9, 2021
West Ham 0-1 Dinamo Zagreb
David Moyes’ men had already locked up the top spot in Group H ahead of Thursday’s curtain-dropper, thus affording him the luxury of making 10 changes from the last weekend’s Premier League action. The only player to start in the 3-2 win against Chelsea, and again on Thursday, was midfielder Pablo Fornals.
Mislav Orsic scored the only goal of the game in the 3rd minute to hand the Hammers their first home defeat (six games - all competitions) since Oct. 3.
MISLAV ORSIC SCORES A GOLAZO 🚀 pic.twitter.com/QuOXxZ6pG9
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 9, 2021
Notable Europa League results
Lyon 1-1 Rangers
Celtic 3-2 Real Betis
Sturm Graz 1-1 Monaco
Lazio 0-0 Galatasaray
Marseille 1-0 Lokomotiv Moscow
Ferencvaros 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Fenerbahce 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Real Sociedad 3-0 PSV Eindhoven
Europa League group winners and runners-up
Winners (advance to round of 16): West Ham United, Lyon, Monaco, Spartak Moscow, Eintracht Frankfurt, Galatasaray, Red Star Belgrade, Bayer Leverkusen
Runners-up (advance to UCL-UEL playoff round): Rangers, Real Sociedad, Napoli, Olympiacos, Lazio, Braga, Real Betis, Dinamo Zagreb
Champions League 3rd-place finishers (advance to UCL-UEL playoff round): RB Leipzig, Porto, Borussia Dortmund, Sheriff Tiraspol, Barcelona, Atalanta, Sevilla, Zenit Saint Petersburg