Aston Villa secured a top-eight finish in the Europa League after Jadon Sancho’s first-half header gave them a 1-0 victory over Fenerbahce in Turkey. Villa’s win was their sixth from seven European matches this season and brought Fenerbahce’s unbeaten record at home to an end in the process.
Sancho opened his account in Villa colours to put the visitors in the driving seat amid a loud Sukru Saracoglu Stadium atmosphere.
The Premier League side had to deal with several injury problems this week and their mettle was more than tested in the second period as their goalkeeper Marco Bizot stepped up in the absence of Emi Martínez to make eight saves to keep their lead safe.
Morgan Rogers saw his goal scrubbed out for offside but they had a reprieve themselves when Kemer Akturkoglu thought he equalised, only for VAR to intervene for a second time.
Villa looked lively from the off, Rogers’ back heel fed Ollie Watkins but his goal-bound effort was blocked behind by Mert Muldur in their first real opening on goal.
And the noisy crowd fell silent as the away side hit the front in the 25th minute. Some neat play ended at the feet of Matty Cash, who saw his cross flick off the head of Ismail Yuksek and nicely on to the head of Sancho, who nodded the ball beyond Ederson.
Villa ought to have doubled their advantage before the break as well. Rogers found Sancho, who sat a couple of defenders down and thought he would roll into an empty goal but Milan Skriniar produced a heroic block to keep the deficit at one.
Bizot produced a stunning save to keep Villa’s lead intact as he rushed out to stop the substitute Talisca from point-blank range.
Villa thought they got their second when Rogers bundled one over the line but Sancho fractionally mistimed his run before squaring it to his team-mate.
It was then Fenerbahce’s turn to have a goal chalked off through VAR as Akturkoglu saw an initial effort saved by Bizot and he tucked in the rebound but Duran was shown to be offside in the buildup as Villa held on for the win.
In Italy, 10-man Celtic lost a two-goal half-time lead but held on for what could be a precious point in Bologna.
Reo Hatate opened the scoring early on before collecting two yellow cards in three minutes. Auston Trusty doubled Celtic’s lead but Martin O’Neill’s side came under sustained pressure after the interval and goals from Thijs Dallinga and Jonathan Rowe brought Bologna level.
Although the Italian side managed 37 attempts at goal in total, both teams had chances to win it before the game finished 2-2.
The result puts Celtic on eight points ahead of their final game against the already eliminated Utrecht at Parkhead next week. A win should ensure Celtic qualify for the playoff round.
Hatate opened the scoring in the sixth minute after a gift from the Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, who passed the ball straight to centre-forward Daizen Maeda. The Japan forward squared the ball for his compatriot to roll into an empty net.
Skorupski partially redeemed himself moments later as he clawed Yang Hyun-jun’s shot over the bar after Hatate’s pass threatened to get Maeda in behind. Liam Scales almost scrambled home the resulting corner.
Hatate was booked for a foul on Lewis Ferguson before needlessly flicking out a boot to catch Miranda in the 34th minute as the pair chased a ball that was heading into the Bologna half. A red card followed and O’Neill also received a yellow card for his protests.
The Celtic fans were celebrating again five minutes before the break as Trusty netted in off the bar at the back post after Arne Engels had headed on Kieran Tierney’s inswinging corner.
Kasper Schmeichel saved Tommaso Pobega’s header and although Maeda swept a half-chance wide, the second half quickly developed into an onslaught of the Dane’s goal.
The pressure paid off in the 58th minute when Dallinga got in front of Colby Donovan to nod home from six yards after Jens Odgaard had headed on a cross.
Maeda was now playing as a supplementary wing-back as Celtic defended but the pressure was relentless. The equaliser came in the 72nd minute as the former Norwich winger Rowe made space on the edge of the box and evaded the substitute Benjamin Nygren to smash a shot into the roof of the net.
Celtic emerged from their shell and had opportunities to snatch an unlikely win. The substitute Johnny Kenny forced a save and might have been able to play Maeda in on a counterattack, though there were chances for the hosts too and Schmeichel saved from Riccardo Orsolini and Nicolo Cambiaghi.
Lyon secured their place in the next round with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Young Boysas Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck deep into first-half stoppage time in Bern.
A late goal from Igor Matanovic gave Freiburg a 1-0 win at home against Maccabi Tel-Avivensuring the German side a place in the last 16.
In Norway, a penalty in the 10th minute of stoppage time from Joachim Soltvedt rescued a 3-3 draw for SK Fire against the Danish side Central Jutland. And Real Betis’s strong run in the competition was jolted as they lost 2-0 at PAOK.
This article will be updated
