After returning to the stadiums for the Old Continent tournaments, UEFA Europa League matches started last night. Initially, the teams from groups A-F played.
Among them, Italian clubs stood out, crushing their opponents. The revitalized "Milan" triumphed in Vienna with a score of 5-1 against the "Austria" club, with Hakan Calhanoglu scoring in the seventh minute. This was followed by a hat-trick from new recruit Andre Silva, and finally, Suso sealed the deal.
Interestingly, Andre Silva's three goals mark the first such achievement for an AC Milan player in an international tournament since Kaka in 2006.
In Bergamo, "Atalanta" achieved a victory that was even more impressive despite not being as famous, as they defeated Premier League representative Liverpool's "Everton". Gian Piero Gasperini's team took the lead in Group E through precise strikes from Andrea Masiello, Alejandro Gomez, and Bryan Cristante before halftime.
In another Group E match, "Lyon" secured a victory against Limassol's "Apollon" in the final moments. Frenchmen took the lead due to a penalty converted by Memphis Depay, and they sealed the match during added time through Adrian Corpa.
Unexpected defeat came at home for "Hoffenheim", the team that performed well in the Bundesliga last year, as they lost to "Braga" club. Although the Germans took the lead thanks to Sandro Wagner's goal, the opponents managed to equalize and tilt the result towards the end of the first half and the beginning of the second.
Other matches ended a bit later, including another victory for an Italian club, AS Roma, against "Lazio". They managed to score as many goals as their opponents and secured three points, with Alessandro Murgia being the hero of the match.
French teams playing in the evening also performed well, with "Marseille" defeating "Konyaspor" by a narrow margin thanks to Adil Rami's goal. Meanwhile, "Nice" celebrated a great victory of 5-1 against "Zulte-Waregem" from Belgium, with Alassane Plea scoring a brace and being led by Dante, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Mario Balotelli.
L group also had exciting wins, with San Sebastian's "Real Sociedad" defeating Trondheim's "Rosenborg" at home, and Saint Petersburg's "Zenit" winning against Skopje's "Vardar" on the road.
The match between "Cologne" and London's "Arsenal" was postponed due to the misbehaving Cologne fans and ended last out of all the matches. Although the visitors were leading 1-0 after the first half, with Jonas Cordoba scoring after a mistake by goalkeeper David Ospina, in the second half, "Arsenal" managed to show their superiority and score three goals without any response. Sead Kolasinac, Alexis Sanchez, and Hector Bellerin scored for the hosts.
Results:
Group A: "Slavia" 1 - 0 "Maccabi" "Villarreal" 3 - 1 "Astana"
Group B: Kiev "Dynamo" 3 - 1 "Skenderbeu" "Young Boys" 1 - 1 "Partizan"
Group C: "Hoffenheim" 1 - 2 "Braga" "Basaksehir" 0 - 0 "Ludogorets"
Group D: "Austria" 1 - 5 "Milan" "Rijeka" 1 - 2 Athens AEK
Group E: "Apollon" 1 - 1 "Lyon" "Atalanta" 3 - 0 "Everton"
Group F: "Copenhagen" 0 - 0 "Lokomotiv" "Zlin" 0 - 0 "Sheriff"
Group G: "Steaua" 3 - 0 "Viktoria" "Hapoel Beer Sheva" 2 - 1 "Lugano"
Group H: "Arsenal" 3 - 1 "Cologne" "Crvena Zvezda" 1 - 1 BATE
Group I: "Marseille" 1 - 0 "Konyaspor" "Vitoria de Guimaraes" 1 - 1 "Salzburg"
Group J: "Hertha" 0 - 0 "Athletic" "Zorya" 0 - 2 "Ostersunds"
Group K: "Vitesse" 2 - 3 "Lazio" "Zulte-Waregem" 1 - 5 "Nice"
Group L: "Vardar" 0 - 5 "Zenit" "Real Sociedad" 4 - 0 "Rosenborg"
