That’s all from me - I’ll leave you with the news that Villarreal have gone 2-0 up, taking tonight’s total goal tally to 91. You’ve got to love the Europa. Here are all our reports from tonight. Adios.
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Here’s an altogether more languid Mikel Arteta: “It was really important for us to win tonight. We got a goal behind, we had to be patient but generated a lot of chances. Today, our combinations in the final third were really good.
“Our young players want to make a difference, they play with personality. Joe Willock scored and he made a lot of chances. If he keeps doing that consistently, he will get his chance.”
Here’s Neil Lennon, who is in the grip of a quiet, cold-eyed rage.
“We started OK but then got really ragged with the ball, we conceded from a set piece again. We were so lackadaisical, I don’t know where that performance came from. I can only apologise to the supporters. We get back into the game at 2-1, but conceded a really poor goal.
“The hungrier team won tonight, and that’s on the players. As a collective, as individuals, it was a very poor performance. There’s a definite lack of hunger there. It’s not acceptable, it’s not good enough. I can’t defend that. We have to change the attitude in the dressing room.”
Lennon is also informed that Mohamed Elyounoussi was seen looking at his phone in the stands after being subbed off. “He’d better not have been,” he whispers in genuinely menacing fashion. He goes on to describe the performance as “lackadaisical”, “lazy” and “insipid”.
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And here’s Jacob Steinberg on a mixed night for Arsenal:
Here’s Paul Doyle’s match report from the King Power:
Here’s Joe Willock, Arsenal’s standout player tonight: “The first half they played really well, we had to stick to the game plan and not get frustrated. I wasn’t making a mistake [with the goal], I had missed a couple of chances earlier! I’m a young kid trying to play, and make the most of every chance. I trust the manager. When I get the chance in the Premier League, I want to do my talking on the pitch.”
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Here’s Callum McGregor with a refreshingly honest appraisal of Celtic’s performance: “We cannot perform like that at this level. We were so disjointed, it was unbelievable. Everyone was trying to score, we were leaving two on two at the back. We started really poorly, and had to chase the game. You can’t lose 4-1 at home. It’s embarrassing.”
Full-time scores elsewhere
Milan 0-3 Lille
Royal Antwerp 0-1 Lask
Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 Wolfsberger
Feyenoord 3-1 CSKA Moscow
Crvena Zvezda 2-1 Gent
Zorya Luhansk 1-4 AEK Athens
Hoffenheim 5-0 Liberec
Villarreal 1-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv*
Young Boys 3-0 CSKA Sofia
*HT score; game delayed by bad weather
Full time: Leicester 4-0 Braga
Two for Kelechi Iheanacho as Leicester take charge of the group with another very impressive attacking display.
Full time: Arsenal 4-1 Molde
The visitors took the lead and posed plenty of problems, but Arsenal turned it around in style and are set fair to top their group.
Full time: Celtic 1-4 Sparta Prague
Sparta Prague were very good value and took their chances clinically, but this was an another grim, grim night for Celtic in Europe.
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GOAL! Celtic 1-4 Sparta Prague (Krejci 90)
Look away now, Celtic fans. Sparta play it around a static home defence, before Dockal’s deep cross is headed in by Krejci at the far post.
GOAL! Arsenal 4-1 Molde (Willock 88')
Joe Willock has worked really hard up front and deserves this goal. Elneny passes to Pepe, whose through ball allows Willock to fire into the roof of the net. Linde gets a hand to it, but can’t keep it out.
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Leke James, a forward signed from the Chinese second tier, has come on for Molde. His shot from 20 yards deflects off David Luiz and into the side netting with Leno wrong-footed.
Saka makes a risible mess of a chance from two yards out, and is relieved to see the offside flag go up. At Celtic Park, the hosts have rather given up the chase.
GOAL! Leicester 4-0 Braga (Maddison 78)
James Maddison gets on the scoresheet for Leicester, who are romping home in what looked a tough fixture on paper.
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Shane Duffy (I think) was all over the place there, getting turned inside out by David Karlsson, who crossed for Julis to tap in. At the Emirates, Kieran Tierney and Mohamed Elneny are on in place od Ceballos and Xhaka.
GOAL! Celtic 1-3 Sparta Prague (Julis 76')
Lille’s lead in Milan means Celtic really need something from tonight’s game ... but they’re not going to get it! Lukas Julis takes advantage of some Sunday league defending to complete his hat-trick on the break.
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Lille lead 3-0! It’s that man Yuzici again, completing his hat-trick. He’s now got six goals in three group games. Feyenoord have scored three in just nine minutes against CSKA Moscow, and Villarreal lead 1-0 in soggy Spain.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-1 Molde (Pepe 69')
More hot super-sub action as newcomer Bukayo Saka dances down the left and pulls back for Nicolas Pepe, moved back to the right but drifting centrally, who drills the ball home. Arsenal have got the job done!
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GOAL! Leicester 3-0 Braga (Praet 67')
An excellent night’s work for Leicester and Kelechi Iheanacho in particular. Here, he bursts into the box down the left and picks out substitute Dennis Praet, who sweeps home from five yards.
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Moments after Michal Sacek struck the post from long range for Sparta, Griffiths strikes on the rebound after Tom Rogic’s shot is blocked. Celtic back in it!
GOAL! Celtic 1-2 Sparta Prague (Griffiths 65')
An instant impact from substitute Leigh Griffiths!
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GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Molde (Sinyan own goal 63')
It’s another own goal, with half-time substitute Sheriff Sinyan the unfortunate party this time. It’s made by Joe Willock again, too - his cross from the right throwing the defender into a panic, his attempted clearance flying into the far corner!
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At Celtic Park, Shane Duffy makes a crucial tackle to stop Sparta Prague adding a third, before Jeremie Frimpong fires just wide for the hosts. Neil Lennon brings on Leigh Griffiths and Hatem Elhamed, replacing Brown and Elyounoussi.
Iheanacho draws a decent save from Matheus, with the impressive Cengiz Under sending the rebound over the bar. Lille lead 2-0 at San Siro, Yazici on target again. They are going top of Group H as it stands.
Big chance for Arsenal! Linde flaps at a cross and the ball lands at Kolasinac’s feet, five yards out - but he skews his shot over the bar. Yikes. That was a sitter.
Maddison is furious with Iheanacho after the forward tries a weak shot rather than play him in. Leicester almost pay the price immediately, Ruiz getting in behind but toe-poking his shot just wide.
GOAL! Leicester 2-0 Braga (Iheanacho 47')
It’s a second of the night for Kelechi Iheanacho! He collects a pass from Cengiz Under and tries to catch Matheus out at his near post. Instead, his shot takes a big deflection and loops inside the far post. Not that he’ll mind!
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Peep!
We are back under way around the grounds.
Here’s our report from Benfica v Rangers:
Here’s the rest of the half-time scores. Villarreal v Maccabi Tel Aviv was delayed by an hour due to torrential rain.
Milan 0-1 Lille
Royal Antwerp 0-0 Lask
Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Wolfsberger
Feyenoord 0-0 CSKA Moscow
Crvena Zvezda 1-1 Gent
Zorya Luhansk 0-2 AEK Athens
Hoffenheim 2-0 Liberec
Young Boys 3-0 CSKA Sofia
Half time! Arsenal 1-1 Molde
Arsenal have forced their way back into the game after Martin Ellingsen’s shock opener for the away side.
Half time! Celtic 0-2 Sparta Prague
An awful night at the office for Celtic so far.
Half time! Leicester 1-0 Braga
James Maddison so nearly doubles Leicester’s lead, but his low shot is palmed away by Matheus. Still, the Fozes go in ahead.
GOAL! Celtic 0-2 Sparta Prague (Julis 45')
Celtic’s European hopes may be fading away tonight. Lukas Julis gets his second just before half time, latching on to Adam Karabec’s through ball and finishing in style.
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GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Molde (Haugen og 45)
Now Arsenal do equalise! Willock is at the heart of things again, scurrying through the defence to meet Eddie Nketiah’s cross. He’s denied by Linde but the ball skids off Haugen’s knee, and rolls into the net!
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No goal! Pepe puts down the ukelele and fires in a low cross towards Willock, who is offside - but Eddie Nketiah isn’t, and he gets in first to score. The flag stays up though, with Willock interfering with play. Had he hung back, that would have counted.
Marc Albrighton gets booked for an unsightly lunge on Galeno. Over at the Emirates, the ball’s in the net ...
Celtic hit the bar! It’s Elyounoussi again, his effort clipping the top of the bar from Christie’s cross. Back in north London, Molde pose a question of their own, with Mustafi called upon to intercept Haugen’s low cross.
Arsenal are starting to cause a few problems, with Willian and Pepe switching wings. The former finds space for a cross, but lifts it over everyone waiting in the middle.
In Leicester’s group, AEK Athens have taken a 2-0 lead at Zorya Luhansk. In Celtic’s group, Yusuf Yazici’s penalty has Lille a goal up against Milan at San Siro.
“At this point, presumably Arteta would rather like the more senior members to step up a little bit; that means for example Pepe actually doing something positive rather than playing the ukulele out on the right hand side,” says Charles Antaki.
In the space where Pepe should be, Joe Willock makes inroads instead, beating Hussain, who is lucky not to bring him down. He wins a corner, which comes to nothing.
At the King Power, a Braga cross causes a spot of bother, with Hamza Choudhury slipping and almost putting his back-pass beyond Schmeichel. At the other end, Maddison fires just over from 25 yards out.
“David Luiz is taking Social Distancing to extremes,” notes Peter Littley. Indeed - as sweet a hit as it was, Ellingsen was given far too long to pick his spot.
GOAL! Celtic 0-1 Sparta Prague (Julis 26')
Oh, Celtic. Neil Lennon’s side had started brightly but fall behind from a corner. David Hancko’s header hits the post but Lukas Julis is first to the rebound!
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Villarreal v Maccabi Tel Aviv is on! As my colleague Philip Cornwall points out, it looks like perfect conditions for the Yellow Submarine...
It’s Martin Ellingsen who strikes at the Emirates after Bernd Leno’s hoof downfield is played back into his path. He steps forward and fires into the far corner from 20 yards out! Pick that one out...
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GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Molde (Ellingsen 23')
Well, well. Molde take the lead in brilliant style!
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GOAL! Leicester 1-0 Braga (Iheanacho 21')
A very well-taken, if slightly strange opener for Leicester! Iheanacho plays a one-two with Maddison, who is still moving gingerly and advances on Matheus from a narrow angle. His first cross/shot is saved but spilled, and he tucks in the rebound.
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Worrying scenes for Leicester fans as James Maddison goes down under a challenge from Elmusrati. He requires a spell of treatment, but is able to continue. Meanwhile, Arsenal v Molde is held up while the assistant ref adjusts his earpiece. Modern football, eh?
Celtic are up against Sparta Prague, the Czech league leaders. Both teams are winless after two Europa League games. Sparta have a free kick after Scott Brown’s handball but Celtic break, Elyounoussi eventually prodding wide after a goalmouth melee.
At the Emirates, Pepe shanks a cross behind goal as Arsenal struggle to get going. Braga have started positively, their front three pressing the home defence.
A potential postponement at Villarreal, where torrential rain means the kick-off time for their game against Maccabi Tel-Aviv has been provisionally put back to 10pm local (9pm GMT). A final decision will be made in the next few minutes; it doesn’t look great.
#UEL | Ay, mare 🤦♂️... pic.twitter.com/TbPh1uAuj4
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) November 5, 2020
Leicester are up against Braga in a game that will likely decide who tops their group. The Portuguese side are managed by none other than Carlos Carvalhal. Early on, a hopeful through ball finds Iheanacho, who gets shoved over near the corner flag by Braga keeper Matheus, a long old way off his line.
Early chance for Arsenal! Pepe plays in Nketiah, who closes in on goal but lifts his shot just beyond the far post.
Here’s Louise Taylor on a landmark night for Harry Kane:
Thanks, Scott. The games are under way at the King Power, the Emirates and Celtic Park.
And with that, I’ll hand over to Niall McVeigh, who will take you by the hand and lead you through the 8pm kick-offs. Big games for Arsenal, Celtic and Leicester City coming up. Thanks for reading.
Here are the results of all the 5.55pm kick-offs:
A: Roma 5-0 Cluj
B: Rapid Vienna 4-2 Dundalk
C: Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2-4 Bayer Leverkusen; Slavia Prague 3-2 Nice
D: Benfica 3-3 Rangers, Lech Poznan 3-1 Standard Liege
E: Omonia Nicosia 0-2 Granada; PAOK Salonika 4-1 PSV Eindhoven
F: HNK Rikjeka 1-2 Napoli; Real Sociedad 1-0 AZ Alkmaar
I: Sivasspor 2-0 Qarabag
J: Ludogorets 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur
FULL TIME: Benfica 3-3 Rangers
Thing is, Rangers would have been perfectly happy with a point at the start of the evening. But that should have been three points for Steven Gerrard’s side. Benfica look relieved; Rangers, to a man, appear a little stunned. That’s a sickener ... though when it all comes down, they should take pride in their overall performance. And hey, it’s a lesson learned.
GOAL! Benfica 3-3 Rangers (Nunez 90+1)
Benfica have salvaged their unbeaten Europa League home record! Nunez scampers clear down the middle and slots powerfully into the bottom right. McGregor never had a chance. Rangers should have been out of sight ... but now look!
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FULL TIME: Ludogorets 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs get their Europa League campaign back on track with a solid if unspectacular win in Bulgaria.
Spurs have been pretty quiet since Lo Celso restored their two-goal lead. Bergwijn mooches down the left and rolls an inviting pass across the face of goal. Vinicius makes no real attempt to connect. A chance of a confidence-boosting goal sails away.
Rangers have regained a little composure and are playing keep-ball right now. Game management from the top drawer. Benfica can’t get a touch right now.
Benfica suddenly look like ten-and-a-half men. Rafa Silva’s goal has also taken a little wind out of the Rangers sail. The lovely free-flowing stuff of earlier is no more. It’s going to be a long ten minutes.
GOAL! Benfica 2-3 Rangers (Silva 76)
Helander allows Nunez to dribble into the box from the left. Nunez reaches the byline and cuts back for Rafa Silva, who can’t miss from a couple of yards. For all Rangers’ dominance, this is suddenly back on!
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Incidentally, Morelos’s goal tonight is his 22nd in European competition for Rangers ... and that’s a new club record. Ally McCoist, now second on the list, will no doubt console himself with the 20 trophies he won at Ibrox. Morelos is still stuck on zero ... though the way Rangers are playing this season, there’s a fair chance he’ll get hold of some silver soon.
A fourth Rangers goal seems just a matter of time. Tavernier and Arfield combine crisply down the inside-right channel, but the latter overruns when put through. Rangers are playing some lovely football, albeit with the old against-ten-men caveat.
Kent tries to curl one into the bottom right from the edge of the box. He’s inches wide. Up the other end, McGregor has had very little to do since picking the ball out of his net after 60 seconds or so.
Spurs and Rangers both look completely comfortable at the minute. The minutes drift by.
Kent should make it four for Rangers. It’s a lovely move, Morelos fizzing a pass inside from the left for Jack, who dinks a defence-splitter down the middle for Kent. He draws the keeper and slips the ball past him, but off the base of the right-hand post. Benfica are all over the shop here.
GOAL! Ludogorets 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Lo Celso 62)
Spurs throw on Son Heung-min. He’s immediately sent scampering into the box down the inside-left channel by Hojbjerg, He unselfishly rolls into the centre for Lo Celso, who taps home. Seventeen seconds that took Son. He really is an incredible force of nature.
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Spurs are no longer playing with their first-half sass. Ludogorets are giving this a good go. By contrast, Rangers are pressing forward looking for the fourth goal that would categorically do for Benfica. They’re playing with the sort of confidence that only comes when you’re on a nine-game winning run.
An immediate warning for Rangers: this isn’t over yet. Rafa Silva sashays down the inside-right channel and into the box. He’s one on one with McGregor, but pulls his shot across the face of goal when it was surely easier to score. Rangers’ two-goal cushion remains.
GOAL! Benfica 1-3 Rangers (Morelos 51)
Tavernier races down the right and crosses low for Morelos, who tries his best to miss from a couple of yards. But he sidefoots high into the net, and Rangers are in control now! This is a fine performance, albeit one inspired by the antics of Nicolas Otamendi.
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Spurs nearly hit back immediately, Lo Celso scampering down the left and cutting back for the sub Vinicius ... who leans back and hoicks over from ten yards. What a chance.
GOAL! Ludogorets 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Keseru 50)
Hello! Where did this come from? Tekpetey cuts in from the right and takes a shot. It balloons up off a defender and drops to Keseru, alone and onside. He slams past Hart from six yards. If they ask nicely, can Spurs put Kane back on?
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A change for Spurs at half time. Harry Kane gets a chance to kick back ahead of Sunday’s game at West Bromwich Albion. Carlos Vinicius takes his place. According to the good folk at BT Sport, Kane’s 200th goal, scored in his 300th game, is his 100th away from home. That’s a very satisfying set of figures.
Celtic: Bain, Frimpong, Duffy, Bitton, Laxalt, Brown, McGregor, Christie, Rogic, Elyounoussi, Edouard.
Subs: Barkas, Taylor, Griffiths, Ajeti, Klimala, Soro, Turnbull, Ntcham, Elhamed, Henderson, Welsh, Hazard.
Sparta Prague: Nita, Vindheim, Pavelka, Plechaty, Hancko, Sacek, Polidar, Karabec, Moberg Karlsson, Julis.
Subs: Gabriel, Patrak, Kotek, Vitik, Celustka, Ladislav Krejci, Dockal, Lischka, Plavsic, Travnik.
Celtic are unchanged. The XI who started the Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen go again.
Arsenal: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Mustafi, Luiz, Kolasinac, Willian, Ceballos, Xhaka, Pepe, Willock, Nketiah.
Subs: Bellerin, Tierney, Gabriel, Saka, Lacazette, Runarsson, Aubameyang, Holding, Cedric, Thomas, Elneny, Macey.
Molde: Linde, Wingo, Bjornbak, Gregersen, Haugen, Aursnes, Eikrem, Hussain, Ellingsen, Omoijuanfo, Bolly.
Subs: Risa, Sinyan, Mostrom, James, Craninx, Knudtzon, Christensen, Brynhildsen, Ranmark, Pedersen.
Arsenal make 10 changes from Sunday’s 1-0 win at Manchester United, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Thomas Partey are rested. Only goalkeeper Bernd Leno keeps his place. Eddie Nketiah, Nicolas Pepe, Willian and Granit Xhaka are recalled, the latter as captain.
All the half-time scores from the 5.55pm kick-offs:
A: Roma 3-0 Cluj
B: Rapid Vienna 1-1 Dundalk
C: Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen; Slavia Prague 2-1 Nice
D: Benfica 1-2 Rangers, Lech Poznan 2-1 Standard Liege
E: Omonia Nicosia 0-1 Granada; PAOK Salonika 0-1 PSV Eindhoven
F: HNK Rikjeka 1-1 Napoli; Real Sociedad 0-0 AZ Alkmaar
I: Sivasspor 1-0 Qarabag
J: Ludogorets 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
HALF TIME: Benfica 1-2 Rangers
Two own goals. One red card. Rangers are 45 minutes away from making it three out of three in Group D.
HALF TIME: Ludogorets 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs have been completely dominant in Bulgaria. Harry Kane and Lucas Moura with a goal and an assist apiece.
All falls quiet in Lisbon and Razgrad. Both British teams will be perfectly happy to see this through to half-time.
Spurs go so close to a third. Doherty crosses deep from the right. Bale heads back across for Kane, who tries to guide a header into the top left. Too close to the keeper. Kane comes again and has a bash from a tight angle on the right. The keeper stops that one too. Spurs are enjoying themselves here.
The rain is belting down in Lisbon. Benfica are soaked and looking very sorry for themselves. Rangers by contrast couldn’t be happier if the sun was shining bright. Kent crosses from the left and Aribo should really do better than shouldering the ball wide right from eight yards. A firm header and it would surely have been three.
GOAL! Ludogorets 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Moura 32)
Kane turns provider, as is his wont so often these days. He’s pinged clear down the right. He rolls the ball across the face of the six-yard box for Lucas Moura, who can’t miss. No more than Spurs deserve.
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All credit to Rangers, though. They refused to capitulate after that nightmare start, and now look dangerous pretty much every time they go forward. Steven Gerrard will be pleased with his team’s display of moxie.
Nicolas Otamendi, though. A penny for the thoughts of Manchester City supporters worldwide. It’s safe to say his Benfica career hasn’t started particularly well. He was at fault for a couple of goals on his debut for the club, and look what he’s done now. Benfica’s long unbeaten Europa League home record is in serious peril now.
GOAL! Benfica 1-2 Rangers (Kamara 25)
Morelos switches play right to left. Kamara drops a shoulder to move infield and flashes cleverly into the bottom left. Vlachodimos in the Benfica goal had no chance!
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GOAL! Benfica 1-1 Rangers (Goncalves og 24)
Almost immediately, Rangers are level! Tavernier is sent scampering down the right. He fires low and hard into the mixer. Goncalves takes a wild swipe at the ball and shanks high into the net. It’s one own goal apiece!
RED CARD! Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica)
The former Manchester City defender is sent packing, having clipped the ankles of Ryan Kent as the Rangers man skedaddled clear towards goal. He can have no complaint, though makes one anyway. The referee’s not changing his mind, and off he goes. The resulting free kick is no good, but it’s advantage Rangers now.
Lucas Moura, who has an assist to his name having taken the corner that led to Kane’s opener, nearly notches in the goal column as well. He whip-cracks a surprise daisycutter towards the bottom left. He’s caught the keeper off guard, but the ball whistles inches wide of the post. A fine effort ... Tottenham’s eighth of the match already.
That was Kane’s 200th goal in a Tottenham shirt, incidentally. He’s reached the milestone in just 300 appearances. No wonder he’s an official Guardian one to watch!
Rangers haven’t done much in attack so far. Alfredo Morelos races down the right and rolls across to Ryan Kent, who miscontrols on the edge of the Benfica D. But that’s about it. Up the other end, Pizzi cut in from the left and shot across the face of goal. Inches wide with Allan McGregor beaten.
GOAL! Ludogorets 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Kane 13)
Kane could have had two already. It’s third time lucky as he plants a close-range header home from a left-wing corner. Spurs have been very impressive in these opening exchanges, and there’s their reward.
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A big goal in Arsenal’s group. Patrick Hoban has opened the scoring for Dundalk at Rapid Vienna in the seventh minute. Meanwhile in Bulgaria ...
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It’s all Spurs at the minute. A free kick out on the right. Gareth Bale fancies it and stands over the ball with great purpose. He curls over the wall and back down towards the bottom right. The keeper does extremely well to tip around for a corner, with the ball moving all over the shop and dipping. Nothing comes of the corner, but in a parallel universe, Spurs are already 3-0 up. Mourinho will be happy enough with the way his players are responding to that aforementioned pre-match pep-talk.
Back in Bulgaria, Kane hits the post! He creams a stunning no-backlift effort off the base of the right-hand post from 20 yards. Plamen Iliev in the Ludogorets goal was beaten all ends up, but the ball clanks away from danger.
GOAL! Benfica 1-0 Rangers (Goldson og 1)
A dismal start for Rangers as Filip Helander freezes near a loose ball, allowing Rafa Silva to zip into the box on the right. He reaches the byline and cuts back, the ball clanking off Connor Goldson, who can’t sort his feet out, and in. A couple of huge errors in the Rangers defence.
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Here we go then. Ludogorets, the champions of Bulgaria, get the match underway in Bulgaria. And inside the first 90 seconds, Harry Kane blazes over the bar when clear in the box, found by a gloriously impudent Harry Winks chip. Spurs should be leading.
Steven Gerrard’s pre-match patter. “It’s a massive test for us, a big challenge. They’ve got a very technical side. Having said that, we know what we need to do to get a result. We need to defend really well, be strong and organised, and execute ourselves when our chances come. We have full respect for Benfica, but at the same time I want my players to back themselves, I want to see personality. One or two teams have asked questions of Benfica in the games I have watched, and I want mine to do the same.”
Jose Mourinho tells BT Sport that he’s only just spoken to his players about last week’s defeat. “Since that match I didn’t speak about it. Only today. I tried to do it in a strong way, for their attitude to be different, and to understand that playing Spurs is a great motivation for these clubs, and if we don’t match that commitment we are going to be in trouble again.”
Spurs could do with a result in Razgrad after last week’s dismal defeat at Royal Antwerp. They’ll be buoyed by Ludogorets’ record against English teams: played four, lost three, drawn one. They met Arsenal in the group stages of the Champions League in 2016, going two up at home in 15 minutes before eventually losing 3-2; Arsenal stuffed them 6-0 in London. The Bulgarians did rather better against Liverpool in 2014, losing at Anfield to a last-minute penalty, and holding Brendan Rodgers’ side at home. They’re currently top of the Bulgarian league with a game in hand, but they’re bottom of Group J having lost their first two matches.
It’s a big ask for Rangers this evening at the Estádio da Luz. Benfica have a 100 percent success rate at home against visitors from Scotland, having beaten Celtic four times (1969, 2006, 2007, 2012) and Heart of Midlothian once (1960). And they’ve never been beaten at home in the Europa League, a run that stretches to 24 matches, including 20 victories.
On the other hand, the Light Blues have some notable recent history against Portuguese opposition: they beat both Porto and Braga in last year’s competition. Also, Benfica are coming off the back of a 3-0 battering at Boavista, so hopes of maintaining their 100 percent record in Group D are far from pie in the sky.
Benfica: Vlachodimos, Goncalves, Otamendi, Vertonghen, Tavares, Weigl, Rafa Silva, Pizzi, Taarabt, Everton, Seferovic.
Subs: Svilar, Gilberto, Grimaldo, Pires, Nunez, Waldschmidt, Cervi, Chiquinho, Jardel, Helton Leite, Goncalo Ramos, Ferro.
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Davis, Jack, Aribo, Kamara, Morelos, Kent.
Subs: Ughelumba, Hagi, Itten, Patterson, Barker, Stewart, Roofe, Balogun, McLaughlin, Barjonas, Arfield, Dickson.
Two changes for Rangers, who are looking to win their tenth consecutive game in all competitions. Scott Arfield and Cedric Itten make way for Glen Kamara and Steven Davis.
Ludogorets: Iliev, Ikoko, Terziev, Verdon, Nedyalkov, Badji, Abel, Manu, Cauly, Yankov, Keseru.
Subs: Cicinho, Santana, Tchibota, Stoyanov, Moti, Josue Sa, Tekpetey, Mitkov, Yordanov.
Tottenham Hotspur: Hart, Doherty, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Sissoko, Winks, Bale, Lo Celso, Lucas Moura, Kane.
Subs: Lloris, Hojbjerg, Sanchez, Son, Alli, Bergwijn, Ndombele, Austin, Vinicius, Clarke, White, Cirkin.
Harry Kane and Gareth Bale both start in Bulgaria. Son Heung-min gets a rest on the bench.
Preamble
Welcome to our rolling coverage of tonight’s Europa League action. Here are the 5.55pm GMT kick-offs:
A: Roma v Cluj
B: Rapid Vienna v Dundalk
C: Hapoel Be’er Sheva v Bayer Leverkusen; Slavia Prague v Nice
D: Benfica v Rangers, Lech Poznan v Standard Liege
E: Omonia Nicosia v Granada; PAOK Salonika v PSV Eindhoven
F: HNK Rikjeka v Napoli; Real Sociedad v AZ Alkmaar
I: Sivasspor v Qarabag
J: Ludogorets v Tottenham Hotspur
We’ll be concentrating on the results of the US election Spurs and Rangers matches, but of course should fun break out elsewhere we’ll keep you posted about that too. The games involving Arsenal, Celtic and Leicester City kick off at 8pm GMT, but first things first. It’s Matchday Three of the 2020-21 Europa League. It’s on!
