Dundalk bowed out of their first Europa League group stage campaign after losing 2-1 at Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Group D although events elsewhere would have made their effort irrelevant had they won. Tal Ben Chaim opened the scoring from the spot for the Israeli side and, although Eli Dasa’s own-goal squared things up, Dor Miha provided the winner before half-time. It mattered not, as AZ Alkmaar came up with the win they needed to guarantee progression, beating the group winners, Zenit St Petersburg 3-2.
The matchday’s biggest drama came in Turkey, where Gent scored four minutes into added time to defeat Konyaspor 1-0. Souleymane Coulibaly scored the goal and it meant the Belgian side leapfrogged Braga, who lost 4-2 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk. Gent join Shakhtar, who finished top of Group H with a 100% record, in the last 16.
The Romanian minnows Astra Giurgiu, who knocked West Ham out in the play-off round, continued their fine run by squeezing through as runners-up in Group E. They held Roma, who topped the quartet, to a goalless draw and stayed ahead of Austria Wien, who had seemed home and dry when they went 2-0 up at Viktoria Plzen but saw the Czech side – who were already eliminated – come back to win 3-2 and in effect knock them out of the competition.
Villarreal progressed from Group L after beating Steaua Bucharest 2-1 at home, a superb late chip from Manu Trigueros earning them the points after the visitors’ Vlad Achim had cancelled out Nicola Sansone’s opener. It meant Steaua were knocked out along with Zurich, who lost 2-0 at the surprise group winners, Osmanlispor.
The Group F match between Sassuolo and Genk was postponed due to fog and will be played at lunchtime on Friday. Three points for Genk would see them win the group – overtaking Athletico Bilbao, who drew 1-1 at Rapid Vienna – but Sassuolo’s elimination is already sealed.
The 12 group winners and 12 runners up will be joined in the last 32 by eight third-placed teams from the Champions League. Besiktas, FC Copenhagen, Legia Warsaw, Ludogorets, Lyon, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Rostov and Tottenham all enter Monday’s draw.
