Europa League Roundup: Wolves Qualify for Knockouts

Manchester United faced Astana, while Arsenal played in a barely half full Emirates and Wolves traveled to Portugal for another European adventure.

Scottish sides Celtic and Rangers were both in strong positions before matchday five kicked off.

Celtic already qualified for the knockout stages, and were instead playing for first place in their group. They beat French side Rennes with Lewis Morgan and Ryan Christie both scoring in the first half. Adrien Hunou pulled one back for the Ligue 1 team.

Lazio beat Cluj 1-0 in the group’s other game,  ​Arsenal fans stayed away from their game against Eintracht Frankfurt in protest at their recent poor performances. Eintracht’s fans were banned from attending.

Arsenal only needed a point to secure qualification, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave the Gunners the lead, however, Daichi Kamada leveled for his side and scored again in the second half. Arsenal still have work to do to reach the last 32, with a trip to Standard Liege.

Rangers’ Europa League took another big leap towards knockout stage qualification with a draw at Feyenoord. Luis Sinisterra brought the score to 2-2, but a point still leaves Rangers leading the group by a point. They will qualify if they avoid defeat against Young Boys at Ibrox.

Wolves knew a draw would be enough to take them out of Group K against hosts Braga at the top of the standings.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer elected to take a young ​Manchester United squad to Kazakhstan for their clash with Astana. However, Dmitriy Shomko’s strike and Di’Shon Bernard’s own goal ensured a first victory of the Europa League campaign for Astana, leaving United needing to avoid defeat against AZ Alkmaar in their final group game to secure top spot.

AZ secure their spot in the next stage with a 2-2 draw against Partizan Belgrade, the hosts coming from behind thanks to Ferdy Druijf’s brace after having Myron Boadu sent off.