IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
IMAGE: Manchester United’s Harry Maguire in action during the match against FC Porto at Estadio do Dragao, Porto, Portugal. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters
Harry Maguire’s stoppage-time header earned Manchester United a dramatic 3-3 draw at Porto in the Europa League group stage on Thursday as Tottenham Hotspur won 2-1 at Ferencvaros.
England defender Maguire, a late substitute, salvaged a point for his team who led 2-0 after 20 minutes before conceding three goals and having their captain Bruno Fernandes sent off to stand on the verge of another damaging defeat.
Marcus Rashford put United ahead in the seventh minute and Rasmus Hojlund added a second, but Porto quickly narrowed the gap through Pepe’s header and Samu Omorodion equalised before halftime and put Porto ahead five minutes into the second half with a close-range strike.
Ferencvaros grabbed a consolation goal in stoppage time through Varga, but it was not enough to deny Spurs victory in their first-ever match against Hungarian opponents.
IMAGE: Tottenham Hotspur’s Brennan Johnson celebrates with Yves Bissouma after scoring their second goal against Ferencvaros at Groupama Arena, Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters
Spurs claimed a 2-1 win at Ferencvaros thanks to goals in each half from Pape Sarr and Brennan Johnson.
Senegalese midfielder Sarr opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, taking advantage of a loose ball to calmly slot a precise right-foot shot into the far corner and substitute Johnson doubled the lead for the English side four minutes from time with a left-foot strike from inside the box.
Anderlecht won 2-1 at Real Sociedad who took an early lead through Pablo Marin before Luis Vazquez and Theo Leoni scored for the Belgian side to turn the game around.
The match was briefly halted in the first half as visiting fans hurled objects on to the pitch from the lower stand, resulting in the arrest of two Anderlecht supporters.
In Rome, Taty Castellanos, celebrating his 26th birthday, struck twice to lead Lazio to a convincing 4-1 home victory over Nice. Pedro Rodriguez and a penalty from Mattia Zaccagni completed the rout.
IMAGE: Action from the match between Ajax Amsterdam and Slavia Prague. Photograph: Kind courtesy AFC Ajax/X
Ajax Amsterdam were held to a 1-1 draw by Slavia Prague in the Czech capital, with Branco van den Boomen scoring an early penalty for the Dutch team and Tomas Chory equalising in the second half for the hosts. Ajax’s Youri Baas was sent off in the closing stages.
Earlier, Czech police detained several Ajax Amsterdam fans after a group of them tried to break into Slavia Prague’s Eden Park stadium without tickets ahead of their Europa League match on Thursday.
“Policemen in heavy riot gear had to resolve the situation using coercive measures, and several fans were detained,” police said on social media network X.
Several hundred fans gathered in Prague’s Old Town Square and police found knives, baseball bats and batons left on site before the supporters took the underground to the stadium.
In other results, Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette struck twice each as Olympique Lyonnais hammered Scottish side Rangers 4-1 in Glasgow.
Swedish club IF Elfsborg secured a surprise 1-0 home win over AS Roma after forward Tommaso Baldanzi’s handball in the box led to a penalty which captain Michael Baidoo slotted home late in the first half.
Inaki Williams was at the heart of Athletic Bilbao’s 2-0 home win over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
His brother Nico provided a superb cross for the striker to tap home and midfielder Oihan Sancet doubled the lead four minutes from time.
