UEFA Europa League: Brighton, Marseille, West Ham United, and Liverpool move on to the round of sixteen. With a game remaining, Liverpool defeated Austria’s LASK 4-0 on Thursday, thanks to goals from Luis Díaz and Cody Gakpo in the first half. This victory sent them into the Europa League round of 16.
At Anfield, the first goal came from a cross from Joe Gomez, which was headed in by Daz, and three minutes later, Mohamed Salah’s pass was tapped in by Gakpo. With his 199th goal for the Reds, Salah made it 3-0 early in the second half. In stoppage time, Gakpo scored his second goal.
With 12 points, Liverpool leads Group E by four points. Following a goalless draw with Union Saint-Gilloise, Toulouse is ranked second on eight.
After five games, Leverkusen was still the only team with a perfect record. With a goal apiece from Victor Boniface and substitute Patrik Schick, the team won 2-0 at Hacken in Group H to advance to the round of 16.
West Ham defeated TSC Backa Topola 1-0 and advanced to the next round of matches thanks to another late goal from Tomáũá Soucek.
In the 89th minute in Serbia, the midfielder volleyed home the winning goal after meeting Maxwel Cornet’s cross at the far post.
In the Premier League on Saturday, Soucek—who has scored in five straight games—snatched a 2-1 victory for West Ham over Burnley with a stoppage-time goal.
West Ham and Freiburg, of Germany, who destroyed Olympiacos 5-0, are tied atop Group A. By the 36th minute, Michael Gregoritsch had scored three goals. Ritsu Doan and Kiliann Sildillia both added goals. Each of the winners has twelve points.
The Hammers can win the group and avoid a two-leg playoff in February if they defeat Freiburg on December 14 in London with a single point.
Brighton defeated 10-man AEK 1-0 in Athens thanks to a Jo£o Pedro penalty kick, advancing them from Group B.
Pedro scored his fifth goal of the season after being fouled in the box and sending goalkeeper Cican Stankovic the wrong way. Mijat Gacinovic, a midfield player for the hosts, was sent off for a second time in the 65th minute.
In a 4-3 victory over a 10-man Ajax, Marseille forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat trick that included two penalties, one in stoppage time, and an incredible overhead kick. With 11 points, Marseille leads Group B. Brighton is behind by one. Third-place AEK now has four points, while Ajax has two.
In Europe’s second-tier competition, the eight group winners advance directly to the round of 16, while a team that finishes in second place only advances to a playoff, where it will face teams that were eliminated from the Champions League as third-place finishers in their respective groups.
Despite a 1-1 home draw with Sporting Lisbon, Atalanta went straight to the round of 16. Gianluca Scamacca’s first goal was answered by Marcus, a substitute player. Group D was won by Atalanta with 11 points. At eight, Sporting comes in second.
After a 3-2 victory at Sheriff in Tiraspol, Roma’s 1-1 draw at Servette in Geneva allowed Slavia Prague to secure the top spot in Group G. With one game left, Roma is two points behind the Czech squad.
In Group C, Sparta defeated Real Betis 1-0 in Prague thanks to a curling shot from the edge of the area in the second half, which preserved the Czech team’s hopes of finishing in the top two.
The European Conference League.
With a 2-1 road victory at Eintracht Frankfurt, Greece’s PAOK joined Viktoria Plzen as the Group G winners in the round of 16.
In Group C, the Czechs have won five out of five games after winning 1-0 at Ballkani.
Aston Villa defeated Legia Warsaw 2-1 to take the lead in Group E. At Villa Park, Moussa Diaby and Álex Moreno each scored a goal, with Ernest Muçi netting for the visitors. To secure the top spot in the group, Villa needed to win by a margin of at least two goals.
Club Brugge led Group D with 13 points after thrashing Besiktas 5-0 in Turkey. Bodo/Glimt defeated Lugano 5-2, but they are now behind by three.
Clubs that place first are guaranteed a place in the round of sixteen, while those that place second go into a Europa League playoff with third-place finishers.
