Seria A giants Inter Milan delivered a dominating 5-0 win against Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk on Monday night to secure themselves a spot in UEFA’s Europa League Finals. Inter will now face Sevilla on August 21st in a match for all the marbles.

The first half started slower than expected, but a sudden burst of energy from Inter’s Nicolo Barella on the right flank resulted in a change on the scoreboard. Barella made a great run and delivered a well-measured cross to the penalty box, making it easy for striker Lautaro Martinez to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.

After getting ahead, Inter didn’t back down and had several good chances to double their lead. Shakhtar, on the other hand, tried to get level but suffered from lack of creativity at the front and went on break still behind.

The Ukrainian champion seemed still in the game early in the second period, trying to make something happen while Inter decided to sit back and hunt counters. This proved to be the right choice for the Italians, as they soon went on an impressive scoring spree.

 Danilo D’Ambrosio first made it 2-0 in 64th, only for Martinez to score his second just 10 minutes later.  Then, Romelu Lukaku joined in the party and scored a brace in 78th and 83rd to set the final score of 5-0.

“The players knew that I believed in a great end to the season for us,” said Inter’s manager Antonio Conte after the game. “We worked very hard, and we learned from our mistakes during the season. We finished second in Serie A and now we have reached the Europa League final. Let’s enjoy this moment before preparing for the final.”

Against Sevilla, Inter will go for their fourth UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup trophy. Their last win in the competition came during the 1997/98 season.

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It looks like Manchester United just can’t get to finals this season. After previously being eliminated in Carabao Cup and FA Cup during the semi-finals, they now experienced the same fate in UEFA Europa League following a 2-1 loss to Sevilla on Sunday night.

United struggled in QF against F.C. Copenhagen, needing a penalty in overtime to advance to the next stage. In the match with Sevilla, however, they looked a lot better and managed to get to lead in the 9th minute.

Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford delivered a great piece of one-two play in the penalty box, after which Sevilla’s defender Diego Carlos tackled Rashford in the forbidden area. Referee Felix Brych showed to the spot, and Bruno Fernandes confidently converted.

But the Premier League side couldn’t keep the lead too long, as Suso scored in 26th minute to give Sevilla an equalizer for 1-1. This ended up being the score for the first half.

In the second half, Manchester United had a chance to get ahead, but Martial, Rashford, Fernandes, and Fred all failed to score from tremendous opportunities thanks to Sevilla’s goalie Yassine Bounou. After weathering through a period of United’s dominance, La Liga club decided to strike back and managed to get to lead thanks to a 78th-minute goal from super-sub Luuk De Jong.

The result didn’t change until the end, and Sevilla celebrated an inspiring 2-1 comeback win while Man Utd had to head home.

“I feel like I’ve been hugged by joy. We know what this side has been through, today included, and we’ve got such a resilience against such intensity,” said Sevilla’s manager Julen Lopetegui.

Sevilla advanced to their sixth UEFA Europa League (UEFA Cup) finals. They won the competition in all five previous attempts.

This defeat means that Man Utd haven’t won a trophy for three consecutive seasons, which is their longest drought since the ‘80s.

“It’s difficult. The boys are devastated,“ said United’s captain Harry Maguire. “We created numerous chances. The best team lost. They punished us for missing chances. They didn’t make many chances to be honest.“

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The UEFA Europa League resumed its 2019/20 season on Wednesday night with four round-of-16 matches. Manchester United, F.C. Copenhagen, Shakhtar, and Inter Milan all recorded wins to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Manchester United hosted LASK on Old Trafford and recorded a 2-1 comeback win thanks to goals from Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial. United went through to the next stage with a total result of 7-1, after winning the first match 5-0. 

Shakhtar got a 3-0 win against Wolfsburg in Kyiv, having entered the game with ש 2-1 lead from the first leg. The interesting thing is that Ukrainian champions scored all of their goals after the 89th minute.

F.C. Copenhagen, on the other hand, managed to save themselves from elimination after losing the first leg 1-0 to Istanbul Basaksehir back in March. The Danish club got a dominating 3-0 victory at their home stadium and secured the place in QFs of European Competition for the first time in their history. 

In the fourth match of the evening, Inter and Getafe met on a neutral field in Gelsenkirchen in a one-off elimination game. Italian club ended up being the better side, ending the match in their favor thanks to goals from Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen.

Manchester United is now set to meet Copenhagen in quarterfinals, while Shakhtar Donetsk faces the better side from round-of-16 pair Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Basel. Inter will play the winner from Rangers vs. Leverkusen.

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Europa League is set to follow the Champions League model for the 2019 /20 season resume. UEFA confirmed on Wednesday that the competition will wrap up with a knockout tournament in Germany in August.

According to the announcement, the remaining stages of the Europa League will take place in Cologne, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, and Gelsenkirchen, with the quarterfinals set to start on August 10th. All matches will be played as single-elimination matches with the Finals match being scheduled for August 21st.

As of now, fans won’t be able to attend the matches. However, UEFA explained that the final decision will be made by the end of July according to the state of the coronavirus pandemic.

The teams that will take part in the Europa League knockout tournament in Germany will be determined through a Round of 16 matches that will take place at originally scheduled venues between August 5th and August 6th.

The teams that have already played the first leg of Round of 16 will proceed with the second leg as previously planned, and the standard rules of home and away goals will apply.

In duels Sevilla vs. AS Roma and Inter vs. Getafe, the clubs will play just one game, with the winner proceeding to the next phase. These clubs didn’t manage to play the first leg games before the competition got suspended due to coronavirus pandemic. 

The post Europa League to Wrap up the Season in Germany With a Knockout Tournament appeared first on SportzBonanza.

UEFA reportedly came up with a plan to resume the Champions League and Europa League, two main European club competitions. According to ESPN, both competitions could wrap up as “mini-tournaments” held over two weeks on one location.

The standard format of away and home games present in European club competitions isn’t considered a viable option anymore due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus. This is why UEFA came up with a plan to have a centralized competition, described by BILD as a “World Cup-style” tournament in order to crown a champion. The competitions would resume from round-of-16, with later stages assuming knock-out format.  

This year’s UEFA Champions League finale was set to take place in Istanbul, but the city reportedly isn’t in consideration due to restrictions imposed by the Turkish government. Instead, Lisbon, Frankfurt, and Moscow emerged as the main options to host the tournament.

Lisbon is viewed as a favorite among the three cities, as it offers two stadiums and complexes in Benfica’s Estadio da Luz and Sporting CP’s Estadio Jose Alvalade. The stadiums are also just a few miles within each other, giving UEFA more scheduling options.

The Eintracht Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Arena in Germany is also an appealing option for UEFA, due to travel benefits and the stadium’s high-end facilities.

The final decisions about the Champions League and Europa League will most likely be made in late June when all other details should be revealed.

The post UEFA Considers Resuming Champions League and Europa League appeared first on SportzBonanza.

In the midst of the current coronavirus virus that is wreaking havoc on sports all over the globe, Europe’s soccer organizing body has made the decision to put the Champions League and Europa League finals on hold indefinitely.

UEFA announced that the competitions would be put on hold in the midst of the Round of 16 ties in the Champions League and the Europa League.

Now, with no end to the pandemic in sight, UEFA has had to put the finals of both of the tournaments on hold until the situation improves.

The Champions League Final, a title for which 12 teams are still vying, was originally scheduled to be held at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Saturday, May 30th.

The Europa League Final, which was also put on hold, was scheduled to be held in Poland at Gdansk’s Stadion Energa Gdańsk on Wednesday, May 27th.

For now, teams are simply in “wait and see” mode when it comes to both domestic and continental competitions. All European soccer leagues (with the exception of the Belarussian Premier League) have been suspended until further notice.

UEFA hopes to play the finals for both competitions at some point in the summer, but that looks far from a certainty at this point.

The post UEFA Champions League, Europa League Finals Postponed Indefinitely appeared first on SportzBonanza.

This year’s UEFA Europa League is yet another exciting edition of the secondary continental soccer competition on the continent of Europe.

After an unpredictable Round of 32, which saw tournament heavyweights such as Arsenal and Ajax knocked out of the competition, anything could happen in the competition’s upcoming Round of 16,

With this group of teams left in the field, let’s take a look at the top four favorites for this season’s Europa League crown.

Manchester United

The Red Devils might not be the mighty team that they once were, but they still look like one of the best teams in this year’s Europa League contest.

A favorable draw against Austrian side LASK Linz has put them in a good position to reach the semi-finals. Not many teams have the likes of players such as Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Jesse Lingard in their ranks, even if Man U sometimes plays beneath expectations.

Inter Milan

Inter Milan got a rough draw against Getafe, the team that knocked Ajax out of the competition in the Round of 32, but Antonio Conte’s team has plenty of options to go far and even win the tournament.

Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku form a duo of deadly forwards that are capable of exploding and scoring multiple goals on any given night. The winter loan deal for Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen was a huge boost for the squad, which has its hopes set high.

Getafe

Pepe Bordalas’s Getafe might not have the name recognition of some of the other teams in this competition, but this La Liga side is for real.

Currently in fourth place in Spain’s La Liga, Getafe took care of Ajax in the Round of 32 and now has a massive Round of 16 bout with Inter ahead of them. If any team can stop a front line as talented as Inter’s, it’s Getafe, which has one of the top five defenses in Europe. If defense wins titles, the Azulones might just be heading for Europa League glory.

Sevilla

Rounding out our list of this year’s top Europa League contenders is Sevilla, the most successful club in the history of the competition with five titles.

They have a tough Round of 16 matchup against Roma ahead of them, but Sevilla is a deep side that could be capable of going far and even winning this year’s competition. Julen Lopetegui’s team boasts a strong defense headlined by Diego Carlos, but also can get plenty of goals from players like Luuk de Jong and Lucas Ocampos.

The post Evaluating This Year’s UEFA Europa League Favorites appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Arsenal narrowly avoided a shocking loss on Thursday night in Europa League group stage action, coming back in the game’s final minutes to beat a Vitoria de Guimaraes side that looked primed for a big upset.

Free-kick specialist Nicolas Pepe scored two brilliant free-kick goals in the 80th minute and then in extra time to bring Arsenal back from the brink of a loss that no one could have seen coming.

The plucky Portuguese side, which has yet to record a single point in group stage action, took an early lead at Emirates Stadium when former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards scored.

Arsenal brought the game back to a deadlock with a goal from 18-year-old forward Gabriel Martinelli, but Bruno Duarte struck only 5 minutes later to regain the lead for Vitoria Guimaraes.

The game remained 2-1 until Pepe came in at the 75th minute. He promptly scored a stunning free-kick from nearly 30 meters out to tie the game, and then knocked in a shorter free kick in extra time to give Arsenal the 3-2 win.

The Gunners now have a perfect 9 points and look to be a lock to advance to the knockout stage of Europa League play.

The post Arsenal Comes Back Late to Avoid Europa League Upset appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Manchester United’s woes on the road continued on Thursday after playing to a disappointing 0-0 draw in the Netherlands against AZ Alkmaar in Europe League group stage action.

The Red Devils looked feeble against the Eredivisie’s 3rd-ranked team, managing zero shots on goal and failing to threaten much of the night on offense. They have scored only 6 goals in their past 8 games, and have been held scoreless in their past two matches away from Old Trafford.

In fact, many would argue that Manchester United was lucky not to lose on Thursday, as AZ Alkmaar completed four shots on goal and won the possession battle 52% to 48%, a surprising result against one of the most expensive teams in Europe.

While Paul Pogba’s absence due to injury certainly didn’t help their case, not even the world-class French midfielder would have done much to help them on Thursday.

What’s more is that Man U has now failed to win in ten consecutive road games, putting even more pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. Their last win on the road was on February 27th in Premier League action against Crystal Palace.

The draw, at least, keeps the Red Devils tied for the top spot in Group L, leaving them even with Partizan Belgrade at 4 points in the group stage standings.

The post Manchester United Disappoints Again With 0-0 Draw at AZ Alkmaar appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC’s run to the 7th spot in the Premier League last season, which qualified for a berth in the UEFA Europa League, was one of the most surprising stories in the Premier League last season.

While they might’ve had a good run getting to this point, that didn’t prevent obvious disappointment and frustration from showing after they were upset 0-1 at Molineux Stadium by Portugal’s SC Braga in their Group K Europa League opener on Thursday night.

Wolves were the better team for much of the night, holding 60% possession and creating 5 shots on goal to Braga’s 2. However, they just weren’t able to find the net, and after a Ricardo Horta strike in the 71st minute beat goalie Rui Patricio, they simply couldn’t find an equalizer.

There was little that Patricio could do to stop Horta’s strong strike, which caromed off of the side post and into the net after a Wenderson Galeno pass on a counter-attack.

It was a disappointing result for Wolves fans, who had waited since 1980 to see their team participate in a European competition.

Wolves will take to get their first points of the group stage, in which they are very much alive when they take on Besiktas in Istanbul on October 3rd.

The post Wolves Upset by Braga 0-1 in Europa League Opener appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Seria A giants Inter Milan delivered a dominating 5-0 win against Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk on Monday night to secure themselves a spot in UEFA’s Europa League Finals. Inter will now face Sevilla on August 21st in a match for all the marbles.

The first half started slower than expected, but a sudden burst of energy from Inter’s Nicolo Barella on the right flank resulted in a change on the scoreboard. Barella made a great run and delivered a well-measured cross to the penalty box, making it easy for striker Lautaro Martinez to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.

After getting ahead, Inter didn’t back down and had several good chances to double their lead. Shakhtar, on the other hand, tried to get level but suffered from lack of creativity at the front and went on break still behind.

The Ukrainian champion seemed still in the game early in the second period, trying to make something happen while Inter decided to sit back and hunt counters. This proved to be the right choice for the Italians, as they soon went on an impressive scoring spree.

 Danilo D’Ambrosio first made it 2-0 in 64th, only for Martinez to score his second just 10 minutes later.  Then, Romelu Lukaku joined in the party and scored a brace in 78th and 83rd to set the final score of 5-0.

“The players knew that I believed in a great end to the season for us,” said Inter’s manager Antonio Conte after the game. “We worked very hard, and we learned from our mistakes during the season. We finished second in Serie A and now we have reached the Europa League final. Let’s enjoy this moment before preparing for the final.”

Against Sevilla, Inter will go for their fourth UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup trophy. Their last win in the competition came during the 1997/98 season.

The post Inter Dominates Shakhtar to Secure UEFA Europa League Finals Spot appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It looks like Manchester United just can’t get to finals this season. After previously being eliminated in Carabao Cup and FA Cup during the semi-finals, they now experienced the same fate in UEFA Europa League following a 2-1 loss to Sevilla on Sunday night.

United struggled in QF against F.C. Copenhagen, needing a penalty in overtime to advance to the next stage. In the match with Sevilla, however, they looked a lot better and managed to get to lead in the 9th minute.

Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford delivered a great piece of one-two play in the penalty box, after which Sevilla’s defender Diego Carlos tackled Rashford in the forbidden area. Referee Felix Brych showed to the spot, and Bruno Fernandes confidently converted.

But the Premier League side couldn’t keep the lead too long, as Suso scored in 26th minute to give Sevilla an equalizer for 1-1. This ended up being the score for the first half.

In the second half, Manchester United had a chance to get ahead, but Martial, Rashford, Fernandes, and Fred all failed to score from tremendous opportunities thanks to Sevilla’s goalie Yassine Bounou. After weathering through a period of United’s dominance, La Liga club decided to strike back and managed to get to lead thanks to a 78th-minute goal from super-sub Luuk De Jong.

The result didn’t change until the end, and Sevilla celebrated an inspiring 2-1 comeback win while Man Utd had to head home.

“I feel like I’ve been hugged by joy. We know what this side has been through, today included, and we’ve got such a resilience against such intensity,” said Sevilla’s manager Julen Lopetegui.

Sevilla advanced to their sixth UEFA Europa League (UEFA Cup) finals. They won the competition in all five previous attempts.

This defeat means that Man Utd haven’t won a trophy for three consecutive seasons, which is their longest drought since the ‘80s.

“It’s difficult. The boys are devastated,“ said United’s captain Harry Maguire. “We created numerous chances. The best team lost. They punished us for missing chances. They didn’t make many chances to be honest.“

The post Man Utd out of Europa League after a Disappointing 2-1 Loss to Sevilla appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The UEFA Europa League resumed its 2019/20 season on Wednesday night with four round-of-16 matches. Manchester United, F.C. Copenhagen, Shakhtar, and Inter Milan all recorded wins to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Manchester United hosted LASK on Old Trafford and recorded a 2-1 comeback win thanks to goals from Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial. United went through to the next stage with a total result of 7-1, after winning the first match 5-0. 

Shakhtar got a 3-0 win against Wolfsburg in Kyiv, having entered the game with ש 2-1 lead from the first leg. The interesting thing is that Ukrainian champions scored all of their goals after the 89th minute.

F.C. Copenhagen, on the other hand, managed to save themselves from elimination after losing the first leg 1-0 to Istanbul Basaksehir back in March. The Danish club got a dominating 3-0 victory at their home stadium and secured the place in QFs of European Competition for the first time in their history. 

In the fourth match of the evening, Inter and Getafe met on a neutral field in Gelsenkirchen in a one-off elimination game. Italian club ended up being the better side, ending the match in their favor thanks to goals from Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen.

Manchester United is now set to meet Copenhagen in quarterfinals, while Shakhtar Donetsk faces the better side from round-of-16 pair Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Basel. Inter will play the winner from Rangers vs. Leverkusen.

The post Europa League Resumes, Man Utd and Inter Advance to QF appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Europa League is set to follow the Champions League model for the 2019 /20 season resume. UEFA confirmed on Wednesday that the competition will wrap up with a knockout tournament in Germany in August.

According to the announcement, the remaining stages of the Europa League will take place in Cologne, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, and Gelsenkirchen, with the quarterfinals set to start on August 10th. All matches will be played as single-elimination matches with the Finals match being scheduled for August 21st.

As of now, fans won’t be able to attend the matches. However, UEFA explained that the final decision will be made by the end of July according to the state of the coronavirus pandemic.

The teams that will take part in the Europa League knockout tournament in Germany will be determined through a Round of 16 matches that will take place at originally scheduled venues between August 5th and August 6th.

The teams that have already played the first leg of Round of 16 will proceed with the second leg as previously planned, and the standard rules of home and away goals will apply.

In duels Sevilla vs. AS Roma and Inter vs. Getafe, the clubs will play just one game, with the winner proceeding to the next phase. These clubs didn’t manage to play the first leg games before the competition got suspended due to coronavirus pandemic. 

The post Europa League to Wrap up the Season in Germany With a Knockout Tournament appeared first on SportzBonanza.

UEFA reportedly came up with a plan to resume the Champions League and Europa League, two main European club competitions. According to ESPN, both competitions could wrap up as “mini-tournaments” held over two weeks on one location.

The standard format of away and home games present in European club competitions isn’t considered a viable option anymore due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus. This is why UEFA came up with a plan to have a centralized competition, described by BILD as a “World Cup-style” tournament in order to crown a champion. The competitions would resume from round-of-16, with later stages assuming knock-out format.  

This year’s UEFA Champions League finale was set to take place in Istanbul, but the city reportedly isn’t in consideration due to restrictions imposed by the Turkish government. Instead, Lisbon, Frankfurt, and Moscow emerged as the main options to host the tournament.

Lisbon is viewed as a favorite among the three cities, as it offers two stadiums and complexes in Benfica’s Estadio da Luz and Sporting CP’s Estadio Jose Alvalade. The stadiums are also just a few miles within each other, giving UEFA more scheduling options.

The Eintracht Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Arena in Germany is also an appealing option for UEFA, due to travel benefits and the stadium’s high-end facilities.

The final decisions about the Champions League and Europa League will most likely be made in late June when all other details should be revealed.

The post UEFA Considers Resuming Champions League and Europa League appeared first on SportzBonanza.

In the midst of the current coronavirus virus that is wreaking havoc on sports all over the globe, Europe’s soccer organizing body has made the decision to put the Champions League and Europa League finals on hold indefinitely.

UEFA announced that the competitions would be put on hold in the midst of the Round of 16 ties in the Champions League and the Europa League.

Now, with no end to the pandemic in sight, UEFA has had to put the finals of both of the tournaments on hold until the situation improves.

The Champions League Final, a title for which 12 teams are still vying, was originally scheduled to be held at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Saturday, May 30th.

The Europa League Final, which was also put on hold, was scheduled to be held in Poland at Gdansk’s Stadion Energa Gdańsk on Wednesday, May 27th.

For now, teams are simply in “wait and see” mode when it comes to both domestic and continental competitions. All European soccer leagues (with the exception of the Belarussian Premier League) have been suspended until further notice.

UEFA hopes to play the finals for both competitions at some point in the summer, but that looks far from a certainty at this point.

The post UEFA Champions League, Europa League Finals Postponed Indefinitely appeared first on SportzBonanza.

This year’s UEFA Europa League is yet another exciting edition of the secondary continental soccer competition on the continent of Europe.

After an unpredictable Round of 32, which saw tournament heavyweights such as Arsenal and Ajax knocked out of the competition, anything could happen in the competition’s upcoming Round of 16,

With this group of teams left in the field, let’s take a look at the top four favorites for this season’s Europa League crown.

Manchester United

The Red Devils might not be the mighty team that they once were, but they still look like one of the best teams in this year’s Europa League contest.

A favorable draw against Austrian side LASK Linz has put them in a good position to reach the semi-finals. Not many teams have the likes of players such as Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Jesse Lingard in their ranks, even if Man U sometimes plays beneath expectations.

Inter Milan

Inter Milan got a rough draw against Getafe, the team that knocked Ajax out of the competition in the Round of 32, but Antonio Conte’s team has plenty of options to go far and even win the tournament.

Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku form a duo of deadly forwards that are capable of exploding and scoring multiple goals on any given night. The winter loan deal for Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen was a huge boost for the squad, which has its hopes set high.

Getafe

Pepe Bordalas’s Getafe might not have the name recognition of some of the other teams in this competition, but this La Liga side is for real.

Currently in fourth place in Spain’s La Liga, Getafe took care of Ajax in the Round of 32 and now has a massive Round of 16 bout with Inter ahead of them. If any team can stop a front line as talented as Inter’s, it’s Getafe, which has one of the top five defenses in Europe. If defense wins titles, the Azulones might just be heading for Europa League glory.

Sevilla

Rounding out our list of this year’s top Europa League contenders is Sevilla, the most successful club in the history of the competition with five titles.

They have a tough Round of 16 matchup against Roma ahead of them, but Sevilla is a deep side that could be capable of going far and even winning this year’s competition. Julen Lopetegui’s team boasts a strong defense headlined by Diego Carlos, but also can get plenty of goals from players like Luuk de Jong and Lucas Ocampos.

The post Evaluating This Year’s UEFA Europa League Favorites appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Arsenal narrowly avoided a shocking loss on Thursday night in Europa League group stage action, coming back in the game’s final minutes to beat a Vitoria de Guimaraes side that looked primed for a big upset.

Free-kick specialist Nicolas Pepe scored two brilliant free-kick goals in the 80th minute and then in extra time to bring Arsenal back from the brink of a loss that no one could have seen coming.

The plucky Portuguese side, which has yet to record a single point in group stage action, took an early lead at Emirates Stadium when former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards scored.

Arsenal brought the game back to a deadlock with a goal from 18-year-old forward Gabriel Martinelli, but Bruno Duarte struck only 5 minutes later to regain the lead for Vitoria Guimaraes.

The game remained 2-1 until Pepe came in at the 75th minute. He promptly scored a stunning free-kick from nearly 30 meters out to tie the game, and then knocked in a shorter free kick in extra time to give Arsenal the 3-2 win.

The Gunners now have a perfect 9 points and look to be a lock to advance to the knockout stage of Europa League play.

The post Arsenal Comes Back Late to Avoid Europa League Upset appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Manchester United’s woes on the road continued on Thursday after playing to a disappointing 0-0 draw in the Netherlands against AZ Alkmaar in Europe League group stage action.

The Red Devils looked feeble against the Eredivisie’s 3rd-ranked team, managing zero shots on goal and failing to threaten much of the night on offense. They have scored only 6 goals in their past 8 games, and have been held scoreless in their past two matches away from Old Trafford.

In fact, many would argue that Manchester United was lucky not to lose on Thursday, as AZ Alkmaar completed four shots on goal and won the possession battle 52% to 48%, a surprising result against one of the most expensive teams in Europe.

While Paul Pogba’s absence due to injury certainly didn’t help their case, not even the world-class French midfielder would have done much to help them on Thursday.

What’s more is that Man U has now failed to win in ten consecutive road games, putting even more pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. Their last win on the road was on February 27th in Premier League action against Crystal Palace.

The draw, at least, keeps the Red Devils tied for the top spot in Group L, leaving them even with Partizan Belgrade at 4 points in the group stage standings.

The post Manchester United Disappoints Again With 0-0 Draw at AZ Alkmaar appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC’s run to the 7th spot in the Premier League last season, which qualified for a berth in the UEFA Europa League, was one of the most surprising stories in the Premier League last season.

While they might’ve had a good run getting to this point, that didn’t prevent obvious disappointment and frustration from showing after they were upset 0-1 at Molineux Stadium by Portugal’s SC Braga in their Group K Europa League opener on Thursday night.

Wolves were the better team for much of the night, holding 60% possession and creating 5 shots on goal to Braga’s 2. However, they just weren’t able to find the net, and after a Ricardo Horta strike in the 71st minute beat goalie Rui Patricio, they simply couldn’t find an equalizer.

There was little that Patricio could do to stop Horta’s strong strike, which caromed off of the side post and into the net after a Wenderson Galeno pass on a counter-attack.

It was a disappointing result for Wolves fans, who had waited since 1980 to see their team participate in a European competition.

Wolves will take to get their first points of the group stage, in which they are very much alive when they take on Besiktas in Istanbul on October 3rd.

The post Wolves Upset by Braga 0-1 in Europa League Opener appeared first on SportzBonanza.