Europa League reaction: Rangers and 10-man Tottenham win openers

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image

Ten Hag - We need to score more

Man Utd v Tottenham (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Simon Stone

BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

We had a bit of a quick turnaround with Manchester United yesterday.

Just 18 hours after he last spoke to the media after the Europa League draw with FC Twente, United manager Erik ten Hag was doing it again as he looked ahead to Sunday's game against Tottenham.

I wasn't sure whether to look back at the game just gone, or forward to what lies ahead.

In the end, I went for his explanation why United had played well against Twente and Crystal Palace before that, but won neither match.

His explanation was simple.

"Not scoring enough goals, that is the problem," he said. "It’s the key area. We have to score more goals as a team.

"We have players across the team who have the ability to score, that is clear, you see all the opportunities we are creating, but we are not scoring enough."

United have only scored more than once in two games this season - at Southampton and against League One Barnsley. They have scored once in the last two games.

How did Qarabag not score?

Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag

There are probably a few fans, players and staff alike that are wondering how Qarabag did not score against Tottenham during last night's 3-0 Europa League defeat.

Spurs played the final 82 minutes of the tie with 10 men and in both halves, came close to scoring.

In the first half, Juninho missed from close range to level the match before Toral Bayramov failed to convert his second half spot kick.

Qarabag had 14 shots in the game, four more than Tottenham.

According to the xG Philosophy on X (formerly known as Twitter), Tottenham had an expected goals of 1.56. Qarabag's was significantly higher at 2.43.

'Not happy with the start'

Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said he was not happy with how his side started their 3-0 win over Qarabag on Thursday night in the Europa League.

Spurs were forced to play the majority of the match with 10 men after defender Radu Dragusin was sent off in the eighth minute.

"Not ideal. I wasn't happy as I felt we started really sloppy," said Postecoglou.

"We talked about starting with a high-tempo and it was almost like the delay got to us.

"We were passive in our passing and when that happens someone switches off.

"The reaction after that was good, but I'm not happy with the start."

Arsenal, Celtic, Chelsea & Man City await Women's Champions League draw

The draw for the Women's Champions League group stage takes place from around 12:00 BST today - and Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Celtic will all find out their opponents.

The women's tournament still uses the traditional format until it adopts the 'league phase' system of the men's edition next season.

Teams are split into four pots of four teams, with four groups being drawn with one team from each pot.

Chelsea are in pot one with Barcelona, Lyon and Bayern Munich.

Wolfsburg and Real Madrid are alongside Arsenal and Manchester City in pot two.

Celtic are in pot four with Valeranga, Hammarby and Galatasaray.

Pot three contains Juventus, St Polten, Roma and Twente.

Group stage games then take place from 8-9 October until 17-18 December.

Celtic reach Women's Champions League group stage for first time

Celtic 2-0 Vorskla Poltava (Celtic win 3-0 on aggregate)

Celtic are the first Scottish side to qualify for the Women’s Champions League group stage since it was introduced in 2020-21.

Leading 1-0 from the first leg, headers from Emma Lawton and Shannon McGregor completed the job against Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava.

Neither side roused the Albert Bartlett Stadium crowd in the first half, though wing-back Lawton stood out following her introduction to Elena Sadiku's starting XI.

A wayward shot on the rebound from Lucy Ashworth-Clifford squandered the home side's finest chance before the interval.

Amy Gallacher spun her marker with ease before curling wide as Celtic piled on the pressure immediately after the restart.

Then Lawton marked a memorable first European start with her first Celtic goal on 52 minutes, the wing-back meeting a cross from Ashworth-Clifford with a towering finish.

You can read Cam Wanstall's report in full here.

'We can go a long way in the Champions League'

Man City 3-0 Paris FC (Man City won 8-0 on aggregate)

Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor feels his side "can go a long way" in the Women's Champions League after securing their place in the group stage with an 8-0 aggregate win against Paris FC.

After a resounding 5-0 first-leg victory in the French capital last week, City added three more and kept another clean sheet at Joie Stadium on Thursday.

It was the first time Taylor's side have reached the group stage since the 2020-21 season when they fell to Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

"I feel we can go a long way," said the City manager. "I never would say we are going to win it. Getting out of the group stage is going to be our next objective. As long as we get out of the group, anything can happen.

"We want a crack at it, we just want to have a go at it, enjoy the ride, enjoy the experience, but we want to actually do something in this competition and I think we can."

Read Emily Salley's report in full here from the Joie Stadium.

Arsenal season 'starts now' after Champions League qualification

Arsenal 4-0 Hacken (Arsenal won 4-1 on aggregate)

Jonas Eidevall said Arsenal's season "starts now" after they secured qualification for the Women's Champions League group stage.

Eidevall's side scored four to overturn a first-leg deficit in their qualifying tie with BK Hacken.

They were trailing 1-0 after the first leg in Sweden but strolled to victory at Meadow Park.

A brilliant goal from England international Beth Mead and a late strike from substitute Frida Maanum capped a comfortable evening for Arsenal.

Midfielder Lia Walti and summer signing Mariona Caldentey had given them the lead in the first half as BK Hacken struggled to make an impact.

"One part of the season starts now. That I'm really happy for," manager Eidevall said.

"I think we've grown with our performances. We've got the results we wanted. We can't relax, the season starts for us now here. We are in all four competitions we want to be in and need to make the most out of it.

"We built the squad for competing, we need the squad to compete. We're ready to play these games."

Read Emma Sanders' report in full here.

'Perfect' start in Malmo, but can Rangers kick on?

Malmo 0-2 Rangers

Rangers secured an invaluable victory in their Europa League opener in Malmo as they earned a first-ever win on Swedish soil.

It was a dream and decisive start. Inside 60 seconds, Cyriel Dessers broke in behind, rounded Johan Dahlin in goal, and struck the base of the post from an angle.

Nedim Bajrami was alert and, as the ball rolled perfectly into his path, he gleefully stroked home his first Rangers goal.

Malmo looked rattled, though Isaac Kiese Thelin thought he had levelled when he volleyed an angled free-kick back across Jack Butland. His celebrations were short as the offside flag was raised.

Still, Rangers maintained their grip on the game.

Dessers flicked to Bajrami who, in turn, brilliantly sent Vaclav Cerny clear in on goal in acres of space. He had to score. He didn’t, as the ball flashed just past the post.

That became a theme, glaring missed chances, until late on.

Read more analysis from Martin Dowden's here.

Rangers start Europa League with fine win in Malmo

Malmo 0-2 Rangers

Rangers secured an invaluable victory in their Europa League opener in Malmo as they earned a first-ever win on Swedish soil.

It was a dream and decisive start. Inside 60 seconds, Cyriel Dessers broke in behind, rounded Johan Dahlin in goal, and struck the base of the post from an angle.

Nedim Bajrami was alert and, as the ball rolled perfectly into his path, he gleefully stroked home his first Rangers goal.

Malmo looked rattled, though Isaac Kiese Thelin thought he had levelled when he volleyed an angled free-kick back across Jack Butland. His celebrations were short as the offside flag was raised.

Still, Rangers maintained their grip on the game.

Dessers flicked to Bajrami who, in turn, brilliantly sent Vaclav Cerny clear in on goal in acres of space. He had to score. He didn’t, as the ball flashed just past the post.

That became a theme, glaring missed chances, until late on.

Read Martin Dowden's match report in full here.

'Stuck for two and a half hours' - Qarabag's Tottenham nightmare

Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag

As European nights go, Qarabag's could not have turned out much worse.

The team from Azerbaijan suffered traffic chaos, a shocking penalty miss and a host of spurned chances as 10-man Tottenham survived countless scares to open their Europa League campaign with victory.

Despite staying a short distance away in Stratford, Qarabag were affected by rail and road closures, and arrived at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at 19:45 - just 15 minutes before the planned kick-off - forcing a delayed start until 20:35.

Uefa regulations ask for teams to arrive at least 75 minutes prior to kick-off, with offenders facing possible punishment.

The London Overground, which is the primary route to the stadium from other parts of London, was also down, forcing thousands of supporters to walk from as far as Liverpool Street station, two hours away.

They weren't the only ones caught out, with TNT pundits Peter Crouch and Glenn Hoddle having to walk the final bit of the journey.

Read more on a night to forget for Qarabag in London here.

Ten-man Spurs beat Qarabag in Europa League opener

Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag

Tottenham began their Europa League campaign with an impressive victory over Qarabag despite going down to 10 men from the seventh minute.

After a 35-minute delay to kick-off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium because of travel disruptions, the home side were dealt an early blow when defender Radu Dragusin was shown a straight red card for bringing down Juninho in a one-on-one as the Brazilian raced through on goal.

Despite that, Brennan Johnson had the ball in the back of the net five minutes later when Qarabag were caught playing out from the back and Dominic Solanke placed it into the path of the 23-year-old to slot into the bottom corner.

It was Johnson's third goal in as many games.

Pape Sarr doubled Spurs' lead in the 52nd minute, controlling the loose ball at the far post before smashing home.

Qarabag were awarded a penalty three minutes later when Yves Bissouma brought Elvin Cafarquliyev down, but Toral Bayramov’s spot-kick was poor and pinged off the crossbar.

The Azerbaijan Premier League champions created an abundance of chances, with Guglielmo Vicario making some fine saves, but ultimately Qarabag lacked the cutting edge that Ange Postecoglou's side showed at the other end.

Solanke wrapped up victory in the 68th minute after goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski pushed Son Heung-min's strike from distance into the striker's path and he produced a confident finish.

Read Nizaar Kinsella's match report from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in full here.

Source