Roma, Ajax and Frankfurt all triumph in Europa League
Roma have enjoyed their first Europa League victory under new coach Ivan Juric but they needed a penalty to defeat stubborn Dynamo Kyiv 1-0.
Summer signing Artem Dovbyk converted from the spot in the 23rd minute on Thursday to get the Italian team in the win column after a draw and a loss in the second-tier competition.
Ajax beat Qarabag 3-0 in Baku after the home team were reduced to 10 men in the 15th minute in Azerbaijan when midfielder Julio Romao received a straight red card.
Kenneth Taylor scored some 20 minutes later while, in the second half, Wout Weghorst converted a penalty and substitute Chuba Akpom put the result beyond doubt in the 77th.
Two minutes later, Qarabag went down to nine men when Elvin Jafarguliyev also saw a red card.
Eintracht Frankfurt, the 2022 Europa League winners, got a late goal from substitute Hugo Larsson to edge Latvia’s RFS 1-0, while Greek side PAOK came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw with Czech side Viktoria Plzen in Thessaloniki.
Real Sociedad earned their first win, 2-1 away to Maccabi Tel-Aviv in a game played in Belgrade, Serbia, due to the regional conflict.
Meanwhile in the third-tier Conference league, Chelsea routed Panathinaikos 4-1 in Athens to make it two wins from two.
Joao Felix scored twice, with his first one set up by Mykhailo Mudryk in the 22nd minute.
The visitors added three more in the first 14 minutes of the second half through Mudryk, Felix’s second and Christopher Nkunku’s penalty, before Facundo Pellistri netted for Panathinaikos in the 69th.
Jonathan Ikone’s two goals led Fiorentina past St. Gallen 4-2 in Switzerland, while Iceland’s Vikingur beat Belgium’s Cercle Brugge 3-1 to record their first victory in Europe.
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