THE Europa League resumed on Thursday night with its usual thrills and controversy’s. Here’s a round up of all the major events.
VAR was the main story in Celtic’s 2-0 loss to Braga. Kelechi Iheanacho robbed the ball from the Braga defense and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net to make the score 1-1. However the VAR team opted to check the goal, mainly if the ball had bounced up and hit Iheanacho’s arm. Replays showed it didn’t but the VAR official Christian Dingert opted to disallow the goal.
Braga soon doubled their lead to win the game 2-0. Following the game Brendan Rogers said after that it was “the worst VAR call you’ll ever see”.
Go Ahead Eagles made history by winning their first ever Europa League game against Panathinaikos 2-1, meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum another 1-0 defeat for FC Utrecht means they are still yet to win a competition proper UEFA fixture since the formation of the Group Stage in 2004/05.
Berke Özer was Lille’s hero in their 1-0 victory away at Roma, saving 3 penalties in a row to ensure that Lille took home all 3 points.
Aston Villa continue their winning form in Europe with a 2-0 win against Feyenoord despite their poor form in the Premier League, with John McGinn and Emi Buendia getting the goals for the Villians.
And finally down in the Conference League, Crystal Palace won their first ever European away day beating Dynamo Kiev 2-0.
