Europa League Matchday 4 Awards: Jurgen Klopp, Jordon Ibe, Mousa Dembele
The UEFA Europa League group stage continued with another full slate of matches on Thursday night.
As usual, there was plenty of entertainment across the continent. Both of England's representatives won, and four other teams qualified for the knockout stage. All in all, we found lots to love about the night's action.
Here, Bleacher Report hands out awards for the best of Matchday 4.
Sweetest Strike
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Mousa Dembele secured a 2-1 victory for Tottenham Hotspur over visiting Anderlecht with a sweet strike in the 87th minute.
With the score level and the clock ticking down, Dembele let fly with an unstoppable half-volley that sailed past Silvio Proto and scorched the top corner of the net.
The goal underlined a great run of form for Dembele, who has scored in each of his last three appearances. And this one took Tottenham to the top of Group J.
"Amazing transformation of a player in Dembele," tweeted Spurs fan Ricky Sacks. "Never doubted his ability, but questioned if we would ever see it in a Spurs shirt."
Best Bromance
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Jordon Ibe appears a player transformed under new Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. Following a strong performance in the Capital One Cup last week and an assist in the victory at Chelsea last weekend, Ibe scored the winner as the Reds beat Rubin Kazan 1-0 in Russia on Thursday night.
Ibe, 19, has loads of potential. Just as clearly, he and Klopp have a fine bromance going. At full time, the Liverpool manager burst onto the pitch and sought out his match-winner with an affectionate cry of "IIIIII-beeeeeee!" The two then embraced, showing evidence of a genuine rapport in a genuinely endearing moment.
“Jordon is a really good lad," Klopp told reporters after the match, per Goal.com. “He's a skilful player and a big talent—fast, strong, good at dribbling. He has to learn so much but has a real good base. He feels good in this moment. You could see it in this match."
Klopp added: “Like everyone he has a long way to go. If he's prepared to listen, then he will be very good.”
Quickest Qualifiers
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Klopp's former club, Borussia Dortmund, were one of four teams who booked places in the knockout stage on Thursday. The Bundesliga side did so with two games to spare after beating Qabala 4-0 in Group C.
Napoli qualified by routing Midtjylland 5-0 in Group D. Molde won 2-1 at Celtic to claim at least one of the top two spots in Group A, and Rapid Vienna edged Viktoria Plzen 2-1 to remain perfect in Group E.
We look forward to seeing much more from all four in the next round.
Most Efficient Scorers
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Napoli had little trouble dispatching Midtjylland 5-0 at the Stadio San Paolo. And by little trouble, we mean the Partenopei wasted almost no effort at all.
Those five goals came on just seven shots on target, per UEFA.com, and as Squawka noted on Twitter, Napoli's three first-half goals came on just four shots. The only non-scoring shot of that first half, if you're interested, was saved moments before Napoli's third goal flew in.
Oldest Goalscorer
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Scorers come in all shapes and sizes, but on Thursday, none was older than Daniel Hestad.
Hestad fired in Molde's second and winning goal as the visitors claimed a 2-1 victory at Celtic in Group A. At 40 years young, the midfielder is now the oldest goalscorer in Europa League history, according to UEFA.com.
That's not bad for a guy who's older than about half of the Rolling Stones' back catalog.
Best/Worst Goal
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Philipp Schobesberger scored either the best or worst goal of the night. The midfielder bagged a brace, actually, as Rapid Vienna beat Viktoria Plzen to qualify for the knockout stage. But we're concerned only with the latter.
In the 77th minute, with the score level at 1-1, Schobesberger raced clear behind the opposition's defense, only to slip upon entering the box. Somehow—and you'll have to view this Vine to see for yourself—he managed to kick the ball into the net as he fell.
Did he mean it? We're not sure, but it was easily the most memorable strike of the day.
