Europa League 2016: Latest Tables, Scores After Thursday's Group Matches
Southampton came back from a goal down to beat Inter Milan 2-1 on Thursday evening, where a Yuto Nagatomo own goal was enough to snatch the win after Virgil van Dijk cancelled out Mauro Icardi's opener.
Manchester United's chances of advancing from the UEFA Europa League group stages dropped on Thursday after they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat in their trip to face Turkish giants Fenerbahce.
The Red Devils won the reverse fixture at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, but a wonder strike from Moussa Sow set United on their path to defeat, leaving them third in Group A after four matches.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao and Anderlecht each notched big wins over respective opponents Genk and Mainz, while AS Roma collected a 4-2 victory at Austria Vienna thanks to Edin Dzeko's brace.
Schalke 04, Shakhtar Donetsk and Ajax also booked their spots in the next round of the tournament following wins over Krasnodar, Gent and Celta Vigo, respectively.
Read on for a roundup of Thursday's scores as Matchday 4 of the 2016-17 Europa League rumbled on in entertaining fashion, complete with the latest tables and recap of the evening's action.
| Astana | 1-1 | Olympiakos |
| APOEL | 1-0 | Young Boys |
| Zorya | 1-1 | Feyenoord |
| Anderlecht | 6-1 | Mainz 05 |
| Sassuolo | 2-2 | Rapid Wien |
| Astra | 1-1 | Viktoria Plzen |
| Qabala | 1-2 | Saint-Etienne |
| Athletic Club | 5-3 | Genk |
| Austria Wien | 2-4 | Roma |
| Zenit | 2-1 | Dundalk |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 0-0 | AZ |
| Fenerbahce | 2-1 | Manchester United |
| Nice | 0-2 | Salzburg |
| Ajax | 3-2 | Celta de Vigo |
| Panathinaikos | 0-3 | Standard Liege |
| Schalke 04 | 2-0 | Krasnodar |
| PAOK | 0-1 | Qarabag |
| Southampton | 2-1 | Internazionale |
| Fiorentina | 3-0 | Slovan Liberec |
| Sporting Braga | 3-1 | Konyaspor |
| Sparta Prague | 2-0 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva |
| Gent | 3-5 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Villarreal | 1-2 | Osmanlıspor |
| Zurich | 0-0 | Steaua Bucuresti |
| 1 | Fenerbahce | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 7 |
| 2 | Feyenoord | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 7 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 |
| 4 | Zorya Luhansk | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 2 |
| 1 | APOEL | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 9 |
| 2 | Olympiacos | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 |
| 3 | Young Boys | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Astana | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 2 |
| 1 | Anderlecht | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 8 |
| 2 | Saint-Etienne | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 |
| 3 | Mainz 05 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 5 |
| 4 | Gabala | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 0 |
| 1 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 12 |
| 2 | Dundalk | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 |
| 3 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 |
| 4 | AZ | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 2 |
| 1 | Roma | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 8 |
| 2 | Austria Wien | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 5 |
| 3 | Astra Giurgiu | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 4 |
| 4 | Viktoria Plzen | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 |
| 1 | Genk | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 6 |
| 2 | Athletic Bilbao | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 6 |
| 3 | Rapid Wien | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Sassuolo | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 5 |
| 1 | Ajax | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 10 |
| 2 | Celta Vigo | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 5 |
| 3 | Standard Liege | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 5 |
| 4 | Panathinaikos | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 1 |
| 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 |
| 2 | Braga | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Gent | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 4 |
| 4 | Konyaspor | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |
| 1 | Schalke 04 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 12 |
| 2 | Krasnodar | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 |
| 3 | Red Bull Salzburg | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 |
| 4 | Nice | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 3 |
| 1 | Fiorentina | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 10 |
| 2 | Qarabağ | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 7 |
| 3 | PAOK | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 |
| 4 | Slovan Liberec | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 1 |
| 1 | Sparta Prague | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 9 |
| 2 | Southampton | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 |
| 3 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| 4 | Internazionale | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 |
| 1 | Osmanlıspor | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 7 |
| 2 | Villarreal | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Zurich | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Steaua Bucharest | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 |
Recap
Southampton did their Europa League chances the world of good thanks to a comeback win over the Nerazzurri on Thursday, where the Italians just couldn't hold back an irrepressible onslaught of Saints pressure.
Per WhoScored.com, manager Clause Puel's hosts had 23 shots compared to Inter's five, and Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe argued Inter were fortunate not to have conceded a goal before Van Dijk's 64th-minute equaliser:
Dusan Tadic missed the chance to pull Southampton level in the first half after seeing his penalty saved by Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, while Oriol Romeu also hit the frame of the goal.
St. Mary's Stadium erupted in delight after Nagatomo was eventually forced to put the ball into his own net, via BT Sport, although Sparta Prague's 2-0 win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva keeps them top of Group K:
Just as things were beginning to look up for Jose Mourinho's Manchester United in Europe, Fenerbahce were on hand to hand the English titans a defeat of major proportions in Istanbul on Thursday.
Jeremain Lens put the result beyond any doubt when his 59th-minute free-kick left United goalkeeper David De Gea rooted, but it was Sow's bicycle-kick opener after just a minute that left fans in awe, via BT Sport:
Mourinho may have been relying on this fixture to provide a much-needed boost in morale following Saturday's 0-0 draw against Burnley, but it wasn't to be as the Reds left Turkey in slight disgrace.
In more positive news, captain Wayne Rooney made a scoring return with a consolatory strike in the 89th minute, but Paul Pogba's injury in the 30th minute was not a welcome surprise, as illustrated by Benchwarmers:
"Paul Pogba taken off with a dead leg..
— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) November 3, 2016"
Ibrahimovic comes on to replace him.. pic.twitter.com/Utkf1Iw8d9
Anderlecht were the biggest scorers on Thursday evening after thrashing Mainz 6-1 in Belgium, where Nicolae Stanciu and Lukasz Teodorczyk each scored braces, but Athletic Bilbao were also in firing form.
The Spanish representatives beat Genk 5-3, relying solely on striker Aritz Aduriz for their goals after he netted a hat-trick before half-time and added another two to his name in the second period. BT Sport celebrated the veteran's display, although three of his strikes came from the penalty spot:
Not all Spanish teams were as successful, however, as Celta Vigo found out en route to a 3-2 defeat in their trip to face Ajax in Amsterdam, where the Eredivisie hosts ran riot in front of goal.
Kasper Dolberg opened the scoring with a superbly taken solo strike to enhance his reputation as one of Europe's brightest prospects, per OptaJohan:
Hakim Ziyech and Amin Younes added goals in the second half before John Guidetti and Iago Aspas bagged consolations for Celta, but the damage was done as far as Ajax were concerned, giving them a five-point cushion at the top of Group G.
Fiorentina were also in the goals as Josip Ilicic, Nikola Kalinic and Sebastian Cristoforo scored to clinch a 3-0 victory over Slovan Liberec, where the former continued his consistent run of form in Europe for La Viola, per OptaPaolo:
Shakhtar Donetsk guaranteed a first-place finish in Group H after hammering Gent 5-3 in Belgium, where it was actually the hosts who went ahead in less than a minute thanks to Kalifa Coulibaly.
The Ukrainain giants didn't take well to that setback, though, and Squawka outlined the beginning of their comeback as Marlos, Taison, Taras Stepanenko, Fred and Facundo Ferreyra all got on the scoresheet:
Red Bull Salzburg and Standard Liege each profited from their away trips to respective opponents Nice and Panathinaikos, both earning victories in foreign territory, not to mention a first win of the competition for Salzburg.
Azerbaijani underdogs Qarabag dazzled as they scored an unexpected 1-0 win in their trip to take on Panathinaikos in Greece, while Villarreal were stunned 2-1 at home to Turkish club Osmanlispor.
Feyenoord missed their chance to stay top of Group A after Rafael Forster bagged to give Zorya Luhansk a 1-1 draw in Ukraine, where the Dutch visitors finished with 10 men following Eric Botteghin's sending off.
Meanwhile, Giuliano scored either side of the half-time whistle to earn Zenit St. Petersburg all three points in their 2-1 win against Irish minnows Dundalk, who netted through Daryl Horgan. Giuliano is already making waves at Zenit after joining the club this year:
Elsewhere, French outfit Saint-Etienne downed Qabala 2-1, while Astana ran to a 1-1 draw with Olympiakos in the early kick-off, and APOEL Nicosia defeated 10-man Young Boys 1-0 in Cyprus.
There was drama in Italy as Rapid Vienna scored twice in the final five minutes of their visit to Sassuolo to steal a 2-2 draw, while Dzeko continued his superb run of form with a brace in Roma's 4-2 win at Austria Vienna, per OptaPaolo:
Maccabi Tel Aviv and AZ Alkmaar were the only two teams who failed to produce a single goal between them in Thursday's early kick-offs, while Viktoria Plzen settled for a 1-1 draw against Astra Giurgiu in Romania.
Schalke built on their encouraging Bundesliga form with a 2-0 win over Russian outfit Krasnodar in Gelsenkirchen, while FC Zurich and Steaua Bucharest shared the spoils following a goalless draw in Switzerland.
