Europa League 2017: Scores, Odds After Thursday's Round of 32 Leg 1 Results
Tottenham Hotspur suffered a setback in their UEFA Europa League campaign on Thursday, as the Premier League side lost 1-0 to KAA Gent in the first leg of the Round of 32.
Jeremy Perbet scored the only goal for the Belgians to give his team a deserved win, as Spurs put together a woeful performance. Elsewhere, Federico Bernardeschi guided Fiorentina to a win over Borussia Monchengladbach, and Alexandre Lacazette bagged a double against AZ Alkmaar.
Manchester United and Roma both ran out to one-sided wins during the late fixtures, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edin Dzeko putting on a show. Here's a look at the full results:
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| FC Krasnodar | 1-0 | Fenerbahce |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 1-2 | FC Copenhagen |
| Olympiacos | 0-0 | Osmanlispor FK |
| FC Rostov | 4-0 | Sparta Prague |
| AZ Alkmaar | 1-4 | Lyon |
| Astra Giurgiu | 2-2 | Genk |
| Borussia M.Gladbach | 0-1 | Fiorentina |
| Celta Vigo | 0-1 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Gent | 1-0 | Tottenham |
| Villarreal | 0-4 | Roma |
| Anderlecht | 2-0 | Zenit St. Petersburg |
| PAOK Thessaloniki FC | 0-3 | Schalke 04 |
| Manchester United | 3-0 | Saint-Etienne |
| Hapoel Beer Sheva | 1-3 | Besiktas |
| Athletic Club | 3-2 | APOEL Nicosia |
| Legia Warszawa | 0-0 | Ajax |
The latest Europa League odds, courtesy of Oddschecker.com:
| Manchester United | 4/1 |
| Roma | 8/1 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 10/1 |
| Tottenham | 12/1 |
| FC Schalke | 14/1 |
Recap
Spurs' bad form in Europe continued on Thursday, as the Premier League side served up a drab outing at the Ghelamco Arena and suffered a 1-0 loss.
As shared by Het Laatste Nieuws' Kristof Terreur, manager Mauricio Pochettino's troops haven't had much luck on Belgian soil in recent years:
Perbet scored the only goal of the match, finishing in two tries after a smart cutback from Danijel Milicevic. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international went close to doubling their lead as well, smashing a shot off the post.
Gent clearly wanted the win more on Thursday than their opponents, and per Andrew Gaffney of Yahoo Sport UK, the way the Europa League is often viewed in England is troubling:
Per the club's official Twitter account, Pochettino isn't giving up on the tie just yet:
Lyon all but booked their spot in the next round on Thursday, as the French side smashed AZ 4-1 in the Netherlands. Lacazette scored twice, while Lucas Tousart and Jordan Ferri also got on the scoresheet.
The outing should boost Lacazette's stock on the transfer market even more―according to Jerome Pugmire of the Associated Press, it's time for the Frenchman to move to a bigger club:
Another standout during the early slate of matches was Bernardeschi, who scored a wonderful free-kick to guide Fiorentina past Monchengladbach.
As shared by the Europa League's official Twitter account, he did so on his birthday:
Fiorentina were far from perfect on Thursday but grabbed an all-important away goal in the win, and as of right now, they're favoured to advance from one of the most anticipated ties in the Round of 32.
During the late fixtures, United overcame a difficult start to beat Saint-Etienne 3-0, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic taking care of all the goals.
The Swede score via a deflected free-kick, smart finish and a penalty he won himself, drawing plenty of deserved praise. Sports writer Liam Canning raved about his instincts:
But somehow, Ibrahimovic didn't even have the best performance on Thursday. Roma's Dzeko bagged a hat-trick of his own in spectacular fashion, as the Giallorossi beat Villarreal 4-0 in Spain. BeIN Sports' Matteo Bonetti wasimpressed:
"Brilliant Roma. Outclassed, outmuscled & sank the yellow submarine. Simply a cut above. Dzeko hat-trick sensational, incredible confidence
— Matteo Bonetti (@TheCalcioGuy) February 16, 2017"
Emerson also scored, giving Roma four away goals and an almost guaranteed ticket to the next round.
