Europa League 2017: Arsenal Qualify for Knockout Stage in Thursday's Matches

Arsenal put together an underwhelming showing at home against Red Star Belgrade during Thursday's UEFA Europa League action, with the two teams playing out a scoreless draw. The result did see the Gunners qualify for the next round, however.

The Serbs, who trail the Gunners by five points in Group H, were barely threatened throughout the 90 minutes. 

Elsewhere, AEK Athens held AC Milan to a draw and Everton lost 3-0 at Lyon.

For the full results and group standings, visit WhoScored.com.

Recap

Arsenal didn't give their fans many reasons to cheer on Thursday, as the Premier League giants were largely devoid of any creativity and didn't threaten much, apart from a late push for a winner.

Bleacher Report's Sean Swaby wasn't looking forward to what's to come at the weekend after Thursday's disappointing outing:

Footy Accumulators were also unimpressed:

Red Star shut up shop quite well at the back, and a rotated Arsenal squad that didn't contain many of its usual creators struggled to find a rhythm all night long.

Milan also disappointed on Thursday, as they and AEK served up a drab affair in the Greek capital. BeIN Sports' Matteo Bonetti was far from pleased with the performance from the visitors:

The Rossoneri have not been in great form domestically of late, but they had been solid in Europe and entered their fourth Europa League match with the lead in the group. The draw kept them on top of Group D, where AEK sit two points ahead of Austria Wien.

Everton's horrendous season continued with a 3-0 defeat at Lyon, who scored all of their goals in the second half. Former Manchester United winger Memphis Depay got on the scoresheet, while Morgan Schneiderlin was sent off for the Toffees.

Bet365 put Everton's disastrous campaign in perspective:

Meanwhile, Patrice Evra of Marseille made history by becoming the first player to get sent off in the Europa League before the start of a match. The former Juventus man kicked one of his club's fans in the head. Sports writer Jordan Clarke shared this image:

Villarreal beat Slavia Prague 2-0, and Hoffenheim couldn't get past Istanbul Basaksehir, playing out a 1-1 draw.