Top Winners and Losers After Europa League 2019 Round of 16 Leg 1 Results

Manchester United took a big step towards the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals with a 5-0 first-leg win over Austrian side LASK on Thursday in the Round of 16.  

Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers are also in good shape to progress after coming from behind to secure a 1-1 draw at Olympiacos.

Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen beat Rangers 3-1, FC Basel cruised past Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0, and Shakhtar Donetsk saw off Wolfsburg 2-1. 

Thursday's only other fixture saw Istanbul Basaksehir secure a narrow 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen.

The scheduled matches between Getafe and Inter Milan and Sevilla versus Roma were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Winner: Odion Ighalo 

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handed January signing Odion Ighalo his third start for the Red Devils against LASK and watched as the 30-year-old sent the Red Devils on their way to victory with the opening goal.

It was a brilliant strike from the Nigerian striker, too. He received a pass from Bruno Fernandes, juggled the ball between his feet and then unleashed a ferocious strike which flew in off the underside of the crossbar (UK video only):

The goal will strengthen Ighalo's claim for a place in Solskjaer's starting XI. The 30-year-old now has four goals from his three starts for his new club:

Ighalo also grabbed an assist by going on to set up Daniel James for United's second. The Wales international rifled an effort into the bottom corner for his first goal in 32 games.

Solskjaer praised his new signing after the match. He told reporters the striker has "got the lot" and added that no goalkeeper would have saved his effort.

Loser: Ruben Semedo

Olympiacos defender Ruben Semedo lasted just 28 minutes of his side's clash with Wolves before being sent off for a foul on Diogo Jota.

The 25-year-old is no stranger to seeing red. The dismissal was his second of 2020, and he's also picked up an impressive 12 bookings already in 2019-20.

Sports journalist Konstantinos Lianos noted why his red card was such a blow for the hosts:

Semedo's departure allowed Wolves to play for an hour with a man advantage, and they finally managed to make it count in the second half.

The visitors had put in a fairly laboured performance until substitute Pedro Neto scored a valuable away goal that gives the Premier League side the advantage ahead of the return.

Winners: Kai Havertz's admirers

Bayer Leverkusen starlet Kai Havertz has attracted plenty of admirers already this season and may have gathered a few more after continuing his fine form:

The 20-year-old's penalty gave the Bundesliga side the lead against Rangers at Ibrox, and the visitors went on to record a 3-1 win that puts them on the brink of the quarter-finals.

Havertz captained the side again for the match in Scotland and scored his third goal in three appearances in the competition.

The youngster has been linked with clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Bayern Munich this season and will have done his reputation no harm with another impressive display in Europe.

Loser: Home advantage

There was little evidence of home advantage on Thursday night in the Europa League as the away teams thrived.

Manchester United crushed LASK to all but end the Austrian side's Europa League dreams, while Bayern Leverkusen put three past Rangers in front of their own supporters.

Opta highlighted the team's away form:

FC Basel secured a very comfortable win at Eintracht Frankfurt, and Shakhtar Donetsk will be confident of progression after winning in Wolfsburg.

The only home team to enjoy a victory were Istanbul Basaksehir, but they left it late and needed an 88th-minute penalty from Edin Visca to beat FC Copenhagen.