Sports

Man United defeat Plzen in Europa League as Rangers draw Tottenham

Rasmus Hojlund fired Manchester United to a late 2-1 win at Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday, while Tottenham were held to a stalemate at Rangers.

United came from behind to beat Plzen thanks to a second-half brace by Danish striker Hojlund, they now sit seventh in the league phase standings.

A top-eight finish will see United qualify automatically for the round of 16, while finishing ninth to 24th will earn them a play-off tie to reach that stage.

Matej Vydra opened the scoring three minutes after half-time to stun United, before substitute Hojlund scored twice in the last half-hour to seize a vital three points for the English club.

The winner came two minutes from time when Bruno Fernandes cleverly slipped a free-kick into the 21-year-old’s feet and he held off a defender before slipping home.

Elsewhere in the Europa League, Tottenham drew 1-1 with Rangers in Glasgow.

Champions League: Arsenal thrash Monaco as Juventus whip Man City

The hosts sit in the final automatic qualification spot with Tottenham one place below them, but both level on 11 points.

Lazio top the standings with 16 points – joint with Athletic Bilbao – after beating Ajax 3-1 in Amsterdam to book their spot in the knock-out stages.

Lyon beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 to move up to fourth – one place above the in-form Bundesliga club.

Anderlecht also overcame Slavia Prague 2-1 in the Czech capital to jump to third in the standings.

A much-changed Chelsea side beat Astana 3-1 in the Conference League to guarantee a top-eight finish in the league phase – ensuring automatic qualification to the round of 16.

Chelsea sit top of the standings on 15 points after five matches, two ahead of Vitoria Guimaraes who won 4-1 at Swiss side St Gallen.

Last season’s defeated finalists Fiorentina won 7-0 at home to Austria’s LASK Linz as they ensured progression to the knockout stages.

The Star

Segun Ojo

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