Europa League

ARSENAL came from behind to beat Molde 4-1 at the Emirates in the Europa League.
Martin Ellingsen capitalised on some sloppy Gunners defending to put the Norwegians ahead on 22 minutes before Kristoffer Haugen put through his own net on the stroke of half-time to level the scores.

Joe Willock was man-of-the match in Arsenal’s win against MoldeCredit: Getty Images – Getty

A Joe Willock-inspired Arsenal sprang into life in the second-half with the midfielder heavily involved when Sheriff Sinyan scored the second own goal of the night.
Nicolas Pepe put the game to bed with 20 minutes to go before Willock capped of a perfect night by firing one into the roof of the net two minutes from the end.
The 21-year-old staked a firm claim for inclusion in Mikel Arteta’s next Premier League squad having been left out at Old Trafford last weekend.
David Luiz had a night to forget but it will be swiftly forgotten after the convincing win.

And here’s what SunSport’s William Pugh thought of the Gunners’ individual performances tonight.
BERND LENO – 5
Went long rather than playing out from the back in the build up to Molde’s opening goal.
And then seemed slightly out of position when Ellingsen curled the ball past him. Not his finest 60 seconds.
Didn’t have much to do after that.

Bernd Leno will have been disappointed with his involvement in Molde’s opening goalCredit: Getty Images – Getty

AINSLEY MAITLAND-NILES – 5 (subbed, 63 mins)
Earned his money but not one for the showreel.
Thoroughly average.
SHKODRAN MUSTAFI – 5
Wildly out of position for Molde’s opener but was not expecting Leno to go long.
Unremarkable from then on. Did what he had to.

An own goal pulled Arsenal level on the stroke of half-timeCredit: BT Sport
DAVID LUIZ – 4
Stood off and allowed Ellingsen loads of space to shoot which saw his team go 1-0 down. Bizarre defending.
Harshly booked for a shoulder charge on the hour mark.
Sloppiness eventually bailed out by his team-mates.

David Luiz had a night to forgetCredit: EPA
SEAD KOLASINAC – 6
Hardly noticeable before the break.
But came into his own as Arteta’s side pushed on in the second half.
Joined in well with attacks but missed an absolute sitter of an open goal from six yards after 53 minutes.
JOE WILLOCK – 9
One of few bright sparks in a fairly flat first-half for his team.
Industrious and tried to make things happen but was frustrated by a deep-lying Molde.
Battled from his own half to pressure Haugen into shinning the ball into his own net in first half stoppage time.
And forced the second own goal after an excellent one-two with Xhaka saw him in behind and firing an effort across goal which went in off Sinyan.
Perfect end to a wonderful evening with a brilliant goal two minutes from time.
Will be knocking on Arteta’s door ahead of Aston Villa’s Premier League visit on Sunday.

Willock staked his claim for inclusion in Arteta’s Premier League squad this weekendCredit: AFP or licensors

Willock capped off the night with a late goalCredit: Getty Images – Getty
DANI CEBALLOS – 5 (subbed off, 79 mins)
Let the first half pass him by alongside midfield partner Xhaka.
Allowed Molde to push through the middle on several occasions and didn’t offer much creatively when his side were crying out for it.
Understandably subbed.
GRANIT XHAKA – 7 (subbed off, 79 mins)
Unremarkable like most of his team-mates in the first-half and needed to impose himself on the game more.
Redeemed himself by busting a gut to join the counter-attack his team equalised from in the 46th minute.
And dinked a lovely ball over the top for Willock which saw the Gunners take the lead for the first time.

Martin Ellingsen put Molde aheadCredit: Getty Images – Getty
WILLIAN – 6 (subbed, 63 mins)
Poked and probed against a deep-lying Molde before the break but lacked end product.
Nice concise play as part of the build up for the first-half equaliser.
Replaced by Saka who immediately had a greater impact.
EDDIE NKETIAH – 6
Came to life just before the break after a quiet half.
His disallowed goal was the first thing of note he did in the first 45.
Replays showed he was miles onside, though Willock was off and he was right next to him as he finished.
Busy enough the rest of the night but nothing to suggest he should be any more than the Europa League striker for the Gunners this season.

Eddie Nketiah had a goal ruled out for offside even though it was Joe Willock who was beyond the defendersCredit: BT Sport
NICOLAS PEPE – 7
Did well to spring the counter-attack for the Gunners’ equaliser and took his goal nicely to put the game to bed.
Slotted home with his left from 15 yards after Saka picked him out beautifully.
And he even set up Willock for his late finish as Molde grew tired.
Was threatening to be another average performance from the £72million man but his quality shone through as the game wore on.
Fired a tame volley straight at the keeper just before he scored after Kolasinac put one on a plate for him.

Sheriff Sinyan scored Molde’s second own goal of the night after good work from Willock and Granit XhakaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Subs
Bukayo Saka (replaced Willian) – 8
Great assist for Pepe to put the game to bed with 20 minutes to go.
Broke down the left and made the right decision to cut back to the winger on the edge of the box.
Booked for a late lunge with 15 minutes to go as his team tried to see out the win.
Really busy and lively against a worn out Molde.
Cedric Soares (replaced Maitland-Niles) – 6
Took a painful one to the face after the ball was blasted right at his head.
Worth a 6/10 just for that.
Kieran Tierney (replaced Xhaka) – 6
Not enough time to make an impact.
Mohamed Elneny (replaced Ceballos) – 7
Involved in the build up for Willock’s late strike.

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BRENDAN RODGERS’ Foxes earned the Brag-ging rights as they stormed to the summit of Group G with their biggest-ever European victory.
However visiting boss Carlos Carvahal must be cursing Gareth Southgate tonight and laying some of the blame for Braga’s heavy defeat at the feet of the England boss.

Kelechi Iheanacho got two goals and an assist on a perfect night for Leicester City against BragaCredit: Getty Images – Getty

James Maddison got on the scoresheet after some neat footwork and composure six yards outCredit: Reuters

His decision to surprisingly snub James Maddison from his bumper 29-man Three Lions squad was as baffling as it was bizarre.
Because in a squad which boasted EIGHT current or former right-backs, Southgate couldn’t find space to squeeze one of the country’s most outrageously gifted midfield talents into his ranks.
If Maddison was mad about getting pied… he certainly showed it.
The miffed midfielder took out his frustrations on the poor Portuguese, who had no answer to the 23-year-old’s heady cocktail of industry laced with artistry.

Kelechi Iheanacho grabbed the glory with a goal in each half, as well as an assist.
But it was Maddison who pulled the strings for 90 minutes and deservedly capped his midfield masterclass with Leicester’s fourth and final goal.
This was no subtle reminder – it was a klaxon call to Southgate from a player hitting peak form again after summer surgery on his damaged hip.
If England really can do without such talent they are going to romp this summer’s Euros.

Maddison was clearly a hurting man after his England snub and plenty of forceful foulsCredit: AFP or licensors

Iheanacho could not miss his 20th-minute opener as the ball bounced fortunately for himCredit: AFP or licensors

Meanwhile Iheanacho’s chances of completing a hat-trick vanished after 69 minutes when he recklessly went well over the top of the ball to rake his studs down Joao Novais’s right shin.
Dutch ref Bas Nijhuis booked the striker but Iheanacho can thank his lucky stars there is no VAR at this stage of the Europa League because if there was his card would have been upgraded to a red.
Not surprisingly, Rodgers swiftly brought him off – before Braga’s irate players could pick him off and kick him off!
By then the Foxes were already three goals to the good and in total in cruise control against their bewildered rivals who had arrived at the King Power with the confidence of a team on a six-match winning streak.
However Brendan’s boys soon burst their bubble as Iheanacho broke the deadlock after 20 minutes.
Christian’s Fuchs’ long throw to Iheanacho caught Braga’s defence on the hop and when the Nigerian passed to Maddison he returned the favour to slice through Braga’s defence.
Iheanacho feared he had overrun the ball but got the benefit of a lucky break off ‘keeper Matheus to leave him with a simple tap-in.
He added his second two minutes after the break when his ambitious shot from 25 yards clipped Viana but Matheus still should have done better than letting the ball skid beyond him to find the corner of his net.

The Nigerian tried his luck from range and got lucky with a heavy deflectionCredit: Reuters

Dennis Praet arrived at the back post to tuck home Leicester’s third on the nightCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Sub Dennis Praet added a third within five minutes of replacing Cengiz Under.
Maddison cut through Braga’s defence to find Youri Tielemans who sent it wide to Iheanacho and his centre – or miscued shot – took out the goalie to leave Praet with a simple tap-in.
All that was left was for Maddison to grab the reward he richly deserved when he ran on to a Perez pass to crash through Braga’s defence and beat Matheus to seal the Foxes’ heaviest Europe rout.

Maddison made sure he ‘putt’ himself in the right position to round off the scoringCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Iheanacho – who escaped a red card – told his boss he deliberately set up PraetCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Leicester maintained their perfect start to go three points clear at the top of Group GCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Kasper Schmeichel, wearing the captain’s armband, enjoyed a quiet night on his 34th birthdayCredit: Getty Images – Getty

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JOSE MOURINHO poked fun at his own Instagram post with another photo posing alone – but couldn’t resist moaning that Spurs did not play ‘especially well’ at Ludogorets.
A week ago the Tottenham boss took to social media to slam his players following the shock defeat to Royal Antwerp.

He shared a photo sat on his tod on the Tottenham team bus and called his squad in for training at 11am the following morning.
But seven days later the Special One was clearly in a jovial mood as he showed his funny side after his side beat Ludogorets 3-1 in Bulgaria.
Mourinho shared a casual snap sat on a sofa in his Tottenham tracksuit, seemingly munching on some crisps out of a Tupperware container.
He wrote: “When you win but you don’t play especially well.”

Harry Kane scored his 200th Spurs goal on his 300th with a 13th-minute header.
Lucas Moura made it two before the break but five minutes into the second half Claudiu Keseru pulled one back for Ludogorets.
Giovani Lo Ceslo, though, restored the visitors’ two-goal advantage, tapping in from Son Heung-min’s pass 17 seconds after the South Korean came on.
Mourinho said: “We couldn’t lose two matches, we couldn’t go with three points into the last three matches because then these matches would become knockout matches.

Harry Kane, left, set Spurs on their way against Ludogorets before goals from Lucas Moura and Giovani Lo CelsoCredit: Getty Images – Getty

“So in this moment with six points and two matches to come at home, I think we have to do the job and qualify of course.
“We were good enough to win, we had the game under control from the beginning, the first half was a solid performance.
“In the second half we gave the opportunity for them to score a goal with a slow defensive transition and not complete commitment in the moment the ball was lost.
“But after that, again we had a positive reaction to score a goal that gave us a comfortable result and three points that we need.”

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ALFREDO MORELOS is Rangers’ new all-time European top goalscorer as Steven Gerrard’s men conceded a last-gasp leveller in Lisbon.
A quick-fire two goals in the first half from the visitors turned the game on its head before the Colombian hit his 22nd Europa League goal for the Light Blues.

All smiles for Rangers star Morelos after record-breaking goal

The record-breaking goal! 💙Alfredo Morelos becomes Rangers’ all-time top scorer in Europe! 👏El Bufalo surpasses Ally McCoist with his 22nd European goal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ho4aIn33N0
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 5, 2020

But Benfica hit two goals of their own in the final 15 minutes of the game to earn a share of the spoils as both sides move on to seven points in Group D.
The visitors got off to the worst possible start as slack defending from Filip Helander allowed the hosts behind the Rangers backline with a cut-back coming off Connor Goldson into the back of Allan McGregor’s net.
Ten minutes later Jorge Jesus’ men should have doubled their advantage on the counter but Pizzi dragged his effort wide of the far post.
What looked to be the game-changing moment arrived just before the 20-minute mark when Ryan Kent broke the offside trap as he tried to get on the end of a long ball and was brought down by Nicolas Otamendi.

The former Manchester City star was shown a straight red card by the referee to leave the hosts a man down with more than 70 minutes to play.
Four minutes later the game was level.
James Tavernier whipped an inviting ball across the Benfica box and Diogo Goncalves turned the ball into the roof of his own net.
Just ONE minute later the game was turned on its head.

Otamendi was sent off for Benfica before the 20 minute mark Credit: Reuters

Glen Kamara is hailed after his stunning goal for Rangers Credit: Getty Images – Getty

And what a great goal it was by Glen Kamara.
Some slick build-up play from Rangers ended up with the ball at the feet of the Finland international and he cut inside two Benfica defenders before firing a low effort from 20 yards past Odysseas Vlachodomis at his near post.
Aribo nearly and probably should have added a third five minutes later as Rangers carved out another golden opportunity.
Kent played the ball to Borna Barasic before he delivered a lovely ball into the box which found the Rangers attacker but he headed just narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
Five minutes into the second period Rangers got their third of the game and it was Morelos’ record-breaking moment.
Goldson’s killer ball through the Benfica high line found skipper Tavernier who ran to the byline and fired the ball across the six-yard box to find an unmarked Morelos who knocked the ball home.
His close-range strike took his tally to 22 European goals from Rangers and moved him one ahead of McCoist in the record books.
Just on the hour it was nearly FOUR. Ryan Jack faked to shoot and lay in Ryan Kent but his effort struck the base of the post and out for a goal-kick.

Rangers got off to worst possible start in Lisbon after Goldson’s own goalCredit: AP:Associated Press

Darwin Nunez struck in the 90th minute to grab a late equaliser for the hostsCredit: Reuters
Benfica handed themselves a life life with 14 minutes remaining thanks to a tap-in from Rafa Silva.
The hosts once again capitalised on poor play from Helander before cutting the ball back across goal for a simple finish.
And just as the clock hit 90 minutes Darwin Nunez struck for the hosts as they recovered from 3-1 down to earn a point and deny Rangers a famous win in Lisbon.

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HARRY KANE showed once again why he is a defender’s nightmare and a statistician’s dream.
The England captain marked his 300th Spurs appearance by netting his 200th goal for the club to help get their Europa League bid back on track.

Harry Kane celebrated a double milestone in the Europa LeagueCredit: Reuters

The England international got on the end of a corner to make it 1-0Credit: EPA

Incredibly, half of those goals have been scored AWAY from home and 36 in Europe.
Kane, 27, became only the third Tottenham player to reach the double century and he is now only eight goals behind Bobby Smith and 66 behind their all-time highest scorer Jimmy Greaves.
Barring injury or a dream transfer to Real Madrid or Manchester United – just kidding Spurs fans – you would not back against him overtaking legend Greavsie as the North Londoners’ deadliest marksman.
Kane is also just one away from making it 150 Premier League goals – and with a trip to struggling West Brom to come on Sunday lunchtime it is highly likely he will chalk up another milestone before the international break.

The Prem’s all-time record scorer Alan Shearer, with 260 goals, must be pooping himself.
The way things are going, Kane could easily eclipse the Geordie idol’s top-flight total.
This was the Spurs star’s 12th goal in 13 matches and he even set up their second for Lucas Moura before he was taken off at half-time.
Jose Mourinho’s men were so in control, having created chance after chance, it was difficult to see them throwing away the victory.

But they almost contrived to as Claudiu Keseru pulled one back early in the second half before Giovani Lo Celso tapped in.
This was Tottenham’s second Europa League trip to Bulgaria in 60 days after they needed a late comeback to beat Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2-1 in September’s second qualifying round – although it was not familiar territory for Spurs as Plovdiv is a 200-mile drive away.
Razgrad has a population of just 35,000 – which to put into context is 25,000 less than capacity of Tottenham’s stadium.
Far be it from this newspaper to describe it as a one-horse town but the final suggestion on Tripadvisor’s 10 Things To Do in Razgrad page is visit a coffee shop!
Fortunately, to numb the pain the city is also Bulgaria’s largest producer of antibiotics – which is just as well after Kane left them feeling pig-sick.
Spurs boss Mourinho insisted he would be going for ‘full power’ after last week’s 1-0 defeat at Royal Antwerp where he made NINE changes.
Mourinho blamed that defeat on attitude rather than his selection.
He made six changes from Tottenham’s 2-1 home win over Brighton on Sunday.

Lucas Moura tapped in with ease for his fourth goal of the seasonCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Giovani Lo Celso restored Spurs’ two-goal advantage just after the hour markCredit: Reuters
Once again there was no place in the starting XI for Dele Alli – although these days it is more of a story if he is in the team than out of it.
Kane wasted a great chance to open the scoring after just 77 seconds when he side-footed over the bar from Winks’ great pass.
The England captain then fired a 25-yard doodlebug against a post before Bale’s free kick was scrambled away for a corner by Ludogorets’ frantic keeper Plamen Iliev.
Never mind, Plamen, it was more like Amen as he must have been praying for the onslaught to cease.
But there was nothing he could do as Kane put Spurs in front with a trademark header from Moura’s 13th-minute corner.

Tottenham celebrate together after finding the net in BulgariaCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Claudiu Keseru pulled one back for the hosts five minutes into the second halfCredit: Reuters
Lo Celso then curled a shot over and Moura fired wide as Mourinho’s men went for the kill. Moura just failed to get on the end of a Kane pull-back and Matt Doherty had a shot tipped over the bar.
Spurs had a scare when Moura landed stomach-first on the ball but it was the Brazilan who knocked the wind out of the hosts when he tapped in Kane’s pass to double the lead in the 32nd minute.
It was the Brazilian’s third Europa League goal of the season – but it was Kane who remained the main threat as poor old Iliev denied him further goals before the break by producing credible saves to keep out a header and a shot.
Ludogorets must have been relieved to have seen Mourinho replace the Three Lions skipper with Carlos Vinicius at half-time.
And the Bulgarian leaders’ hopes were raised even further when Romanian striker Keseru pounced to score in the 49th minute after Bernard Tekpetey’s shot had been deflected.
The decision to withdraw Kane was now looking suspect until Lo Celso restored Tottenham’s two-goal advantage with a neat finish from sub Son Heung-min’s pass.

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