Europa League
Paris: Teenager Mason Greenwood scored as Manchester United cruised into the Europa League last 32 with a 3-0 win over Partizan Belgrade at Old Trafford on Thursday, while Celtic stunned Lazio with a last-gasp goal in Rome to progress.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United knew that a third victory in four Group L games would be enough to send them through. The 18-year-old Greenwood broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute with a cool finish to score his third goal of the season and second in this competition.
Anthony Martial doubled the advantage after the half-hour mark with a brilliant individual goal, before Marcus Rashford lashed home the third four minutes after the interval.
The comfortable victory saw United bounce back after a 1-0 loss at Bournemouth last weekend had ended a three-game winning run.
AZ Alkmaar thrashed Astana 5-0 in Kazakhstan to keep control of the race for second place in Group L behind United, eliminating their hosts and moving four points clear of Partizan. Olivier Ntcham scored a dramatic injury-time winner to grab Celtic a 2-1 victory at Lazio. Neil Lennon’s outfit remain top of Group E with two games remaining, seven points clear of third-placed Lazio after their second straight win over the Romans.
El Haddadi treble
Former Barcelona winger Munir El Haddadi starred with a hat-trick as Sevilla thrashed Dudelange 5-2 to also reach the knockout rounds.
Record five-time winners Sevilla knew victory in Luxembourg would send them through from Group A and their one-sided win also sealed top spot.
PSV Eindhoven, the 1978 winners, suffered a humbling 4-1 defeat by Austrian team LASK Linz to slip to third in Group D behind their opponents and Sporting Lisbon, who won 2-0 at Rosenborg. (AFP)