MANCHESTER, Sep 9: Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the starting line-up but Real Sociedad still upset Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in their Europa League opener.
After failing to secure a transfer to a Champions League club, the star striker had to settle for playing in Europe’s second-tier competition for the first time since 2002 with Sporting Lisbon.
Ronaldo had last started in a 4-0 loss to Brentford on Aug 13 before United chalked up four consecutive victories in the Premier League. United manager Erik ten Hag had used the Portugal star off the bench during the winning streak.
Before their game, a minute of silence was held to pay respect to Queen Elizabeth II, who died aged 96 on Thursday.
Brazilian teenager Marquinhos marked his Arsenal debut by scoring the opening goal and setting up a second in a 2-1 victory over Zurich.
Eddie Nketiah scored the winner after Zurich equalised from a penalty awarded due to his foul as Arsenal rebounded from Sunday’s 3-1 loss to United – their first defeat in the Premier League this season.
Lazio opened its campaign with a 4-2 victory over Feyenoord but Roma lost 2-1 at Ludogorets in Bulgaria.
In the third-tier Europa Conference League, West Ham rallied in the second half to beat Romania’s FCSB 3-1 in London.
Elsewhere, Villarreal beat Lech Poznan 4-3 while Fiorentina was held 1-1 at home by Latvian champion RFS.
The match between Nice and Cologne in the ECL was delayed because of fights among supporters in the stands at Allianz Riviera stadium. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Europa League
Brais Méndez converted from the spot for Real Sociedad in the second half at Old Trafford, hitting the bottom corner of David de Gea’s goal. The penalty was given for a handball by defender Lisandro Martinez. It was Real Sociedad’s first win over United in European competitions.
The duo of Nketiah and Marquinhos were involved in the decisive moments of Arsenal’s victory. Nketiah found the back of the net with a header in the second half that went in between the legs of Zurich goalkeeper Yanick Brecher off a cross from Marquinhos, who has joined Arsenal from Sao Paulo.
The 19-year-old Marquinhos met a cross from Nketiah from the left to side-foot into the top corner and finish off a fluent counter-attack 16 minutes into the game.
Despite Arsenal’s dominance, the hosts equalised a minute before halftime after Mirlind Kryeziu sent Turner the wrong way from the spot.
In the same Group A, PSV Eindhoven drew Bodø/Glimt 1-1.
Brazilian forward Nonato scored the late winner winner for the Bulgarian club Ludogorets.
Lazio put the result against Feyenoord beyond doubt at Stadio Olimpico Rome, netting three inside less than half an hour, with Luis Alberto, Felipe Anderson and Matías Vecino scoring a goal each. Vecino added his second in the second half before Santiago Gimenez pulled two back for the Dutch team.
Michy Batshuayi came off the bench to give Fenerbahce a 2-1 home win over Dynamo Kyiv.
Willian José converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time and added another later for Real Betis’ 2-0 victory at Helsinki.
Europa Conference League
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen cancelled out Andrei Cordea’s first-half strike by netting from the spot before goals from Emerson and substitute Michail Antonio secured a victory at London Stadium.
Francis Coquelin struck a minute from time for Villarreal to seal the victory.
In the second edition of the Europa Conference League, teams from Kosovo, Liechtenstein and Lithuania gave their countries a first-ever representative in the group stage of a UEFA competition.
All their games ended in a draw. Kosovo’s Ballkani drew Cluj 1-1, while Liechtenstein’s Vaduz and Lithuania’s Zalgiris played goalless games against Apollon Limassol and Slovan Bratislava, respectively.
Also, Scotland’s Hearts were routed by Istanbul Basaksehir 4-0 in Edinburgh and Fabio Silva’s late penalty gave Anderlecht a 1-0 win against Silkeborg. (AP)
