Europa League: Gent stun Spurs, Ibrahimovic hat-trick lifts United

Belgian league side Gent dealt a blow to Tottenham’s Europa League hopes after Jeremy Perbet’s goal gave the home team a surprise victory in their last-32 first-leg clash on Thursday.

Perbet controlled and slotted into the corner from Danijel Milicevic’s pull-back on the hour mark, which means they go with a 1-0 advantage into the second leg at Wembley.

Elsewhere, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat-trick as Manchester United opened up a lead against Saint-Etienne at Old Trafford.

The Swedish striker deflected free-kick early in the first half put the home team ahead, and he tapped home from close range after good work from Marcus Rashford in the 75th minute, as well as adding a late penalty to make it three for the Red Devils.

Read Also: UCL: Madrid recover from early goal, thump Napoli 3-1

In the other first leg ties, FC Rostov thrashed Sparta Prague 4-0, Fiorentina stunned Monchengladbach 1-0 in Germany, Ludogorets lost 2-1 at home to Copenhagen, Shakhtar Donetsk edged hosts Celta Vigo 1-0 and Genk went away and held Astra Giurgiu 2-2.

The full results of Thursday’s Europa League round 32 first leg ties:

FC Krasnodar 1-0 Fenerbahce
AZ Alkmaar 1-4 Olympique Lyon
Astra Giurgiu 2-2 Genk
Monchengladbach 0-1 Fiorentina
Celta Vigo 0-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Rostov 4-0 Sparta Prague
Gent 1-0 Spurs
Ludogorets 1-2 Copenhagen
Olympiakos 0-0 Osmanlispor
Athletic Bilbao 3 – 2 Apoel Nicosia
Hapoel Be’er Sheva 1 – 3 Besiktas
Legia Warsaw 0 – 0 Ajax
PAOK Salonika 0 – 3 FC Schalke 04
RSC Anderlecht 2 – 0 Zenit St Petersburg
Villarreal 0 – 4 Roma

The return legs of the round will play through Wednesday and Thursday next week.

 

 

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