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Man Utd draw in Rostov; Lyon and Genk in the goals in Europa League

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Berlin: Manchester United came away from Russian side Rostov with a 1-1 draw, Genk hit five against fellow Belgian side Gent and Lyon downed Roma 4-2 in first-leg matches in the last 16 of football’s Europa League on Thursday.


Anderlecht, Copenhagen and Celta Vigo also won, while Schalke and Borussia Moenchgengladbach finished all-square at 1-1 in the all-Bundesliga encounter.


Premier League side United had to settle for a draw after a first-half goal from Henrikh Mkhitaryan on a well-worn pitch in Rostov.


Mkhitaryan finished from close range after Zlatan Ibrahimovic took a pass from Marouane Fellaini and cut the ball back. United seemed to be in control but eight minutes after the break were caught out by a long ball which Aleksandr Bukharov chested down before finishing with aplomb past keeper Sergio Romero.


“We have tried to win, we have played as good as we could on this pitch,” Mikhitaryan told BT Sport.


“I do not want to speak about the pitch because it was awful for both. For those watching, it was not a very interesting game.”


United manager Jose Mourinho told BT Sport: “It was a very good performance in relation to the conditions. It was impossible to play better, impossible to play a passing game.


“We played what the game demanded and we played well. We made one defensive mistake.”


In Gelsenkirchen, Schalke went behind in the all-Bundesliga clash with Moenchengladbach when Jonas Hofmann struck in the 15th minute from a Lars Stindl pass. Guido Burgstaller levelled 10 minutes later for Schalke to keep the tie in the balance.


Visiting Genk won the battle of the Belgians, downing Gent 5-2 to put one foot into the last eight.


Ruslan Malinovskiy’s opener for Genk was levelled by Samuel Kalu, but Omar Colley, Mbwana Samatta and Jere Uronen scored before the break.


Kalifa Coulibaly pulled one back for the home side, who squandered a chance for a third when Jeremy Perbet’s penalty was saved by Mathew Ryan, and Genk then made it five with a second from Samatta. Gent’s misery continued with a dismissal six minutes from time for midfielder Anderson Esiti following a second booking.


Fellow Belgians Anderlecht are well positioned to advance after Nicolae Stanciu gave them a 1-0 win at Apoel Nicosia, ending the Cypriot side’s 33-match unbeaten run in all competitions.


Lyon downed visiting Roma 4-2 in a match which swung both ways.Mouctar Diakhaby put Lyon ahead in the eighth minute, but Roma bounced back through Mohamed Salah and a powerful header from Federico Fazio.


Corentin Tolisso then levelled shortly after the break with a shot from edge of area, substitute Nabil Fekir danced round three defenders to curl in a third in the 74th minute, and Alexandre Lacazette made it four in stoppage time with a shot into the roof of the net from outside the area.


Copenhagen beat visiting Ajax 2-1 — a first defeat of the year for the Dutch side — with Rasmus Falk after just 28 seconds and Andreas Cornelius scoring either side of a goal by 19-year-old Kasper Dolberg.


Celta Vigo snatched a late 2-1 win over visiting Krasnador, substitute Claudio Beauvue scoring the winner in the final minute, and Olympiakos and Besiktas ended 1-1 in the Greek-Turkish encounter.


Italian veteran Esteban Cambiasso gave Olympiakos the lead with a 36th-minute header from a corner, while Vincent Aboubakar levelled for the visitors after a poor clearance by keeper Nicola Leali.


The return legs are next Thursday. — dpa


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