LIVERPOOL, England: Liverpool thrashed Toulouse 5-1 at Anfield to reach the halfway point of the Europa League group stage with a perfect record, while Brighton & Hove Albion secured their first win in European football with a 2-0 home win over Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday.
Diogo Jota opened the scoring for Liverpool after nine minutes, embarking on a solo run that saw him navigate past four defenders before planting the ball into the bottom corner.
Toulouse responded seven minutes later as Thijs Dallinga perfectly timed his run from the halfway line into the box, effortlessly slotting home in the Group E clash.
The rest of the match belonged to Liverpool as Wataru Endo headed them back in front just past the half-hour mark. Four minutes later Darwin Nunez extended their lead with a shot from a tight angle, capitalising on a rebound inside the box.
Nunez nearly netted again in the 65th minute but his shot from the right side of the box struck the post after a superb run. Nevertheless, Ryan Gravenberch capitalised on the rebound to score Liverpool's fourth goal.
Three minutes into stoppage time late substitute Mohamed Salah completed the thrashing with a well-placed shot into the top corner from closer range, having bemused his marker.
That goal took the Egyptian's tally to 43 for Liverpool in major European competitions, a record for any player at an English club. Liverpool top the group by five points over Union Saint Gilloise and Toulouse, who both have four points.
Union defeated LASK 2-1 with a late Cameron Puertas penalty and winning goal from Christian Burgess four minutes into stoppage time to leave the visitors bottom without a point.
BRIGHTON ROCK
Brighton achieved a European milestone by beating Ajax and reigniting their chances of reaching the knockout stages. They are now level on four points with second-placed AEK Athens in Group B, a point behind Olympique de Marseille.
Brighton got a break three minutes before half-time when Joao Pedro capitalised on a rebound from a save by goalkeeper Diant Ramaj and slotted the ball into the net.
The Seagulls extended their lead eight minutes after the break when Ansu Fati received a lofted pass into the box and the 20-year-old calmly slotted home into the far bottom corner.
The result leaves Ajax in a difficult position as the Dutch side are now bottom of the group with two points. The former European champions are also second-bottom of the Eredivisie and parted ways with coach Maurice Steijn on Monday.
Olympiakos Piraeus beat Europa Conference League holders West Ham United 2-1 in Group A to end the visitors' 17-match unbeaten run in Europe. The Londoners remain top, albeit level on six points with Freiburg who beat Backa Topla 3-1 away.
Kostas Fortounis opened the scoring for the Greek side before Rodinei's shot was sliced into his own net by Angelo Ogbonna. West Ham pulled one back with Lucas Paqueta's volley.
AS Roma maintained their dominant form in Group G with a 2-0 victory over Slavia Prague as Edoardo Bove scored after 45 seconds and striker Romelu Lukaku extended his remarkable streak by netting in a 14th consecutive Europa League match.
Jose Mourinho's side top Group G with a maximum nine points, three clear of second-placed Slavia. Bayer Leverkusen thumped Qarabag 5-1 in Group H as Alejandro Grimaldo scored twice and Xabi Alonso's side now lead the group with nine points, three clear of their Azerbaijani visitors.
Stade Rennais moved top of Group F with a 2-1 victory at Panathinaikos to move two points clear of their second-placed opponents with goals from Amine Gouiri and Arnaud Kalimuendo.
The Villarreal and Maccabi Haifa match has been rescheduled to December 6. -- Reuters
Uefa Europa League results on Thursday:
Group A
Olympiakos (GRE) 2 (Fortounis 33, Rodinei 45+1) West Ham United (ENG) 1 (Paqueta 87)
TSC Backa Topola 1 (SRB) (Petrovic 13) Freiburg (GER) 3 (Grifo 49-pen, 59, 73)
Group B
Marseille (FRA) 3 (Vitinha 27, Harit 60-pen, Veretout 69-pen) AEK Athens (GRE) 1 (Pineda 53)
Brighton and Hove Albion (ENG) 2 (Joao Pedro 42, Fati 53) Ajax (NED) 0
Group C
Sparta Prague (CZE) 0 Rangers (SCO) 0
Aris Limassol (CYP) 0 Real Betis (ESP) 1 (Perez 75)
Group D
Sturm Graz (AUT) 2 (Prass 13, Wlodarczyk 80-pen) Atalanta (ITA) 2 (Muriel 34, 45+7-pen)
Rakow Czestochowa (POL) 1 (Piasecki 79) Sporting (POR) 1 (Coates 14)
Group E
Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL) 2 (Puertas 84-pen, Burgess 90+4) LASK (AUT) 1 (Usor 24)
Liverpool (ENG) 5 (Diogo Jota 9, Endo 30, Nunez 34, Gravenberch 65, Salah 90+3) Toulouse (FRA) 1 (Dallinga 16)
Group F
Panathinaikos (GRE) 1 (Ioannidis 61-pen) Rennes (FRA) 2 (Gouiri 7, Kalimuendo 49)
Villarreal (ESP) v Maccabi Haifa (ISR) - postponed until December 6
Group G
Roma (ITA) 2 (Bove 1, Lukaku 17) Slavia Prague (CZE) 0
Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) 1 (Ankeye 80) Servette (SUI) 1 (Crivelli 41)
Group H
Molde (NOR) 5 (Gulbrandsen 6, Wolff Eikrem 27, 55, Breivik 30, Bjornbak 90+3) Haecken (SWE) 1 (Sonko 21)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 5 (Wirtz 5, Grimaldo 29, 54, Boniface 35, Tapsoba 57) Qarabag (AZE) 1 (Bayramov 16-pen)
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