Manchester United marked Ruben Amorim’s first game at Old Trafford with a 3-2 Europa League victory over Bodo/Glimt as Rasmus Hojlund netted a double, while Tottenham were held by Roma on Thursday.
United trailed late in the first half against Norwegians Bodo/Glimt, but recovered to post a second straight Europa League win since sacking Erik ten Hag, having started the campaign with three consecutive draws.
Manchester United scored in the second minute of former Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim’s first match as manager at Ipswich on Sunday and it took under 60 seconds for them to break the deadlock against Bodo/Glimt.
Visiting goalkeeper Nikita Haikin was put under pressure by a poor back-pass and his clearance was blocked by Hojlund, allowing Alejandro Garnacho to tap into an empty net.
But United’s defensive frailties were laid bare as Hakon Evjen swept in a 19th-minute equaliser and Philip Zinckernagel put Bodo/Glimt in front four minutes later.
United looked short of ideas until the stroke of half-time when Noussair Mazraoui’s cross found Hojlund, who flicked the ball up with a clever touch and calmly volleyed into the bottom corner.
The hosts reclaimed the lead less than five minutes after the restart, as Manuel Ugarte squared the ball across the face of goal for Hojlund to prod home.
United survived a real scare when the referee waved play on after goalkeeper Andre Onana handled outside his area in the second half.
But Amorim’s men held on to give their new boss a satisfactory home debut.
In London, Spurs failed to back up their stunning weekend win over Manchester City as Mats Hummels scored in injury time to snatch a 2-2 draw for Roma.
Tottenham also made a fast start as Son Heung-min slotted in a penalty in the fifth minute after Pape Matar Sarr was brought down by Hummels.
Evan Ndicka flicked in Paulo Dybala’s free-kick to level for Roma a quarter of an hour later, before Brennan Johnson restored Spurs’ advantage 11 minutes before the break.
Crisis-hit Roma piled the pressure on late at the Tottenham Stadium and former Germany centre-back Hummels pounced from close range in added time.
Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs now sit outside the top eight, who qualify automatically for the last 16, on goal difference.
– Bilbao join Lazio at top –
Earlier, Athletic Bilbao cruised to a 3-0 win over Elfsborg to move level on points with Lazio at the top of the table.
Adama Boiro, Benat Prados and Gorka Guruzeta scored the goals as Bilbao climbed to second place, behind Lazio on goal difference.
The Roman club were held to a goalless draw by Ludogorets but remain unbeaten with 13 points from five games.
Eintracht Frankfurt, also flying high in the Bundesliga, also have the same number of points after Omar Marmoush netted a spot-kick in a 2-1 victory over Midtjylland in Denmark.
Victor Osimhen scored his seventh goal in as many matches for Galatasaray in all competitions, but the Turkish giants slipped two points behind the leading trio after a 1-1 draw at AZ Alkmaar.
Lyon climbed into seventh courtesy of a 4-1 thrashing of Qarabag in Baku, with Georgia striker Georges Mikautadze netting an excellent double.
The Ligue 1 club sit above eighth-placed Rangers on goal difference after the Scottish giants, struggling domestically, thumped Nice 4-1 on the French Riviera.
– Chelsea march on –
Chelsea remained top of the Conference League table with a fourth straight win by beating Heidenheim, who lost their 100-percent record, 2-0.
A much-changed Chelsea had to wait until six minutes after the restart to break the deadlock as Christopher Nkunku took a brilliant touch to control Jadon Sancho’s cross before firing into the top corner.
The German side improved after falling behind, though, and almost equalised in the 69th minute when Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen produced a wonderful double save to deny Paul Wanner and Leo Scienza.
The two-time European champions killed the game off with four minutes left as Sancho notched his second assist of the match, teeing up Mykhailo Mudryk to drive a shot into the roof of the net after playing a one-two with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
AFP
