Tottenham and Lazio stay perfect in Europa League with second straight wins

Lazio’s Taty Castellanos, left, celebrates with his teammates the second goal after scoring against Nice during their Europa League opening phase at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, on Oct. 3, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 03 October 2024
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Tottenham and Lazio stay perfect in Europa League with second straight wins

  • Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou made seven changes to the team that beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday
  • Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni finished off the win from the penalty spot

ROME: A youthful Tottenham side maintained a perfect record in the Europa League with a 2-1 victory away at Ferencváros on Thursday, while Lazio also made it two wins out of two by routing Nice 4-1 at home.
Pape Sarr gave Tottenham the lead midway through the first half when he reacted quickly to a loose ball in the area and slotted it into the net with a right-foot shot for his second goal in two games in the second-tier European competition.
Brennan Johnson came on as substitute in the second half and scored the second four minutes from time with a left-footed strike off the far post. It was the fifth goal in five games in all competitions for the Wales international.
Parnabas Varga pulled one back for Ferencváros in the final minute.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou made seven changes to the team that beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday.
Four teenagers started for Spurs, with the 19-year-old Will Lankshear making his senior debut and 17-year-old teammate Mikey Moore making his first start.
In torrential rain at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Taty Castellano scored twice for Lazio, first making it 2-0 in the first half by lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Marcin Bulka in a one-on-one situation and then making it 3-1 in the second half with a shot into the roof of the net.
Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni finished off the win from the penalty spot.
Substitute Tomáš Chorý headed in a second-half equalizer for Slavia to hold Ajax to a 1-1 draw in Prague. Ajax went ahead after Branco van den Boomen sent Slavia goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot in the 18th. The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 75th after defender Youri Baas received his second yellow card.
Anderlecht came from a goal down to beat Real Sociedad 2-1 away, with Theo Leoni scoring the winner late in the first half.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored two and Santiago Hezze added another one for last year’s Conference League winner Olympiacos to beat visiting Braga 3-0.
Hoffenheim, which are struggling in the Bundesliga, recorded a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv.
Manchester United were playing at Porto later Thursday.

Conference League
The third-tier UEFA Conference League saw a couple of high-scoring games as Cercle Brugge routed St. Gallen 6-2 after a hat trick from Kevin Denkey, and Omonoia beat Vikingur Reykjavík 4-0 at home in Cyprus.
Legia Warsaw edged Real Betis 1-0.
Scottish side Hearts traveled a long way to Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, to take home a 2-1 victory over Belarusian champion Dinamo Minsk.
UEFA banned Russian clubs from all its events over the country’s invasion of Ukraine but has allowed Belarusian teams to keep playing despite the country’s support of Russia, as long as the games are hosted outside of Belarus without a crowd.


Arsenal host Chelsea, looking to maintain lead in EPL

Updated 15 sec ago
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Arsenal host Chelsea, looking to maintain lead in EPL

  • “Well, ⁠I think one ⁠thing leads to another,” explained Gunners manager Mikel Arteta
  • Rosenior said: “The Premier League is so difficult every week”

LONDON: Arsenal will look to move another step closer to their first Premier League title in 22 years Sunday when they host a Chelsea side managing its own improved run of form under new manager Liam Rosenior.
The Gunners (18-3-7, 61 points) maintained their five-point lead over Manchester City with an emphatic 4-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday, though City still possess a match in hand.
Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres each had a brace as Arsenal pulled away following a first half that ended tied at 1-1.
The performance took Gyokeres to 10 league goals in his first English campaign after his move from Sporting Lisbon this summer. Five of those have come in the Sweden international’s last five league appearances.
“Well, ⁠I think one ⁠thing leads to another,” explained Gunners manager Mikel Arteta. “When you score the first one, the performance is good, you have more time with your teammates, you understand the games, the opponents, the league better, everything helps.”
The result stretched Arsenal’s winning run to five matches in the North London Derby and their unbeaten streak to eight. Against Chelsea, the Gunners have gone 10 ⁠unbeaten while winning seven in all competitions, including both legs of their EFL Cup semifinal in November and January.
But fifth-place Chelsea (12-6-9, 45 points) have looked improved under incoming manager Rosenior, even if the decision to replace Enzo Maresca caught most off guard.
The Blues have posted an 8-2-2 mark under his direction in all competitions, with those EFL Cup losses the only defeats. In the league, Chelsea have taken 14 points from six games, a pace that would see them above Arsenal if it were extended over the whole season.
Still, they begin three points behind Manchester United in ⁠the quest ⁠for the final UEFA Champions League spot next season. And it may get tougher from here, with Aston Villa, Newcastle and a round-of-16 UCL clash with Paris Saint-Germain looming.
Rosenior doesn’t see it that way.
“The Premier League is so difficult every week. Every week, the challenges that you face, the different tactical problems that you have, the physicality of the league, I don’t judge one game as harder than the other,” he said. “For me, I’m happy with this group, I’m happy with the start that we’ve made. We’ve won eight out of 12, it should be 10 out of 12. That’s not bad.”
Rosenior also confirmed captain Reece James will be available after the defensive midfielder sustained a minor injury in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Burnley.