PARIS: Bruno Fernandes netted a hat-trick as Manchester United eased to a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad to reach the Europa League quarter-finals and Tottenham Hotspur advanced after a 3-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.
The second-tier tournament offers both Premier League clubs a chance for a trophy amid lacklustre domestic campaigns and get a welcome bonus of a spot in the Champions League next season.
United will face Olympique Lyonnais in the last eight after the French side strolled to a 4-0 win over Steaua Bucharest, and Rangers overcame Fenerbahce 3-2 in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 aggregate draw.
Nico Williams scored twice as Athletic Bilbao advanced with a 3-1 second-leg win over 10-man AS Roma on Thursday and Lazio progressed after a 1-1 home draw with Viktoria Plzen.
Lazio will face Bodo/Glimt in the last eight after the Norwegian club continued their impressive European adventure despite losing 2-1 at Olympiakos, and Eintracht Frankfurt had little trouble finishing off Ajax Amsterdam with a 4-1 win.
Chelsea saw out a 1-0 home win against Copenhagen to ensure their place in the last eight of the Europa Conference League.
Two spot-kicks and a late arrowed finish from Fernandes sent United into the quarter-finals by a 5-2 aggregate margin against 10-man Sociedad.
“We need to help him win titles, because he deserves it,” United manager Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports of his captain. “It was a good performance. The physicality was there… Even without the sending-off, you felt that the team were going to win this game.”
United, who drew 1-1 at Sociedad in the first leg, went a goal down after 10 minutes when Matthijs de Ligt fouled Mikel Oyarzabal and Oyarzabal converted from the spot but the hosts levelled six minutes later with a penalty scored by Fernandes after Igor Zubeldia had fouled Rasmus Hojlund.
Another spot-kick gave United the lead five minutes after the interval after Aritz Elustondo was adjudged to have fouled Patrick Dorgu and Fernandes again made no mistake.
Sociedad were reduced to 10 men when Jon Aramburu fouled Joshua Zirkzee and Fernandes rifled in a third three minutes from time before Diogo Dalot roofed United’s fourth in stoppage time.
“This club is all about winning,” Fernandes told TNT Sports. “Confidence is a big thing in football and at this club even more because you know how much you are on the eyes of everyone so you need to perform at the highest level.”
Lyon, 3-1 up from the first leg, cruised into the quarter-finals 7-1 on aggregate, with Ernest Nuamah and Georges Mikautdze both scoring twice.
SPURS AND RANGERS ADVANCE
Spurs’ season effectively hinged on whether they could overturn a 1-0 deficit against AZ Alkmaar in the third meeting between the sides in this year’s competition.
They managed it thanks to two goals by Wilson Odobert, the French youngster’s first for the club since joining in August.
Odobert opened the scoring in the 26th minute after a poor clearance by AZ’s Wouter Goes and the hosts moved ahead on aggregate soon after the break when Son Heung-min set up James Maddison for a side-footed finish into the corner.
AZ were gifted a way back into the tie in the 63rd minute when Peer Koopmeiners took advantage of a defensive error to fire a shot past Guglielmo Vicario.
Odobert struck again in the 74th minute, however, to ease the home jitters, finishing off a flowing Tottenham attack from close range.
“We’ve progressed, which is the main thing,” said Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou. “We played pretty well, I thought we were really in control of the game, but we were our own worst enemies at times. It got a bit nervy towards the end but we thoroughly deserved to progress.”
Spurs will next face Eintracht Frankfurt who eased to a 6-2 aggregate win over Ajax Amsterdam.
Frankfurt held a 2-1 advantage over Ajax from the first leg and were two up on the night within 25 minutes as Jean Bahoya and Mario Gotze netted from close range.
Hugo Ekitike scored a super solo goal to put the hosts out of sight before Kenneth Taylor netted a consolation for the Dutch side and Gotze scored again to wrap up the win.
After losing the first leg in Istanbul 3-1, Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce fought back at Rangers to win 2-0.
Polish winger Sebastian Szymanski produced two cute finishes in the 45th and 73rd minutes and the tie went to a penalty shootout in which Rangers keeper Jack Butland was the hero of Ibrox.
Butland saved the opening spot-kick from Dusan Tadic and after the home side’s third penalty from Ianis Hagi was also kept out, Butland denied Fred before Mert Hakan Yandas blasted his effort over the bar to send Rangers through to a meeting with Athletic Bilbao.
“We deserved to win over 90 minutes, we deserved to win after 120 minutes, we were the best team by far,” said Mourinho. “We did everything to win. The ref and the VAR decided that we should go to penalties. Congratulations to Rangers but I think my team deserves everything from me, from our supporters and even from Turkey as a country.”
BILBAO KNOCK OUT ROMA
Earlier, Bilbao used a one-man advantage to overturn a one-goal first-leg deficit and progress 4-3 on aggregate against Roma.
Roma won the first leg of their round-of-16 tie 2-1 last week but had to play with 10 men from the 11th minute after Mats Hummels received a straight red card for downing Maroan Sannadi.
The visitors held firm until first-half stoppage time when the Williams brothers broke the deadlock. Nico was at the far post when a deflected cross by Inaki from the left landed in his path to score the opener.
Yuri Berchiche headed in the second and Nico added his second of the night to seal it for the hosts to remain in contention for the final that will take place at their stadium on May 21. Leandro Paredes scored for Roma in stoppage time.
“I’m really looking forward to being in that final,” Nico said. “To be Athletic is to suffer and we also had to have that little bit of suffering at the end. We did an incredible job and we deserved to go through.”
It was a better evening for fellow Italian capital club Lazio.
Lazio won the first leg 2-1 away but Plzen stunned the Stadio Olimpico crowd and levelled the tie on aggregate early in the second half when Pavel Sulc fired home from a Rafiu Durosinmi layoff.
Lazio avoided extra-time when Alessio Romagnoli headed in a corner 13 minutes from the end to secure a 3-2 aggregate victory.
The Italians will next meet Bodo/Glimt who lost in Athens but advanced 4-2 on aggregate.
Bodo, with a three-goal cushion from the first leg, went further ahead when Kasper Hoegh, who netted a double in the first game, scored from the edge of the six-yard box.
Olympiakos rallied, however, and Roman Yaremchuk scored twice, but they had a penalty saved and went down to 10 men after Konstantinos Tzolakis was sent off and Bodo advanced 4-2 on aggregate.
CHELSEA THROUGH
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall got the winner 10 minutes into the second half at Stamford Bridge to send Chelsea through the Conference League quarter-finals at the expense of Copenhagen, 3-1 over both legs.
Defeated finalists in 2023 and 2024, Fiorentina overturned a first-leg deficit against Panathinaikos with a 3-1 win in Tuscany, progressing 5-4 on aggregate and will play Slovenian team Celje.
Celje emerged victorious after a penalty shoot-out at Lugano, at the end of a topsy-turvy night in Switzerland which the 10-man hosts won 5-4 before misfiring badly from the spot.
Real Betis routed Vitória SC 4-0 in Portugal and advanced 6-2 aggregate to play Polish team Jagiellonia, who lost to Cercle Brugge in Belgium 2-0 but advanced thanks to their 3-0 home win last week.
Rapid Vienna made the next round after topping Borac 2-1 in extra time. Djurgarden beat Pafos 3-0 and progress 3-1 on aggregate.
Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2025
