Europa League roundup: Spurs falter in Turkey, fail to win group; Napoli, Gladbach secure top spots

Besiktas vs Tottenham: UEFA Europa League

The old saying “That’s so Spurs” was given another run-out during Thursday’s Europa League action.  Any Tottenham Hotspur fans out there know what I’m talking about.

Mauricio Pochettino‘s reserves-heavy side couldn’t get the job done away to Besiktas in a game that saw the stadium’s floodlights go out twice, forcing a pair of brief stoppages in play and creating a number of stunning stadium photos as fans used their cell phones to illuminate the arena.

Cenk Tosun scored the only goal of the game, giving the current Turkish Super Lig leaders all three points and snatching the top spot in Group C out from under Spurs’ nose.

Everton, the Premier League‘s other team in the Europa League group stage, won their group on Matchday 5, and it’s a good thing they took care of business already because they fell 0-1 to FC Krasnodar at Goodison Park on Matchday 6. Ricardo Laborde scored the only goal of the game to knock off an all-reserves Blues side.

Borussia Monchengladbach (12 points) kept hold of the top spot in Group A, narrowly edging out Villarreal (11) following a routine 3-0 home victory over FC Zurich. Patrick Hermann put the Bundesliga side ahead in the 31st minute before Branimir Hrgota bagged a second-half brace to complete the scoring. Villarreal, who needed to win their final group stage game and hope for a Gladbach draw or loss, knocked off Apollon Limassol, 2-0, in Cyprus.

Napoli (13 points) were comfortable 3-0 winners over Slovan Bratislava to top Group I. A pair of goals be Dries Mertens and Marek Hamsik put the game out of reach after 16 minutes before youngster Duvan Zapata picked up the third in the 75th minute. BSC Young Boys (12) also secured Group I advancement after a 2-0 home victory over Sparta Prague.

Group winners: Borussia Monchengladbach, Club Brugge, Besiktas, Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Moscow, Inter Milan, Feyenoord, Everton, Napoli, Dynamo Kyiv, Fiorentina, Legia Warsaw

Group runners-up: Villarreal, Torino, Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic, PSV Eindhoven, Dnipro, Sevilla, Wolfsburg, BSC Young Boys, Aalborg, Guingamp, Trabzonspor

Elsewhere in Europa League

Dnipro 1-0 Saint Etienne
FK Karabakh 0-0 Inter Milan
Club Brugge 2-1 HJK
FC Copenhagen 1-5 Torino
Partizan Belgrade 0-0 Asteras Tripolis
Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 Astra Giurgiu
Dinamo Zagreb 4-3 Celtic
PSV Eidnhoven 0-1 Dinamo Moscow
Panathinaikos 1-1 Estroil
Standard Liege 0-3 Feyenoord
Sevilla 1-0 Rijeka
Lille 0-3 Wolfsburg
Steaua Bucharest 0-2 Dynamo Kyiv
Rio Ave 2-0 Aalborg
PAOK Salonika 1-2 Guingamp
Fiorentina 1-2 Dinamo Minsk
Metalist Kharkiv 0-1 Lokeren
Legia Warsaw 2-0 Trabzonspor

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