Olympique Lyon has not been able to finish the group stage of the Europa League without errors. After five consecutive victories, Peter Bosz’s team drew at home against the Rangers of Giovanni van Bronckhorst: 1-1. Both teams continue in Group A. In Goep C, Napoli secured first place with a 3-2 win over Leicester City, who finish third and enter the Conference League. Fenerbahçe took a point in Group D against group winner Eintracht Frankfurt (1-1) and finished third, as was already known before Thursday.
Olympique Lyon – Rangers 1-1
Before the game, Lyon and Rangers were already certain of the first and second place in the group, respectively. So there was little at stake and that is why both trainers rotated a lot: Bosz left only two players against the competition match with Girondins Bordeaux (2-2), while five players from Van Bronckhorst kept their base place after the victory over Dundee FC ( 3-0). In the first half, Kemar Roofe hit the post before Scott Wright opened the score with a deflected shot by Damien Da Silva.
Lyon tied the score in the opening phase of the second half. Rayan Cherki pushed into the penalty area from the right and surprised Rangers with a low, diagonal shot that was touched by Calvin Bassey: 1-1. Lyon then looked for the lead and had chances through both Tino Kadewere and Castello Lukeba. After that, both teams showed little more offensively. The sixth consecutive win in the group stage of Lyon did not come, as a result of which Lyon finish with sixteen points. Rangers collected eight points, one more than Sparta Prague.
Napoli v Leicester City 3-2
The spell was broken by the home team after four minutes, when Adam Ounas hit the goal with a slider in the long corner: 1-0. Halfway through the second half, Napoli already thought they were sitting on roses. Leicester City’s offside trap went awry, leaving Andrea Petagna only able to go after goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The attacker put wide on the Eljif Elmas who had followed, who had the ball for tapping: 2-0. However, the team of coach Luciano Spalletti was unable to enjoy the comfortable lead for a long time, because the connecting goal soon came in the name of Jonny Evans. A free kick fell at the feet of the defender, who did not hesitate and successfully printed: 2-1.
The deficit was then completely brushed away by the visitors well before half-time. Again a free kick by Leicester City was not convincingly cleared, after which Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall shot in from the second line: 2-2. Napoli received a big blow with the given lead, but put things in order in the second half, when a cross from Giovanni Di Lorenzo went past everything and everyone. Elmas was eventually in the right place to give the home team the victory and final second place in Group C: 3-2. Leicester misses out on second place, as Spartak Moscow beat Legia Warsaw 0-1; to the disappointment of the Foxes Legia missed a penalty deep in stoppage time.
Fenerbahce – Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1
Fenerbahçe would finish third in Group D anyway, but Eintracht still played for the group win. The visitors needed a point to stay ahead of Olympiacos under their own power and took the lead after half an hour. On the sidelines, Min-Jae Kim lost the ball under pressure, after which Eintracht reacted quickly and Djibril Sow acted as the end station of the attack. Fenerbahçe came alongside not much later when Mergim Berisha suddenly got the ball in the penalty area and gratefully took advantage.
Fenerbahçe hoped for a penalty after Mergim Berisha went to the ground in the penalty area, but it never came. Halfway through the second half, Sam Lammers made his entrance at Eintracht. The Dutch attacker risked a serious goal for sixteen minutes, but there was no winner in the Sükrü Saracoglu Stadium. Ferdi stayed on the bench at Fenerbahçe for ninety minutes.