Arsenal FC, the sovereign leaders in the Premier League, only drew in the Europa League. AS Roma and Manchester United did better.
Arsenal FC drew 2-2 (1-1) at Sporting Lisbon in the round of 16 first leg of the Europa League on Thursday (09.03.23). William Saliba put the English in the lead (22′). But Goncalo Inacio (34′) and Paulinho (55′) turned the game around. Then Arsenal were lucky twice – first Paulinho missed a huge chance for the third Sporting goal, then Lisbon’s Hidemasa Morita scored an own goal (62nd).
AS Roma, on the other hand, created a very good starting position for the second leg. The effective Italians took advantage of their two chances and defeated Real Sociedad San Sebastián from Spain 2-0 (1-0) at home. Stephan El Shaarawy (13th) and Marash Kumbulla (87th) scored the goals for the defensively strong Romans.
Man United are rehabilitating
Four days after the 7-0 debacle at Liverpool FC, Manchester United have sent a warning. The English football record champions won 4-1 (1-1) against Real Betis Sevilla in their own stadium. Goals from Marcus Rashford (6th minute), Antony (52nd), Bruno Fernandes (58th) and Wout Weghorst (82nd) gave the Premier League third-placed team the best chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
A week before the second leg in Spain, Ayoze Perez’s goal (52′) was not enough for Sevilla to put coach Erik ten Hag’s team under pressure. Manchester had knocked out Spain’s champions FC Barcelona in the previous playoffs.