Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League campaign got off to a frustrating start as they were beaten 1-0 by mid-table Belgian outfit Gent in their last 32, first leg tie yesterday despite fielding a strong side.
Spurs, who have dropped into the competition from the Champions League, were off colour throughout the match and were undone in the second half when journeyman French striker Jeremy Perbet stroked home at the second attempt on the hour.
Manchester United and Roma took a big step towards sealing a place in the Last 16 after convincing victories over St Etienne and Villarreal respectively.
Olympique Lyon made light work of AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands as they began the knockout phase with Alexandre Lacazette scoring twice in a 4-1 victory, while Fiorentina edged Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 in Germany.
Spurs arrived in Belgium looking to restore pride in north London football after Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday but were stifled in a poor performance and were lucky to escape with a one-goal deficit.
After Perbet scored, Gent, eighth in the Belgian league, had a golden chance to double their lead but Danijel Milicevic’s effort was tipped onto the post by keeper Hugo Lloris.
Spurs made only two changes from the team that were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday.
Yet apart from a Harry Kane effort that hit the post early in the second half, they had few chances and Gent comfortably held on to take a slender lead into next week’s second leg.
Gladbach came into their encounter with Fiorentina on a hot streak having won their last four games and they dominated possession and made several chances against the Italians.
The Serie A side were resilient at the back, however, and grabbed the only goal when Federico Bernardeschi fired home a fine free-kick in the dying seconds of the first half.
Ibra hat-trick
Zlatan Ibrahimovic grabbed a hat-trick as Manchester United brushed aside St Etienne at Old Trafford.
On the eve, of the match much of the attention was on Paul Pogba’s reunion with his brother Florentin.
But Ibrahimovic managed to take all the plaudits when he put United ahead after 15 minutes before adding two late goals, the third from a penalty, to wrap up a comfortable evening for the English side ahead of next week’s second leg.
Edin Dzeko grabbed a second-half hat-trick as he propelled Roma to an impressive 4-0 win over Villarreal in Spain.
Brazilian midfielder Emerson Palmieri had given Roma the lead after 32 minutes.
Lyon will take a commanding advantage into their second leg against AZ Alkmaar after teenager Lucas Tousart scored his first senior goal for the club and Jordan Ferri rounded off the scoring in stoppage time either side of Lacazette’s double.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh had reduced the deficit for AZ with a 68th-minute penalty.
Europa League last-32
Played yesterday
Krasnodar (Russia) vs Fenerbahce (Turkey) - 1-0
Astra Giurgiu (Romania) vs Genk (Belgium) - 2-2
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) vs Lyon (France) - 1-4
Borussia Mgladbach (Germany) vs Fiorentina (Italy) - 0-1
Celta Vigo (Spain) vs Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) - 0-1
Gent (Belgium) vs Tottenham Hotspur (England) - 1-0
Ludogorets (Bulgaria) vs Copenhagen (Denmark) - 1-2
Olympiakos (Greece) vs Osmanlispor (Turkey) - 0-0
Rostov (Russia) vs Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) - 4-0
PAOK Salonika (Greece) vs Schalke 04 (Germany) - 0-3
Hapoel Beer Sheva (Israel) vs Besiktas (Turkey) - 1-3
Manchester United (England) vs St Etienne (France) - 3-0
Athletic Bilbao (Spain) vs APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus) - 3-2
Legia Warsaw (Poland) vs Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands) - 0-0
Anderlecht (Belgium) vs Zenit St Petersburg (Russia) - 2-0
Villarreal (Spain) vs Roma (Italy) - 0-4
Second legs: February 23.