Europa League round-up: Sevilla take first-leg lead, Zenit in control
Thursday 23 August 2018 23:01, UK
Five-time Europa League winners Sevilla took a step towards the group stages after Pablo Sarabia's solitary goal earned a 1-0 away win to Sigma Olomouc in the first leg of their playoff on Thursday.
New Sevilla boss Pablo Machin left hat-trick hero Andre Silva on the bench from Sunday's 4-1 win at Rayo Vallecano, but Silva came on to make a vital contribution with a defence-splitting pass that Sarabia prodded into the top corner six minutes from time.
The shock result of the night came from Luxembourg as F91 Dudelange defeated Romania's Cluj 2-0 thanks to goals from David Tarpel and Daniel Sinani.
Zenit St Petersburg took a commanding 3-1 lead into their second leg against Norwegian side Molde with one of Russia's World Cup heroes Artem Dzyuba inspiring a late comeback from 1-0 down in the final 20 minutes.
Basel edged a five-goal thriller over Apollon Limassol to take a 3-2 lead to Cyprus next week thanks to a double from Ricky van Wolfswinkel.
RB Leipzig still have work to do in Germany in the second leg after a 0-0 draw in Ukraine against Zorya.
And Champions League regulars in recent years APOEL Nicosia and Ludogorets Razgrad secured narrow 1-0 first leg leads over Kazak champions Astana and Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia respectively.
