Plus: West Ham and Celtic through to knockout rounds; Rangers and Leicester both draw 1-1 against Brondby and Spartak Moscow respectively; Napoli go top of Group C; Eintracht Frankfurt remain unbeaten in Europa League; Real Sociedad draw with Sturm Graz
Thursday 4 November 2021 23:52, UK
Moussa Diaby scored twice as Bayer Leverkusen romped to Europa League victory over Real Betis in a battle which saw both sides finish with 10 men.
Diaby struck either side of half-time before late goals from Florian Wirtz and Nadiem Amiri wrapped up a 4-0 Group G win, although there was still time for Betis' Nabil Fekir and Leverkusen's Kerem Demirbay to receive their marching orders in stoppage time.
It proved equally eventful in Budapest, where Celtic held on to beat Ferencvaros 3-2 thanks to goals from Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota and Liel Abada with Josip Juranovic's own goal and Myrto Uzuni's late effort keeping the game alive
to the final whistle.
Islam Slimani also claimed a double as Lyon secured their passage from Group A by extending their perfect record with a 3-0 home victory over Sparta Prague.
Slimani struck twice in three minutes after the break with substitute Karl Toko Ekambi adding a third in stoppage time.
Rangers could yet finish in second place after substitute Ianis Hagi's equaliser earned them a 1-1 draw at Brondby, who had gone ahead when Leon Balogun had headed into his own net on the stroke of half-time.
Tomas Soucek's late own goal denied West Ham boss David Moyes victory in his 1000th game as a manager, drawing 2-2 with Genk, although they are still assured of a top-two finish in Group H.
The Hammers looked to be on their way to a fourth successive win in the competition courtesy of Said Benrahma's second-half double after Joseph Paintsil had put Genk ahead, but Soucek, a 58th-minute replacement for Mark Noble, unwittingly headed into his own net two minutes from time to hand the Belgians a point.
Dinamo Zagreb sit in second place after a 3-1 home win over Rapid Vienna.
Group C, however, remains in the melting pot after Napoli climbed into first place with a 4-1 victory at Legia Warsaw in which Piotr Zielinski and Dries Mertens both scored from the penalty spot.
Leicester sit in third place after Jamie Vardy missed from the spot in a 1-1 home draw with Spartak Moscow, who led through Victor Moses before Daniel Amartey equalised.
Jens Petter Hauge's stoppage-time winner maintained Eintracht Frankfurt's unbeaten Group D run as the Germans came from behind to win 2-1 at Olympiakos.
Youssef El-Arabi had given the home side a 12th-minute lead which was cancelled out by Daichi Kamada before substitute Hauge's timely intervention.
Fenerbahce kept their qualification hopes alive with a resounding 3-0 win at Antwerp in which Mert Hakan Yandas, Maximilian Meyer and Mergim Merisha all struck within the opening 29 minutes.
Alexander Sorloth's equaliser spared Real Sociedad's blushes as the La Liga leaders had to make do with a 1-1 draw against Sturm Graz.
Jakob Jantscher fired the visitors into a 38th-minute lead in San Sebastian, but Sorloth levelled eight minutes after the restart to keep the Spaniards in the hunt for top spot in Group B.
Monaco currently sit two points clear at the top of the pile despite a 0-0 home draw with PSV Eindhoven.
Braga top Group F following a 4-2 home win over Ludogorets with Crvena Zvezda two points behind despite a 1-0 home defeat by FC Midtjylland.
It is a case of as you were in Group E after leaders Galatasaray were held to a 1-1 draw in Istanbul by Lokomotiv Moscow, while Marseille skipper Dimitri Payet's late goal denied Lazio victory in France as the game finished 2-2.
