AC Milan beat Slavia, West Ham rout Freiburg to cruise into Europa League quarterfinals

LONDON: Manchester United and Tottenham put their inconsistent domestic campaigns aside and advanced to the Europa League round of 16 on Thursday.

Diogo Dalot tapped in a precise cross by Kobbie Mainoo on the hour mark and Mainoo netted eight minutes later for a 2-0 victory over Romanian champion FCSB in Bucharest.

Tottenham got goals from academy graduates to beat Swedish club Elfsborg 3-0 in London. Spurs waited until the 70th minute for substitute Dane Scarlett to break the deadlock before adding two more through substitute Damola Ajayi and 17-year-old Mikey Moore.

Of the 36 teams in the revamped competition, the top eight go directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into the two-legged knockout playoffs on Feb. 13 and Feb. 20 with the winners making the last 16.

The draw is scheduled for Friday.

United, who are 12th in the Premier League, competed the league phase of the second-tier European competition in third place and undefeated with five wins and three draws, trailing the top by one point.

“Kobbie (Mainoo) played very well in that position, with more freedom and not so much responsibility running back all the time,” United manager Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports. “The lads did a good job, another clean sheet.”

Amorim’s squad has shown signs of improvement since he said the team was “the worst, maybe, in the history of Manchester United.”

Thursday’s victory was the third straight in one week after beating Rangers in the Europa League a week ago and Fulham in the Premier League three days later.

Tottenham are languishing in 15th place in the Premier League. Their seven-match winless run in the league is their worst since 2008. But they won five, drew two and lost one for the fourth place in the Europa League.

Lazio, the only team that qualified to the round of 16 with a game to spare, was handed their first defeat, 1-0, away at Braga. Still, the Portuguese team was eliminated.

Lazio still topped the standings with 19th points, the same as the second Athletic Bilbao.

Bilbao secured the second place after a 3-1 home win over 10-man Viktoria Plzen, who have a playoff spot.

Frankfurt completed the league phase in fifth despite a 2-0 loss at Roma. Angeliño and Eldor Shomurodov lifted Roma with the goals at Stadio Olimpico.

Lyon were sixth despite being held 1-1 at home by Ludogorets.

Olympiacos in seventh after routing Qarabag 3-0.

Rangers squeezed in to complete the top eight by beating Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1.

Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce avoided an embarrassing early exit with a 2-2 away draw at Denmark’s Midtjylland. The result sent both into the playoffs. The hosts were 20th while Midtjylland took 24th, giving Mourinho a chance to add to his European trophies.

Ajax ended a three-game losing streak by handing Galatasaray thir first defeat, 2-1 with both teams making the playoffs.

Hoffenheim’s 4-3 away win at Anderlecht was not enough for the Bundesliga team to advance. The Belgian club finished 10th.

Real Sociedad, FCSB, Porto, AZ Alkmaar, Twente and PAOK are among other teams that advanced.

RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show once more as Al-Nassr won 2-1 at Al-Raed on Thursday to move within five points of Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad.
The 39-year-old scored one and made another to give the Yellows a fourth win from the last five.
Ronaldo got his 15th league goal of the season with 35 minutes on the clock, and while it was not the most spectacular, it could end up being crucial. Marcelo Brozovic floated a free-kick from deep, the defenders mistimed their runs but Ronaldo did not, and nipped in to stab home from close range.

It was 2-0 early in the second half. Ronaldo picked up the ball on the left side and produced a slide-rule pass into the area, but there was still a lot of work for Nawaf Boushal to do. The 25-year-old beat a defender for pace, jinked inside and then slotted past the goalkeeper for a very well-worked goal.
The hosts got themselves back into the game with 14 minutes remaining, scoring with a strike Ronaldo himself would have been proud of. Yousri Bouzok found Amir Sayoud on the edge of the area and the Algerian twisted and turned to make space for a shot and then curled the ball into the top corner.
It was a goal that deserved more than being a mere consolation, but the relegation-battling hosts could not quite get the second despite Al-Nassr looking rattled.
The visitors managed to hang on for what could be three very big points, although they are going to have to play better to really trouble the top two.
However, for now, the Yellows move to third, five points behind Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, but the top two can restore their eight-point advantage when they are next in action later in the week.
Earlier, fifth-placed Al-Ahli defeated Al-Orubah 2-0 to make it eight wins out of the last nine. Ziyad Al-Johani opened the scoring after just nine minutes. The Jeddah giants went on to dominate much of the game but struggled to find the second. With 13 minutes remaining, Firas Al-Buraikan had a goal ruled out for offside but then, deep inside added time, Ivan Toney secured the win from the penalty spot.