Comeback in Prague, defeat in Naples and two penalties by Ivanov in Istanbul: what did the 3rd round of the Europa League group stage stand for?

Lyon's incredible win

The brightest match of the day took place in the Czech Republic, where Sparta hosted Lyon. In its plot, this game resembled the meeting between Spartak and Leicester. Like the red and white, the Prague team were leading with a score of 2: 0. Moreover, the Slovak striker Lukas Garaslin, who recently opposed the Russian national team in the qualifying stage of the 2022 World Cup, was marked with a double in their composition by the 20th minute.

Karl Toko Ekambi's goal at the end of the first half helped the guests return to the game.

The analogy with the Muscovites' duel did not end there, because after the break, the French team scored three times.

Unless, nobody managed to arrange poker.

But Ekambi assisted the substitute Lucas Packet, and in the end put an end to the match.

The Cameroonian is now leading the top scorers of the tournament with five goals alongside Enner Valencia of Fenerbahce.

And the African scored when Lyon was already playing in the minority.

Malo Gusteau received a second yellow card for disrupting the attack.

And shortly before the final whistle, Sparta, like Spartak, reduced the gap to a minimum - 3: 4.

True, the hosts did not have time to make a comeback.

The guests won their third victory in a row and are leading in Group A with one hundred percent performance.

Happy ending for AS Monaco

Another team representing the French championship, Monaco, also won.

Monegasques, in the absence of Alexander Golovin, who did not fly to the Netherlands, beat PSV on the road - 2: 1.

At the same time, the team gave out two completely different halves.

In the first, the hosts did not succeed, and the guests over and over again opened the opponent's defense with vertical passes.

Therefore, the goal of Miron Boadu turned out to be absolutely natural.

It is symbolic that the Dutch forward scored the debut goal for the team at home.

After the break, the initiative passed to Roger Schmidt's charges.

Now they have stormed other people's gates and created dangerous moments.

And after an hour of meeting, Cody Gakpo managed to equalize the score.

It seemed that PSV could well get three points, but instead the team was left with nothing.

Closer to the final whistle, Niko Kovacs threw into the battle a number of leaders who were in the reserve: Wissam Ben Yedder, Zhelson Martins and Sofian Diop.

And it was the latter who managed to put an end to the game in the 89th minute.

After a lumbago to Caiu Enrique from the left flank, the fresh midfielder from close range ferried the projectile to the target.

And the Brazilian that evening was marked by two excellent assists.

Powerful ending for Napoli

Meanwhile, Legia, playing in the group with Spartak, was close to creating another sensation.

In the first two rounds, the Warsaw team beat not only Muscovites, but also Leicester with a minimum score, and unexpectedly took the lead in Quartet C. On Thursday, they almost took away points from Napoli on the road.

Throughout the entire confrontation, the Neapolitans had an overwhelming advantage and struck almost 30 shots at other people's goals.

However, the ball stubbornly did not go on target.

The guests defended with the whole team, and at the last line, 19-year-old Caesar Mishta worked wonders, making a total of seven saves.

However, in the 76th minute, and he was powerless when Lorenzo Insigne sent a projectile into the net with a rebound from the crossbar.

On the day of the meeting, there were rumors about a possible transfer of the captain to Inter, and he answered them with a victorious goal.

After that, "Legia" crumbled and missed twice more.

All the same Insigne assisted Victor Osimhen, and Matteo Politano brought the score to a large one.

So the Polish team conceded the first goals in the current UEL draw and lost the first points, but remained at the top of the group's standings.

But "Spartak" dropped to the fourth line.

West Ham's fateful standards

Victory with a similar score was achieved by West Ham in a duel with Genk.

The team of David Moyes, like Lyon, has not yet allowed any misfires in the current draw of the second most important European Cup.

And the vice-champion of Belgium on the road could not do anything with the favorite.

Although the guests looked decent in the first half and even scored, the judge canceled the goal of Theo Bongonda due to an offside position with a partner.

Aaron Cresswell's excellent serve from set pieces helped the hosts to crack the opponent's defense.

On Thursday, the Englishman twice assisted partners, and central defenders Craig Dawson and Isse Diop managed to distinguish themselves.

Jarrod Bone put an end to the match - 3: 0.

Tomas Soucek should be mentioned separately among the hosts.

Just a few days ago, the Czech received a terrible injury in a meeting between the Premier League and Everton.

Former striker Rubin, Zenit and CSKA Jose Salomon Rondon stepped on his face.

The athlete urgently had to put several stitches.

Despite this, as if nothing had happened, he entered the field from the first minutes and played until the final whistle.

Offensive misfire "Fenerbahce"

Russian referee Sergei Ivanov, who on Sunday will serve the opposition between Zenit and Spartak in the RPL, on Thursday worked at the Fenerbahce - Antwerp match.

The domestic referee did not manage to remain unnoticed, because he immediately awarded two penalties to the gates of the Belgian team.

Moreover, in the first case, at first he did not commit a foul in Valencia, but his colleagues at VAR came to the rescue.

However, the victim himself did not convert the penalty spot.

At the end of the first half, the Istanbulites earned another one, and this time the experienced Ecuadorian, who was again entrusted to approach the “point”, proved to be perfect.

A little earlier, he managed to distinguish himself from the game.

Thus, the Latin American striker, together with Ekambi, is leading in the top scorer race of the tournament.

But neither the forward's accomplishments nor the help of the referee helped the hosts to win the first victory in the LE.

Already in the second minute the scoring was opened by Mbwana Samata, whom Antwerp rented from Fenerbahce in the summer.

And after the break, the balance on the scoreboard was established by Peter Gerkens - 2: 2.