Europa League roundup: Arsenal avoid close call, Granada stun Napoli

Tottenham already booked their place in the last 16 with an early game on Wednesday. Below, we round up how Thursday’s second-leg fixtures are faring so far.

Arsenal 3-2 Benfica – Arsenal win 4-3 on agg.

A brutal giveaway from Dani Ceballos almost ended Arsenal’s Europa League campaign on another sour note. But Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came to the rescue with a dramatic winning goal late in the contest to break Benfica’s hearts and launch the Gunners into the round of 16.

Rangers 5-2 Antwerp – Rangers win 9-5 on agg.

Rangers emerged victorious from what’s been the most entertaining matchup of the round of 32 so far. After beating Royal Antwerp 4-3 in the first leg, the Scottish club thumped the Belgian outfit in another exciting, high-scoring affair that ended 5-2 at Ibrox.

Villarreal 2-1 Red Bull Salzburg – Villarreal win 4-1 on agg.

There was hardly any reason for Villarreal to be concerned on Thursday, as the Spanish comfortably progressed to the round of 16 after securing a win against a lackluster Red Bull Salzburg side.

Napoli 2-1 Granada – Granada win 3-2 on agg.

The 2-0 first-leg deficit proved to be too much for Napoli to overcome, as Granada booked an unexpected spot in the next phase of the Europa League after holding off the Italian side’s efforts in a hard-fought second leg.

Hoffenheim 0-2 Molde – Molde win 5-3 on agg.

After scoring three away goals in an exciting first leg that ended 3-3, Hoffenheim couldn’t find the back of the net when it mattered most in Thursday’s upset home loss to FK Molde.

Ajax 2-1 LOSC Lille – Ajax win 4-2 on agg.

Ajax followed up their first-leg away triumph with an equally impressive performance, beating Ligue 1 leaders Lille 2-1 in Amsterdam to win the last-32 encounter.

Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv – Shakhtar win 3-0 on agg.

Junior Moraes’ penalty sealed the win for Shakhtar Donetsk, with the Ukrainians producing two clean sheets in a row against their Israeli opponents en route to securing a spot in the next phase of the competition.