Fenerbahce and Real Sociedad secured crucial victories in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League knockout phase play-off matches on Thursday. Fenerbahce delivered an impressive 3-0 win at home against Anderlecht, while Real Sociedad earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory away to Danish side Midtjylland.
Playing at Istanbul’s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Fenerbahce, led by experienced manager Jose Mourinho, dominated their Belgian opponents. Serbian midfielder Dusan Tadic opened the scoring in the first half, followed by a goal from Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko. Moroccan forward Youssef En-Nesyri then sealed the win with a well-placed header, giving the Turkish side a strong advantage going into the second leg.
Mourinho, who has previously won the Europa League with Porto in 2003 and Manchester United in 2017, is aiming for another deep run in the competition. The Portuguese coach also reached the final with Roma just two years ago and will be hoping to add another European trophy to his collection.
Meanwhile, in Denmark, Real Sociedad took control of their tie with a 2-1 win over Midtjylland. Spanish midfielder Brais Mendez scored from the penalty spot, while Japanese winger Takefusa Kubo added a stunning second goal. The Danish side managed to pull one back through Polish forward Adam Buksa, keeping their hopes alive ahead of the return leg in Spain.
Elsewhere in the play-offs, Ajax secured a 2-0 victory over Union Saint-Gilloise in Brussels. Christian Rasmussen broke the deadlock just before the hour mark, and 16-year-old Jorthy Mokio doubled the lead with an impressive long-range volley.
In Hungary, Israeli midfielder Mohammad Abu Fani scored the only goal of the game as Ferencvaros defeated Viktoria Plzen 1-0 in Budapest.
Several other matches took place across Europe, including a UEFA Conference League clash where Shamrock Rovers edged out Molde 1-0 in Norway. The game saw Molde defender Valdemar Lund sent off before halftime. Young striker Michael Noonan then scored in the second half, making history as the competition’s youngest scorer at just 16 years and 197 days old.
Icelandic club Vikingur Reykjavik earned a 2-1 victory over Greek side Panathinaikos, though Panathinaikos managed to grab a late goal from the penalty spot. Meanwhile, Slovenian team Celje played to an entertaining 2-2 draw against APOEL Nicosia, and Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok claimed a 3-1 win away to Serbia’s TSC Backa Topola, with captain Jesus Imaz scoring twice.
The return legs of the play-off matches will determine which teams advance to the last 16, where they could face strong opposition, including Manchester United or Tottenham.
