Lorius Karius had a night to forget as Besiktas lost 4-2 to Slovan Bratislava on a Europa League evening filled with surprise scorelines. Austria’s Wolfsberger AC won 4-0 at Mönchengladbach, while Bulgaria’s Ludogorets thumped CSKA Moscow 5-1.
In the day’s earlier games, Luxembourg’s Dudelange stunned Apoel Nicosia with a 4-3 win in Cyprus while Lazio slumped to a 2-1 away defeat against Cluj.
Karius was at fault for the hosts’ opening goal in Slovakia, charging off his line to deal with a long ball but misjudging it completely, allowing Slovan striker Andraz Sporar to slot home. Besiktas rallied to lead 2-1 at half-time, before Sporar struck again on the hour mark.
With the game heading for a draw, the hosts struck twice in stoppage time through Marin Ljubicic and Mohammed Rharsalla. The result leaves Group K wide open, after Wolves were beaten by Braga at Molineux in their opener.
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(@btsportfootball)Oh no Loris Karius!
The former Liverpool keeper makes a huge blunder to gift Slovan Bratislava the lead against Besiktas 😩 pic.twitter.com/t3dUFbQndA
Mario Leitgeb scored twice as Austrian underdogs Wolfsberger claimed a remarkable 4-0 away success in Group J, with Shon Weissman and Marcel Ritzmaier also adding to a bleak night for Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the group’s other game, Roma thrashed Istanbul Basaksehir by the same scoreline, with Edin Dzeko and Nicolo Zaniolò on target.
In Group H, CSKA Moscow led 1-0 at half-time through Igor Diveev but unravelled in the second half, Romanian forward Claudiu Keseru scoring a hat-trick as Ludogorets ran out 5-1 winners. Espanyol narrowly avoided an upset, Matías Vargas’s equaliser earning a point at home to Ferencvaros.
Apoel Nicosia, former Champions League quarter-finalists, were booed off at half-time after Danel Sinani had given Dudelange the lead at the break – and Antoine Bernier pounced on a defensive error to double the visitors’ lead after 51 minutes.
The hosts then rallied dramatically, scoring three goals in four minutes. Andrija Pavlovic netted either side of Tomas de Vincenti’s penalty to put the Cypriot side 3-2 ahead in the Group A match.
Dudelange’s hopes of a shock looked over, but goalkeeper Jonathan Joubert produced a string of saves to keep them within one goal, before Dominik Stolz grabbed an equaliser and Sinani’s second goal eight minutes from time snatched victory.
In the other Group A game, Javier Hernández’s free kick broke the deadlock for Sevilla just after the hour mark at Qarabag, before Munir El-Haddadi and Óliver Torres added late goals.
Lazio fell to defeat at CFR Cluj in their opening Group E game. Bastos put Simone Inzaghi’s side ahead in the 25th minute, but the hosts equalised four minutes before half-time through Ciprian Ioan’s penalty. Billel Omrani then won it for Cluj in bizarre fashion, heading home after his initial effort struck the bar.
PSV beat Sporting 3-2 in a battle of European giants. Goals from Donyeli Malen, Timo Baumgartl and an own goal from Sebastián Coates gave the hosts victory in Eindhoven, with a Bruno Fernandes penalty and Pedro Mendes strike not enough for the visitors.
Two goals from Tiquinho Soares helped Porto defeat Young Boys 2-1 in Portugal, while Gent overcame Saint-Etienne in a five-goal thriller, Jonathan David scoring twice for the hosts. In Manchester United’s group, Partizan and AZ Alkmaar played out a 2-2 draw.