Europa League: 6 things you might have missed as Manchester United and Wolves progress but Arsenal crash out

Surprise results, superb performers and more

There were hugely contrasting emotions for the British sides in the Europa League on Thursday night, as Manchester United cruised through but Arsenal were knocked out after extra time.

Celtic also suffered an exit, after Rangers and Wolves had already secured their own passages through to the round of 16.

Two games went to extra time, United scored more goals than any other team on the night and both Germany and Italy matched England’s tally of two clubs progressing.

It leaves Europe’s second-tier competition looking extremely interesting for the next round, with the prize of a Champions League spot looking ever more possible for some.

Here are six things you might have missed in the Europa League on Thursday.

Podence gives hints of class for Wolves

January signing Daniel Podence has had to be patient in waiting for opportunities since joining Wolves from Olympiacos.

Handed a first start for the club in the second leg at Espanyol, he impressed in a free-running role in the attack, showing good pace and dribbling skills to exploit space on the counter-attack.

Podence claimed an assist for his team’s second goal, linked well with Adama Traore more than once and generally looked a lively threat.

Wolves lost the match but won the tie to progress and the Portuguese attacker’s performance was one of the biggest positives of the night.

Leverkusen firepower can take them all the way

While some sides are still making a number of changes to their lineup in the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen went all guns blazing.

Porto at home to the Germans, who won the first leg 2-1, was possibly the fixture of the night in terms of an unpredictable final outcome – and the Bundesliga side prevailed.

Kai Havertz, Nadiem Amiri, Kerem Demirbay and Moussa Diaby all started, with only Kevin Volland missing from what might be considered their strongest attack.

The outcome was a 3-1 victory in Portugal, 5-2 on aggregate, and a clear sign from Peter Bosz that he views this competition as a realistic route into the Champions League with their domestic scene so fiercely contested this season.

Injury time, extra time, last minute

Portuguese side Sporting CP went into the second leg with a 3-1 lead over Istanbul Basaksehir, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a dramatic exit.

The Turkish side established a two-goal lead by the break, conceded after just over an hour and netted the crucial third in the 91st minute to force extra time.

Wide forward Edin Visca wasn’t content with just being the injury time hero, though: he also scored a penalty after 119 minutes to send Basaksehir through in the most exhilarating and rewarding fashion.

Former Liverpool centre-back Martin Skrtel was also on the scoresheet, while ex-Man City left-back Gael Clichy assisted the third.

Misfiring Gunners

Aubameyang missed a huge chance for Arsenal (Getty Images)

Arsenal, despite dominating possession, really struggled to break down their Greek opponents.

There were formation changes, positional switches, four substitutions and the aforementioned strong starting XI, but no matter what Arteta’s approach, his players lacked the cutting edge required for a long, long time.

It took 76 minutes for the Gunners to have their first shot on target and they managed just four across the full 120 – indicative of their wayward finishing and perhaps a real lack of confidence in some.

Alexandre Lacazette was perhaps the biggest culprit in this regard, failing to control or turn in time when well-placed in the box and skewing off target when he did get an effort away.

Just as it seemed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had shown how to do it with a world-class finish, the exact same man turned ultimate culprit, missing a 122nd-minute finish from right in front of goal to send Arsenal through.

Ighalo impresses on first United start

Odion Ighalo is an out-and-out number nine – precisely the sort of player United have been missing – and he led the line with aplomb against Club Brugge at Old Trafford.

He produced a physical performance, holding the ball up well and linking nicely with United’s other attacking players.

In addition, he deserved his maiden United goal. He showed a neat turn of pace to get ahead of Clinton Mata, getting onto the end of Juan Mata’s square ball and beating Simon Mignolet from close range.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have been encouraged by his display.

Surprise results

Celtic will be enormously disappointed by their failure to progress, having only needed to not lose at home to FC Copenhagen – and the same can be said for Arsenal at home to Olympiacos.

Getafe have been excellent in LaLiga this year so their progression can’t be said to be a shock, but the exit of Ajax can still be surprising.

It’s more to do with the early nature of their exit, considering they reached the Champions League semi-finals less than a year ago.

But there are plenty of big sides still left in the competition, with Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, AS Roma and Sevilla all progressing.