BEVERLY HILLS, November 03, (THEWILL) – Arsenal reached the Europa League last 32 on Thursday as Everton crashed out.
The Gunners fought out a drab 0-0 draw with Red Star Belgrade at the Emirates but the point was enough to make sure of qualifying for the knockout round with two games to spare in Group H.
The result allowed the Gunners to stretch their unbeaten home run in all competitions to 16 games.
However, struggling Everton crashed out after a 3-0 defeat in Lyon.
Languishing in the relegation zone in the Premier League and without a permanent manager since the sacking of Ronald Koeman last week, Everton succumbed to three second-half goals.
Bertrand Traore rounded Jordan Pickford to break the deadlock on 68 minutes in the Group E clash.
Memphis Depay then set up 19-year-old Houssem Aouar to steer in a slick second goal for the hosts on 76 minutes.
The former Manchester United winger completed the scoring himself late on after another ex-United player, Morgan Schneiderlin, was sent off for a second booking.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan, in the midst of a poor run of form in Serie A, failed to relieve much pressure on under-fire manager Vincenzo Montella following a 0-0 draw at AEK Athens.
The Italians hit the post on 57 minutes through Riccardo Montolivo, while Turkey midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu had a powerful drive turned away as Milan remained two points clear of their Greek hosts in Group D.
Vitaliy Buyalskiy fired Dynamo Kiev into the knockout phase after the Ukrainian side secured a 1-0 victory over Group B rivals Young Boys in Switzerland.
Villarreal are on course to advance from Group A after a 2-0 victory at Slavia Prague, but Hoffenheim’s qualification hopes in Group C suffered a costly blow as the Germans conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw away to Istanbul Basaksehir.
Meanwhile, Lazio downed Nice 1-0 in Group K to remain the only team with a 100 percent record, moving into the last 32 as a result while Zenit Saint Petersburg and FCSB of Romania are also into the knockout round.
Meanwhile, Olympique Marseille player, Patrice Evra was sent off before his team’s Europa League match at Vitoria Guimaraes after he was seen a aiming a kick at supporters.
The incident happened as Marseille players clashed with their own fans behind one of the goals at the Afonso Henriques stadium in Guimaraes during the warm-up for the game.
One video showed the former Manchester United and Juventus player climb over the advertising hoardings to talk to fans behind the goal.
A number of supporters jumped down from the seating area, leading to a scuffle with stewards and officials from the Ligue 1 side as other players climbed over the hoardings to join in the altercation.
A video showed a Marseille player aiming a kick at the fans as the scuffling continued and local media identified the player as Evra.
European football body UEFA said Evra had been given a red card over “an altercation with supporters during the warm-up.”
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