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Arsenal shine while Dortmund receive scare in Europa League Round of 32

By Cay North

NAPLES, ITALY - FEBRUARY 15: Players of RB Leipzig Emil Forsberg and Timo Werner celebrate the 1-3 goal, beside the disappointment of Christian Maggio player of SSC Napoli during UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match between Napoli and RB Leipzig at the Stadio San Paolo on February 15, 2018 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
NAPLES, ITALY - FEBRUARY 15: Players of RB Leipzig Emil Forsberg and Timo Werner celebrate the 1-3 goal, beside the disappointment of Christian Maggio player of SSC Napoli during UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match between Napoli and RB Leipzig at the Stadio San Paolo on February 15, 2018 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images) /
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After the first half of Round of 32 action, we have a clearer picture of which teams could be moving on to the last sixteen.

Fifteen matches took place in the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32, and we’re now one step closer to the next part of the knockout rounds. Some of the favorites, such as Arsenal and AC Milan, did a good job avoiding complacency in their matchups with smaller clubs. Others, like Borussia Dortmund, were given scares in matches expected to be easy for them.

The matchday began with Sporting Portugal traveling to Kazakhstan to face plucky upstarts FC Astana, who made it into the Europa League by losing in the Champions League playoff round. Astana isn’t the easiest of places to play in, and the away fixture is trickier than it looks on paper.

The home side had the lead first after scoring seven minutes into the match, but Sporting took the victory after scoring three goals from minutes 48′ to 55′. They were also helped by the dismissal of Astana’s Yuriy Logvinenko, who committed a bad foul from behind, shortly after Sporting’s last goal.

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For the next session of games, all eyes were on Arsenal, who went on the road to face Swedish club Ostersunds SK. Arsenal controlled the entire match and performed how everyone expected them to, winning 3-0 after jumping out to the lead thirteen minutes in.

They played a rotated squad and found goals from Nacho Monreal and Mesut Ozil, and also benefited from Sotiris Papagiannopoulos putting the ball into his own net in the first half. Ostersunds also had a chance to score from the penalty spot at the end of the match and pull one back on the aggregate scoreline, but David Ospina made the save and kept the clean sheet.

Elsewhere, Dortmund had a harder time in a match where they had much more talent on paper. They took on Atalanta, but after a brace from Josip Ilicic happened early in the second half, they were deadlocked 2-2 near the end of the game.

Dortmund nearly missed out on their chance to take the aggregate lead going into the second leg of the series, but they were saved by recent loan signing Michy Batshuayi, who scored his fifth goal in three games since leaving Chelsea. The goal came in the first minute of stoppage time, making for a dramatic finish to a tense match.

The favorites didn’t win everywhere, though. Napoli is in first place in Serie A but faltered at home, losing 3-1 to Red Bull Leipzig despite having 57% of the possession and scoring first. Leipzeig’s young talent shined in that match, with Timo Werner and Bruma scoring their goals. Romanian giants FC Steaua Bucharest also managed to steal a 1-0 home win from Lazio, taking down the fifth placed team in the much more prestigious Serie A.

Next: Real display pedigree as PSG falter

AC Milan and Marseille both recorded 3-0 wins, over Ludogorets and Braga respectively, and Lyon also decisively defeated Villareal by a score of 3-1. The second leg of the Round of 32 is scheduled to take place on Feb. 21 and 22, with the draw for the Round of 16 fixtures taking place on the day after the Round of 32’s conclusion.

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