Marseille is held by Brighton after a comeback, and West Ham breaks an English record in Europe.
On Thursday, Brighton rallied to earn their first Europa League point in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Marseille, while West Ham defeated Freiburg 2-1 to establish a new record for the longest unbeaten streak by an English team in Europe.
Without a manager, Rangers suffered a humiliating 2-1 loss at Aris Limassol, and Dutch powerhouse Ajax’s 1-1 draw at AEK Athens did little to brighten the mood.
The team led by Roberto De Zerbi needed to take something away from their journey to the Stade Velodrome after Brighton lost 3-2 to AEK in their first-ever European match at home.
Despite having a difficult start to the season, Marseille moved ahead 2-0 after scoring twice in the space of two minutes.
Chancel Mbemba gave the French team an early advantage before Jordan Veretout made it 2-0 thanks to a Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk slip.
When Pascal Gross was found by Kaoru Mitoma to cut the deficit in half, Brighton’s chances of suffering their third straight loss in all competitions vanished.
After Tariq Lamptey was brought down in the area two minutes from time, Joao Pedro then equalized from the spot to keep both teams in Group B contention.
After fighting back against Ajax, AEK is now the section’s surprise leader with four points.
The four-time European winners took the lead with Steven Bergwijn’s penalty despite being in the Dutch league’s relegation zone.
Domagoj Vida, a defender for Croatia, scored the Greeks’ equalizer 15 minutes from time.
After extending their unbeaten streak in Europe to 17 games, West Ham is still on track to make it to the round of 16.
With a spectacular header just eight minutes in, Lucas Paqueta gave the victors of the Europa Conference League the lead.
Early in the second half, Freiburg’s Roland Sallai tied the score.
However, Nayef Aguerd’s header on James Ward-Prowse’s corner proved that the Hammers were unstoppable.
The firing of Michael Beale received no response from Rangers, despite the Glasgow giants’ shock in Cyprus.
Steven Davis, a former midfielder for the Gers, assumed interim command but was only able to watch Aris win their first ever European group stage match.
Shavy Babicka and Alex Moucketou-Moussounda scored on a historic night for the Cypriots, with Abdallah Sima’s header serving just as a consolation for Rangers.
Following Real Betis’ 2-1 victory over Sparta Prague, which followed their 1-0 loss to Rangers, all four teams in Group C currently have three points.
competition favorites Later on Thursday, Liverpool will play when Union Saint-Gilloise visits Anfield.
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