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Arsenal’s brilliant run of form came to a crashing halt in a 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League – despite Mikel Arteta naming a strong squad for the Dutch clash.
The halftime introduction of former Newcastle and Barcelona striker Luuk de Jong turned the game, beating Rob Holding to set up Joey Veerman for the opener in the 55th minute before scoring himself eight minutes later.
Arteta had named a strong side in the hope of nabbing a point and guaranteeing first place in Group A – and therefore a place straight into March’s Round of 16. But their ball movement was sluggish and they failed to capitalise on their dominance of the ball.
And they were made to pay for their absence of clinical work in the final third as De Jong broke the game apart in the space of eight minutes. After teeing up Veerman’s first-time shot, De Jong headed home after Aaron Ramsdale failed to punch away a corner.
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Arteta sent on some of his biggest names off the bench – Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, then Gabriel Jesus – but PSV held on to book their place in the knockouts.
For Arsenal, they host minnows FC Zurich next week with victory locking in top spot – and avoiding a February playoff round.
Arteta would surely have wanted to play a second-string XI for that match, which comes three days before a trip to Chelsea, but now may have to change those plans.
RONALDO BACK IN THE GOALS
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo scored after returning for Manchester United in their 3-0 Europa League win over Sheriff.
Ronaldo was frustrated for large parts of the match as Sheriff held off their much bigger rivals with a stoic defensive performance, only to come undone just before halftime when Diogo Dalot headed home from a corner.
Substitute Marcus Rashford made it 2-0 in the 65th minute after fellow substitute Luke Shaw teed him up with a beautiful cross for a powerful header.
Ronaldo was a picture of annoyance after having a shot blocked from close range, shot wide in the second half from a strong opportunity, and had a goal ruled out for offside – leading to the Portuguese star picking up the ball out of the net and booting it into the crowd.
Arsenal stunned by PSV in Eindhoven | 01:05
But he finally got on the scoresheet in the 81st minute when he pounced on the ball after Sheriff’s keeper blocked his header, thundering the follow-up home. It was his 701st club career goal
United is now seven games unbeaten in all competitions, their longest run this year.
The Red Devils have also booked their place in the knockout stages.
They travel to Real Sociedad next week, where a two-goal win will earn them top spot in the group over the Spanish side. The group winners go straight into the last 16, while runners-up play a side that dropped down from the Champions League.
Surprise early season Bundesliga leaders Union Berlin kept alive their hopes of a place in the knockout round of the second-tier European competition thanks to a 1-0 win over Braga.
In the Conference League, West Ham maintained their 100% record by beating Silkeborg 1-0 and Fiorentina clinched their spot in the last 16 with a 2-1 win over Istanbul Basaksehir.
In their first match since coach Unai Emery announced he was leaving to manage Premier League club Aston Villa, Villarreal dropped points for the first time in Europe this season.
Despite having already qualified for the last 16 as group winners but were held 2-2 by Hapoel Beer-Sheva as Sagiv Jehezkel equalised in the 79th minute.
In Group D, Cologne’s trip to Slovacko has been postponed to Friday after the game had been originally delayed by half an hour due to heavy fog in the Czech Republic.
The teams managed just seven minutes of play before the referee abandoned the fixture with the score goal-less.
Man United book knockout spot in UEL | 01:33
Europa League results on Thursday:
Group A FC Zurich (SUI) 2 (Boranijasevic 67, Marchesano 90+4) Bodo/Glimt (NOR) 1 (Pellegrino 45+1) PSV Eindhoven (NED) 2 (Veerman 56, L. de Jong 63) Arsenal (ENG) 0
Group B AEK Larnaca (CYP) 3 (Altman 26, 72, Lopes 55) Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) (1645) 3 (Vanat 45, Garmash 82, 90+2) Fenerbahce (TUR) 3 (Valencia 42, Zajc 82, Emre Mor 88) Rennes (FRA) 3 (Gouiri 5, 30, Terrier 16)
Group C Ludogorets (BUL) 0 Real Betis (ESP) 1 (Fekir 56) HJK (FIN) 1 (Hetemaj 54) Roma (ITA) 2 (Abraham 41, Hoskonen 62-og)
Group D Malmo (SWE) 0 Union St-Gilloise (BEL) 2 (Teuma 10, Amani 42) Union Berlin (GER) 1 (Knoche 68-pen) Braga (POR) 0
Group E Manchester United (ENG) 3 (Dalot 44, Rashford 65, Ronaldo 81) Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) 0 Omonia Nicosia (CYP) 0 Real Sociedad (ESP) 2 (Navarro 45+2, Mendez 60)
Group F Sturm Graz (AUT) 1 (Kiteishvili 90+3) Feyenoord (NED) 0
Lazio (ITA) 2 (Milinkovic-Savic 36, Rodriguez 58) Midtjylland (DEN) 1 (Isaksen 8)
Group G Freiburg (GER) 1 (Kuebler 90+3) Olympiakos (GRE) 1 (El-Arabi 17) Nantes (FRA) 2 (Blas 17, Ganago 90+5) Qarabag (AZE) 1 (Ozobic 56-pen)
Group H Red Star Belgrade (SRB) 2 (Katai 37, Pesic 64) Trabzonspor (TUR) 1 (Bakasetas 39) Ferencvaros (HUN) 1 (Zachariassen 82) Monaco (FRA) 1 (Ben Yedder 31)
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