Europa League Wrap: Italian Sides Milan, Atalanta Qualify For Knockout Stage After Dominant Win As Cologne Stun Arsenal

Italian sides AC Milan and Atalanta have booked their places in the first knockout stage of the UEFA Europa League (UEL) after they defeated Austria Wien and Everton 5-1 respectively.

Milan recovered from an early goal to beat their Group D visitors convincingly courtesy goals from Ricardo Rodriguez, Andre Silva (2) and Patrick Cutrone (2) to qualify for the next stage.

Atalanta were more impressive as they thrashed Everton 5-1 at Goodison Park in Group E to secure a last 32 place. Bryan Crisante (2), Robin Gosens and substitute Andreas Cornelius (2) got the goals for the away side with Spanish striker Sandro Ramirez getting his first Everton goal which turned out to be mere consolation.

German side FC Cologne boosted their qualification hopes following a surprising 1-0 win over Arsenal. French striker Sehrou Guirassy scored the only goal of the game in the second half to condemn the Gunners to their first defeat in the competition though the result was enough to seal Arsenal as Group H winners after the other group game between BATE Borisov and Crvena Zvezda ended goalless.

AC Milan and Atalanta join other teams like Villareal, Arsenal, Red Bull Salzburg, Dynamo Kyiv, Sporting Braga, Olympique Lyon, Zenit St. Petersburg, Oestersunds, Real Sociedad, Lazio, Nice and Steaua Bucharest.

Matchday 5 Results:

Group A

Astana 2-3 Villareal

Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-2 Slavia Prague

Group B

Partizan Belgrade 2-1 Young Boys

Skenderbeu 3-2 Dynamo Kyiv

Group C

Sporting Braga 3-1 TSG Hoffenheim

Ludogorets Razgrad 1-2 Istanbul Basaksehir

Group D

AC Milan 5-1 Austria Wien

AEK Athens 2-2 Rijeka

Group E

Everton 1-5 Atalanta

Lyon 4-0 Apollon Limassol

Group F

Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1 FC Copenhagen

FC Sheriff 1-0 Zlin

Group G

Lugano 1-0 Hapoel Beersheva

Viktoria Plzen 2-0 Steaua Bucharest

Group H

FC Cologne 1-0 Arsenal

BATE Borisov 0-0 Crvena Zvezda

Group I

Konyaspor 1-1 Marseille

Red Bull Salzburg 3-0 Vitoria Guimares

Group J

Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Hertha Berlin

Oestersunds 2-0 Zorya

Group K

Lazio 1-1 Vitesse

Nice 3-1 Zulte-Waregem

Group L

Rosenborg 0-1 Real Sociedad

Zenit St. Petersburg 2-1 Vardar