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