Bournemouth maintained their perfect Europa League record on Thursday, coming from behind to beat 10-man Sparta Prague 3-1, while Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan slumped to a third defeat in four matches.
Gambian forward Ebrima Singhateh produced a superb solo effort to put Sparta ahead in the Czech Republic, racing from his own half to score after Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook had struck the post with a first-half penalty.
However, Sparta’s hopes of securing a famous victory suffered a blow when Tobias Guddal was sent off before the break. Bournemouth capitalised after half-time, with Tyler Adams restoring parity in the 57th minute.
Substitutes then made the difference for the Cherries. Evanilson put the visitors ahead with nine minutes remaining before Rayan added a third late on to seal a fourth consecutive European victory and send Bournemouth to the top of the league-phase standings.
Marco Rose’s side have now won seven successive matches in all competitions ahead of this weekend’s Premier League trip to Ipswich.
“It’s a big achievement and we have to continue, we need to stay alert, sharp,” Rose told TNT Sports.
“It’s up to us to use this momentum. Everyone tries to beat us, if we get in a comfort zone just a little bit we get in trouble.”
Milan suffer another European setback
AC Milan endured another miserable night, losing 2-0 at home to Ferencvaros as the Hungarian side maintained their 100 per cent record in the competition and kept pace with Bournemouth.
Haiti international Lenny Joseph struck twice in the second half at the San Siro to secure a deserved victory for Ferencvaros, despite the visitors having Bamidele Yusuf sent off.
Amorim did not hide his frustration with Milan’s performance.
“We gifted opportunities, made stupid errors. We were not prepared to play football tonight,” he told Sky Sport.
“I don’t want to lie to my players. We cannot play like this in front of our own fans. It was a very poor performance.”
The defeat leaves Milan languishing outside the top 24, with just three points at the halfway stage of the league phase.
Despite their difficult position, Amorim insisted his side would not abandon their European ambitions.
“I won’t give up on this competition. As long as we’re not mathematically out of it, we’ll keep fighting,” he added.
Kamada rescues point for Palace
Crystal Palace needed a stoppage-time equaliser from Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada to salvage a 1-1 home draw against Hoffenheim.
Alexander Prass had given the visitors an early lead at Selhurst Park, before Palace were reduced to 10 men when Adam Wharton received a second yellow card.
But Kamada struck late to rescue a point for Pierre Sage’s struggling side.
Palace, who won last season’s UEFA Conference League, have collected five points from their first four Europa League outings. However, their European campaign offers little respite from domestic concerns, with the club sitting in the Premier League relegation zone, just behind Manchester United on goal difference.
AFP
