Round-up: Aberdeen held in the snow, Besiktas blown away at home

Rangers draw with Aris Limassol

Rangers’ bid to qualify for the knockout stages will go to the final group game after a 1-1 draw with Aris Limassol at Ibrox.

Shavy Babicka gave the visitors the lead in the 28th minute with a composed finish after rounding goalkeeper Jack Butland.

But Ross McCausland equalised for the Scottish Premiership side in the 49th minute with his first senior goal, hitting home on the half-volley.

Aberdeen held by HJK in snow-disrupted match

Aberdeen remain in third place in Group G in the UEFA Europa Conference League after a 2-2 draw against HJK Helsinki in the snow.

Hassane Bande gave the Finnish side the lead in the 16th minute before Santeri Hostikka quickly extended their advantage in the 33rd-minute with a strike into the bottom corner.

But Aberdeen did respond in the 41st minute through Angus MacDonald who broke through the defence and scored a brilliant goal from the edge of the box. Duk then grabbed his fourth goal of the season early in the second half with a close-range header on 56 minutes.

There was a delay in play after 77 minutes as snow continued to come down in Finland, resulting in both sides going off due to the tricky conditions.

Roma held by Servette

Roma will have to battle it out in the final Europa League matchweek to seal top spot after being held to a 1-1 draw against Servette.

Romelu Lukaku gave Jose Mourinho’s side the lead in the 21st minute with a close-range finish to make it 19 goals in his last 16 Europa League appearances.

But in the 50th minute, Servette found an equaliser through Chris Bedia who poked his strike through the legs of Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar.

Aubameyang scores overhead kick in Marseille win

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored an overhead kick in Marseille’s 4-3 win against 10-man Ajax.

The former Arsenal striker gave the Ligue 1 side the lead in the ninth minute from the penalty spot only for Bryan Brobbey to equalise a minute later.

Chancel Mbemba struck in the 26th minute, but again Brobbey responded quickly with a another goal; this time on the half-hour mark.

Aubameyang then produced the moment of the match with a spectacular overhead kick in the 48th minute.

Ajax went down to 10 men when Steven Berghuis was sent off just past the hour mark, and it looked like former Arsenal and Charlton forward Chuba Akpom would have the last laugh with an equaliser in the 80th minute through a fine header.

But Aubameyang completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot in injury-time to snatch the victory and send Marseille top of Group B.

Besiktas thumped at home

Besiktas were embarrassed in front of their home supporters as they remain winless in Group D in the Europa Conference League after a heavy 5-0 defeat to Club Brugge.

Casper Nielsen put the visitors ahead in the fourth minute to set the tone before extending their advantage only ten minutes later through Igor Thiago. He was teed up by Hugo Vetlesen inside the box before applying a composed finish.

Early in the second half and Thiago went from creator to goalscorer to as he extended the visitors’ advantage.

The game was well beyond Besiktas’ reach in the 51st minute as Raphael Onyedika latched on to a precise pass into the box and sent his low effort into the bottom corner.

Andreas Skov Olsen added a fifth for the Belgian club in the 70th-minute to pile more misery on Besiktas.

Brighton secure third European win to reach knockout stages

Joao Pedro won his third penalty against AEK across two matches and maintained his 100 per cent conversion rate as he put the Seagulls into the lead.

In the 65th minute, AEK’s Mijat Gacinovic was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a bad foul to make the Greek side’s task even tougher.

Brighton currently sit second of Group B on 10 points ahead of their final group game against Marseille on December 14.

Soucek strikes late to save West Ham’s blushes

West Ham maintained first place in Group A in the Europa League with a 1-0 win over TSC Backa Topola thanks to an 89th-minute winner from Tomas Soucek.

TNT Sports pundit and former West Ham player Joe Cole was not happy with West Ham’s performance at half-time.

He said: “Dross, appalling, it wasn’t good at all. We’ve praised the players enough, they weren’t at it – simple as that… There was always going to be a danger of this happening in this game.

“This is early on, ball goes to Cresswell, that’s just concentration. From a player of his quality… it just puts you under pressure.

“All the things I said to avoid, West Ham weren’t right at it. They were forcing it through when they didn’t need to. They were just off it. They are better than that this group of players.

“There is a lot of talent still in this side. I just think it was a concentration issue from the start and that man [Moyes] will be getting right into them.”

But West Ham did snatch victory late on as Soucek volleyed in Maxwel Cornet’s cross into the bottom corner from close range; much to the relief of West Ham’s travelling supporters.

Liverpool cruise past LASK

Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo both struck within three minutes of each other (12′ and 15′) to give Liverpool a commanding lead.

Mohamed Salah added a third from the penalty spot to get his 199th Liverpool goal in the 51st minute.

Gakpo got his second of the night in injury-time, striking in off his right boot after picking up a well-weighted pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Aston Villa win to go top of Group E

Aston Villa go top of Group E in the UEFA Europa Conference League after a 2-1 win over Legia Warsaw. Moussa Diaby scored in the fourth minute with a tidy curled finish into the bottom corner to give the hosts the lead.

Ernest Muci pulled a goal back in the 20th minute with an eye-catching curled finish into the top corner beyond the helpless Robin Olsen.

Alex Moreno restored Aston Villa’s advantage on his return from a long-term hamstring injury suffered in May. He met Douglas Luiz’s cross from a set-piece and produced a close-range volley to fire the hosts back in front.

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