Europa League roundup: Athletic Bilbao condemn fans’ behaviour at Roma

Athletic Bilbao have condemned the behaviour of some of their fans after flares were thrown during their 1-1 Europa League draw with Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

Fans in the away stand lit several flares during the match, with some being thrown in the direction of the pitch as well as into sections of the stadium containing home supporters. After the draw, in which Aitor Paredes’s late equaliser cancelled out Artem Dovbyk’s opener, Athletic’s captain Oscar de Marcos and forward Iñaki Williams could be seen remonstrating with their fans.

“Athletic Club wishes to express its strongest condemnation of the unacceptable acts carried out by a minority of people who travelled to the Europa League match against AS Roma and who were located in the away stand,” the club said in a statement. “During the match, this small group lit flares and threw some of them into the home stand, contravening safety regulations and tarnishing the image of our fans …

“Captain Oscar de Marcos, along with Iñaki Williams, have let this minority of fans know at the conclusion of the match that their attitude ‘is unacceptable’.” Athletic added that they were working with the authorities to identify the fans involved.

José Mourinho saw his Fenerbahce side beat Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 in a game in which both teams were reduced to 10. Fenerbahce became the ninth side Mourinho has managed in European competition – the Portuguese surpassing the joint-record he held with Carlo Ancelotti – and the defender Caglar Soyuncu put them ahead after 26 minutes.

Union Saint-Gilloise had Kevin Mac Allister sent off 17 minutes from time and an own goal from the former Portsmouth defender Christian Burgess doubled Fenerbahce’s lead. Bright Osayi-Samuel was dismissed after picking up a second yellow card. Dominik Livakovic saved Franjo Ivanovic’s resulting penalty before substitute Ross Sykes grabbed a stoppage‑time consolation for the Belgian visitors.

Lyon began their campaign with a 2-0 home win over Olympiakos. Rayan Cherki and Saïd Benrahma scored in the space of six second‑half minutes.

The Portugal international Bruma bagged a late double as Sporting Braga overcame Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1 in a dramatic finale. The winner came from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time, and Maccabi then lost their discipline as Gavriel Kanichowsky and Tyrese Asante were sent off.

The 19-year-old Mika Godts scored twice as Ajax thrashed Besiktas 4-0, while Eintracht Frankfurt and Viktoria Plzen drew 3-3 and the Romanian side FCSB – the successors to the former European champions Steaua Bucharest – beat Rigas FS of Latvia 4-1.

Elsewhere, Tottenham beat Azerbaijan’s Qarabag 3-0 despite having Radu Dragusin sent off early in a game delayed by more than half an hour by travel disruptions, while Rangers won 2-0 in Sweden against Malmö.