UEFA Europa League: Besiktas advance to last 16

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ISTANBUL

Turkish league champions Besiktas eliminated Israeli side Hapoel Beer Sheva 5-2 on aggregate on Thursday evening in Istanbul to advance to last 16 in UEFA Europa League competition.

The match in Besiktas's Vodafone Arena saw the Black Eagles control the game from the very start, earning a comfortable 2-1 victory over the Israeli visitors.

Besiktas, who won the first leg 3-1 last Thursday, scored on the 17th minute when Cameroonian forward Vincent Aboubakar's superb strike found the net.

Thanks to Aboubakar's first ever Europa League goal, Besiktas managed to control the pace and did not let Hapoel Beer Sheva threaten the home side’s goal.

However, despite leading the first half 1-0, Besiktas could not hold on and the visitors equalized on the 64th minute when Anthony Nwakaeme completed a left-wing cross with a low left-footed shot.

Brought on in the 79th minute, in-form striker Cenk Tosun made the score 2-1 near the end of normal time minute with a shot delivered after driving into the edge of penalty area.

With the win, Besiktas moved into the last 16 and are the only Turkish team left in European club competitions.

Lyon crush AZ Alkmaar

There were several upsets among the Round 32 matchups concluded late Thursday, with Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham, Fiorentina and Zenit St. Petersburg all being eliminated.

However, heavily favored sides like Ajax, Lyon and Roma all managed to come on top in aggregate score and move onto the next round.

Lyon, in France, defeated Dutch side AZ Alkmaar 7-1, marking the biggest margin of the night.

The draw for Round 16 is scheduled for 3 p.m. local time (1200GMT) on Friday.

Below are the Round 32 results:

Fenerbahce - Krasnodar: 1-1 (Krasnodar advanced on a 1-2 aggregate score)

Schalke 04 - PAOK: 1-1 (Schalke advanced on a 4-1 aggregate score)

St. Etienne - Manchester United: 0-1 (Manchester United advanced on a 4-0 aggregate score)

Osmanlispor - Olympiacos: 0-3 (Olympiacos advanced on a 0-3 aggregate score)

Ajax - Legia Warszawa: 1-0 (Ajax advanced on a 1-0 aggregate score)

Besiktas - Hapoel Beer-Sheva: 2-1 (Besiktas advanced on a 5-2 aggregate score)

APOEL Nicosia - Athletic Bilbao: 2-0 (APOEL Nicosia advanced on a 4-3 aggregate score)

Zenit St. Petersburg - Anderlecht: 3-1 (Anderlecht advanced on a 3-3 aggregate score decided on away goals)

Roma - Villarreal: 0-1 (Roma advanced on a 4-1 aggregate score)

Lyon - AZ Alkmaar: 7-1 (Lyon advanced on a 11-2 aggregate score)

Fiorentina - Mönchengladbach: 2-4 (Mönchengladbach advanced on a 3-4 aggregate score)

Sparta Praha - Rostov: 1-1 (Rostov advanced on a 1-5 aggregate score)

Tottenham - Gent: 2-2 (Gent advanced on a 2-3 aggregate score)

Shakhtar Donetsk - Celta Vigo: 0-2 (Celta Vigo advanced on a 1-2 aggregate score)

Kobenhavn - Ludogorets: 0-0 (Kobenhavn advanced on a 2-1 aggregate score)

Genk - Astra Giorgiu: 1-0 (Genk advanced on a 3-2 aggregate score)