Arsenal, Chelsea In Europa Last 32, Marseille Out, Welbeck Injured

English Premiership sides, Arsenal and Chelsea were among seven teams that reached the UEFA Europa League knockout stage on Thursday, with last year’s runners-up Olympique de Marseille as the major casualty following their elimination at the group phase.

However, the Gunners’ victory celebrations were subdued following an on pitch incident in which striker Danny Welbeck was taken off on a stretcher and given oxygen in 25th minute during their game against Sporting Lisbon.

Welbeck landed awkwardly from an attempted header, hours after being named in the England squad. Going for a header in front of goal at the Emirates Stadium, the England international rolled over in pains as he landed on the turf, before medics rushed to treat him.

Though there are two games still to play before the next round’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland on December 17, joining both English teams in the round of 32 matches are two German sides, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen. Others include Italian side, Lazio, FC Zurich and Dinamo Zagreb.

Arsenal qualified with a goalless ending against Sporting at The Emirates; while Chelsea got a 1-0 victory over BATE Borisov in one of the night’s early kickoffs.

Parading a heavily-changed side, Arsenal were unable to break down a dogged Sporting team, who were reduced to 10 men in the 88th minute. That was when defender Jeremy Mathieu fouled striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as he raced towards the area.

However, the point was enough to guarantee the north London side a place in the last 32 atop Group E on 10 points, with Sporting behind them on seven. Vorskla Poltava lost 1-0 to FK Qarabag, with both teams on three points.

For Chelsea, it was France striker Oliver Giroud whose first goal this season in the second half that secured a win at BATE, meaning Maurizio Sarri’s side have already qualified from Group L.

“I think the first target in this competition was to qualify and now the second target is to win our group. So, I think we need one more point,” the Italian coach said.

“It’s very important because then we can talk again about this competition in February, when we will have another target.”

So far, Chelsea are yet to lose under Sarri this season and this is as Marseille got dumped out of the competition following their 2-1 loss at Lazio in Group H.

Goals from Marco Parolo and Joaquin Correa were enough to extend a miserable run for the French side that has now suffered four successive defeats in all competitions.

Lazio, meanwhile, went through along with Eintracht who eliminated Apollon Limassol with a 3-2 victory in the other game in the section.

Leverkusen joined both teams in the next stage after beating FC Zurich 1-0 at home in Group A but thanks to Ludogorets 0-0 draw with AEK Larnaca the Swiss side also progressed.

Dinamo Zagreb beat Spartak Trnava 3-1 to qualify from Group D while Anderlecht, UEFA Cup winners in 1983, were eliminated after their 2-0 defeat by Fenerbahce in the same group.

Sevilla, the most successful team in the history of the competition with five titles, went down to 10-men at Akhisarspor but came away with a 3-2 win in Group J. A late Ever Banega penalty kick ended the Turkish side’s qualifying hopes.

In Russia, there was a goal festival as Spartak Moscow came from 3-2 behind to overtake Rangers 4-3 in two minutes before the hour mark.

The home side’s eventual win took them to second place and level with their opponents on five points in Group G.

Rangers’ domestic rivals Celtic kept their hopes alive with a 2-1 win over RB Leipzig in Group B, while AC Milan and Real Betis took a step towards qualifying with a 1-1 draw in Group F – With agency reports