PARIS — Bournemouth extended their perfect UEFA Europa League record as they came from behind to win 3-1 at 10-man Sparta Prague, while Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan suffered a third defeat in four matches.
Gambian Ebrima Singhateh ran from his own half to score a fine individual goal as Sparta took the lead in the Czech Republic after Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook hit the post with a first-half penalty.
Sparta had Tobias Guddal sent off before half-time and Bournemouth equalised through Tyler Adams on 57 minutes.
Evanilson steered the Cherries ahead nine minutes from time and Rayan bagged a late third as Bournemouth’s substitutes fired the newcomers to a fourth successive victory in Europe.
Marco Rose’s side have won each of their past seven matches in all competitions ahead of a Premier League trip to Ipswich this weekend.
“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 lost 2-0 at home to Ferencvaros as the Hungarians kept pace with Bournemouth, maintaining their 100 per cent record in Europe.
Haiti international Lenny Joseph struck twice in the second half at San Siro to earn Ferencvaros a deserved win over the seven-time European champions despite having Bamidele Yusuf sent off.
“We gifted opportunities, made stupid errors. We were not prepared to play football tonight,” Amorim 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.”
Milan are languishing outside the top 24 with just three points at the halfway stage of the league phase.
“I won’t give up on this competition. As long as we’re not mathematically out of it, we’ll keep fighting,” Amorim added according to AFP.
Benfica stay top
Benfica top the standings ahead of Bournemouth on goal difference after a 3-1 win at home to Lech Poznan, with Rafa Silva, Gianluca Prestianni and Georgiy Sudakov on the scoresheet for the Portuguese giants.
Bayer Leverkusen dropped their first points as they lost 1-0 at home to a Marseille team that had lost their first three matches.
Crystal Palace snatched a 1-1 draw at home to Hoffenheim as Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada levelled in stoppage time.
Alexander Prass gave Hoffenheim an early lead at Selhurst Park and Palace lost Adam Wharton to a second yellow card before Kamada rescued a point for Pierre Sage’s struggling side.
Palace, last season’s UEFA Conference League winners, have five points from four outings in the Europa League but sit in the Premier League’s relegation zone, just behind Manchester United on goal difference.
Sunderland, who have more points in Europe than the Premier League, saw their unbeaten Europa League start ended in a 2-0 home loss to Dinamo Zagreb.
“We are unlucky because we created many chances but it wasn’t enough but sometimes it’s like this,” Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris told TNT Sports.
“Sometimes you go on a poor run, but we are still competitive, the players tried until the end.”
Celtic picked up their first points with a thrilling 3-2 win over Besiktas as Camilo Duran came off the bench and netted twice for Martin O’Neill’s side in Glasgow.
Teun Koopmeiners and Randal Kolo Muani scored for Juventus in their 2-1 win at AZ Alkmaar, lifting the Italians up to 10 points.
In the Conference League, Brighton edged past Getafe 1-0 in Spain courtesy of a second-half Malick Yalcouye header.
The Seagulls are two points behind the leading quartet of Lugano, Panathinaikos, Twente and Monaco, who have won all three of their games.
Four-time European champions Ajax thrashed Midtjylland 6-1 in Denmark, while Hearts remain without a win after losing 3-1 away to Thun.
