Text size

ADDS quotes

Tottenham Hotspur picked up its third of three Europa League wins with a 1-0 home win over AZ on Thursday, but Manchester United remain winless after a 1-1 draw against Jose Mourinho-led Fenerbahce.

Spurs are one of three teams to have won all three games, alongside Lazio and Anderlecht, who enjoyed 2-0 wins against Twente and Ludogorets respectively.

“Once again it was right,” Spurs captain James Maddison told TNT Sports. “That’s three out of three, nine points is a very good starting position.”

The London side made numerous changes compared to the side that beat West Ham 4-1 in the Premier League at the weekend and one of the newcomers, 17-year-old Mikey Moore, almost gave them an early lead but failed but head wrong.

The half-time substitution of Brennan Johnson gave Spurs momentum and they were awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute when Lucas Bergvall was brought down while shooting.

Maddison passed the ball to Brazilian striker Richarlison, who hit the ball into the middle, giving Spurs the lead.

AZ had Moller Wolfe sent off for a poor tackle on Johnson as Spurs battled for victory.

Manchester United met their old coach Mourinho in Istanbul and had to settle for their third draw in Europe after a heated game. Mourinho was sent off in the second half after protesting too violently when French referee Clement Turpin rejected a penalty appeal.

“He (the referee) told me something unbelievable. He could see the action in the penalty area and my behavior on the touchline,” Mourinho said.

“I congratulate him because his peripheral vision is incredible. During the game, 100 miles an hour, he had one eye on the penalty situation and one eye on the bench and my behavior. That’s why he’s one of the best referees in the world.”

Joshua Zirkzee fed Christian Eriksen to give United the lead from the edge of the box after 15 minutes.

Marcus Rashford was inches away from doubling the visitors’ lead with a low shot that hit the outside of the post, but they were soon behind when goalkeeper Andre Onana made a great double save to keep out two headers from Youssef En-Nesyri and so the guests protected their lead at half time.

Four minutes after the restart the game was undone when En-Nesyri headed in an inviting cross from Allan Saint-Maximin after some sloppy defending.

United are 21st in the 36-team table with one point, while Fenerbahce are in 14th with five points.

“We didn’t win, but at least we didn’t lose,” Onana said. “Of course I’m not happy, but we carry on, take responsibility and move on.”

Lazio maintained their 100 percent record with Pedro Rodríguez and Gustav Isaksen scoring in Twente’s 2-0 win, while England wingers Samuel Edozie and Anders Dreyer scored in Anderlecht’s 2-0 home win over Ludogorets.

The Rangers put in one of the best performances of the night as Vaclav Cerny scored twice in a 4-0 win over FCSB to move up to 11th place in the table.

Ajax are in fourth place with seven points after a difficult 3-0 win at Qarabag which saw the Azerbaijani side finish the game with nine players, Julio Romao sent off after just 15 minutes and Elvin Jafarguliyev following suit 11 minutes earlier Ending.

Kenneth Taylor gave the Dutch the lead in the 36th minute. A penalty from Wout Weghorst secured the game in the 74th minute, with Chuba Akpom making it three minutes later.