Matchday 3 of the Europa League delivered a series of dramatic results, with several underdogs claiming significant scalps and a few established teams maintaining flawless form. The 18-match schedule provided plenty of high-scoring thrillers, tactical battles, and decisive interventions.
Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 Aston Villa
The Dutch side delivered a stunning shock, defeating Aston Villa, who had taken an early lead through Guessand. Go Ahead Eagles mounted a successful comeback with goals from Suray and captain Deijl. Villa’s disappointing night was compounded by Emiliano Buendía missing a late penalty, handing the English side their first defeat in the competition.
Roma 1-2 Viktoria Plzeň
A significant upset occurred in the Italian capital as Viktoria Plzeň stunned Roma. The Czech visitors scored two early goals (Adu and Souaré) to take a commanding lead. While Paulo Dybala converted a penalty to halve the deficit, Plzeň held on resolutely to secure a memorable victory, inflicting a surprise home loss on the Italian giants.
Lille 3-4 PAOK
In the highest-scoring contest of the day, PAOK edged a seven-goal thriller away from home against Lille. The massive 4-3 victory for the Greek side was a huge boost to their campaign and demonstrated thrilling attacking football from both teams. The French outfit was stunned by the Greek side who had only 6 shots on target and 6 shots in total to Lille’s 11 shots on target and 25 shots in total. Goals from Soualiho Meite, Giannis Konstantelias and a brace from Andrija Zivkovic sealed the win for PAOK with Lille’s goals coming from Benjamin Andre and Hamza Igamane who also scored a brace.
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Porto
Under new head coach Sean Dyche, Forest secured a vital 2-0 victory over the previously unbeaten Porto. Dyche’s reign began with two decisive penalties, scored by Morgan Gibbs-White in the 19th minute and Igor Jesus in thje 77th. The win was defined by Forest’s renewed defensive organization and an effective use of set pieces, ending Porto’s perfect start.
Celtic 2-1 Sturm Graz
Celtic fought back to claim their first win of the group stage. After falling behind to a Tomi Horvat goal, the Scottish side rallied in the second half with goals from Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren to secure a crucial comeback victory.
Brann 3-0 Rangers
It was a disastrous night for Rangers, who suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat away to Brann. Goals from Kornvig, Sørensen, and Holm marked the third straight loss for the Scottish club, leaving them struggling in the bottom half of the standings.
Braga 2-0 Crvena Zvezda
Braga continued their impressive campaign, securing a comfortable home win to maintain their flawless three-win record, demonstrating their strength as a top seed in the competition. The goals came from Fran Navarro and Mario Dorgeles in the 22nd and 72nd minute respectively.
Lyon 2-0 Basel
Lyon also retained their 100% record and their defensive solidity, securing a clean sheet and a 2-0 win. Corentin Tolisso scored early, followed by Afonso Moreira’s late finish, continuing their flawless start.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-3 Midtjylland
Midtjylland delivered a dominant performance, securing a comprehensive 3-0 away win with three unanswered goals, keeping them among the competition’s pace-setters. Goals came from Phillip Billing and a brace from Franculino Dju. The win takes the Danish side to 1st on the league phase table.
Feyenoord 3-1 Panathinaikos
Feyenoord found their stride with a convincing 3-1 home victory, securing three goals to overpower the Greek visitors and get their campaign firmly on track. A goal in the 18th minute from Karol Sviderski was cancelled out emphatically by goals from Givairo Read, Anis Hadj Moussa and Cyle Larin.
Fenerbahçe 1-0 Stuttgart
A narrow but important victory for Fenerbahçe, sealed by Kerem Aktürkoğlu’s first-half penalty, which was enough to condemn Stuttgart to defeat in Turkey.
Freiburg 2-0 Utrecht
Freiburg secured a comfortable 2-0 win at home, keeping a clean sheet and consolidating their strong position in the league phase. Goals came from Yuito Suzuki and Vincenzo Grifo.
Genk 0-0 Real Betis
A goalless draw in Belgium saw both teams show excellent defensive discipline, ultimately sharing the points.
Malmö FF 1-1 Dinamo Zagreb
The spoils were shared in Sweden as a competitive match ended in a 1-1 draw. A goal in first half added time from Oscar Lewicki was cancelled out by a goal in second half added time from 16 year old Cardoso Varela.
Celta Vigo 2-1 Nice
Celta Vigo claimed a narrow but deserved home victory over Nice, who suffered their third consecutive defeat. A goal from Iago Aspas and an Own Goal from Kojo Peprah Oppong came either side of a goal from Mohamed Ali-Cho. A 38th minute red card for Jonathan Clauss did not help matters for Nice.
FCSB 1-2 Bologna
Bologna edged a closely fought contest on the road, securing a narrow 2-1 victory. Thijs Dallinga and Jens Odgaard scored quickfire goals in the 9th and 12th minute with Daniel Birligea getting a consolation for the Romanian side.
Red Bull Salzburg 2-3 Ferencváros
A thrilling five-goal battle saw Ferencváros come out on top with a narrow 3-2 away victory. Edmund Baidoo scored early for Salzburg and Ferencvaros responded with 3 goals in 8 minutes in the second half with Barnabas Varga, Kristoffer Zachariassen and Bamidele Yusuf finding the back of the net, Yorbe Vertessen got a second for Salzburg but they couldn’t find an equalizer.
Young Boys 3-2 Ludogorets
Young Boys secured a hard-fought home win in a five-goal match, winning 3-2. Young Boys won with goals from Rayan Raveloson, Christian Fassnacht and Chris Bedia, Petar Stanic and Ivan Yordanov got Ludogorets’ goals.
Ultimately, Matchday 3 of the Europa League proved that no result is guaranteed, with huge upsets like Go Ahead Eagles beating Aston Villa and Viktoria Plzeň shocking Roma stealing the headlines. Meanwhile, clubs like Lyon, Braga, and Midtjylland continued their perfect runs, but the most significant narrative was perhaps Nottingham Forest’s crucial 2-0 victory over Porto, marking a successful and stabilizing start to the Sean Dyche era.
