AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic touches his knees during the Europa League Group H soccer match between AC Milan and Sparta Praha at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
The Associated Press
AC Milan cruised past Sparta Prague 3-0 for its second straight win in the Europa League on Thursday, while Tottenham fell to a surprising 1-0 loss at newcomer Antwerp.
Milan easily overcame a missed penalty by Zlatan Ibrahimović to remain unbeaten in 23 games in all competitions, dating back to least season.
Tottenham saw its 10-match unbeaten run end, despite having Gareth Bale in the starting lineup for a second straight time in the competition.
Fellow Premier League clubs captured their second straight win. Leicester beat AEK Athens 2-1 away while Arsenal scored three goals in a four-minute span either side of halftime in a 3-0 victory over Irish club Dundalk.
A minute of silence was held ahead of the game between Nice and Hapoel Beer Sheva to honor the three victims of a knife attack in the French city earlier Thursday. The players from both teams wore black armbands during the game, which the hosts won 1-0.
Benfica and Rangers earned their second straight victories while Hoffenheim and Wolfsberg cruised to big away wins.
TOTTENHAM TAMED
Antwerp took the lead in the 29th minute when Dieumerci Mbokani stole a sloppy pass from defender Ben Davis before passing to fellow forward Lior Refaelov to score the winning goal.
Manager José Mourinho retained only two players in the starting lineup from the squad that beat Burnley 1-0 in the Premier League on Monday. However, his lineup failed to impress and Mourinho made four substitutions at halftime in an attempt to turn things around. He didn't wait much longer before replacing Bale with striker Harry Kane in the 58th, but Spurs never created serious chances to score an equalizer.
Also in Group J, LASK defeated Ludogorets 4-3.
MILAN MARCHES ON
Ibrahimović didn't score but made his presence felt in the first 45 minutes of the game in Group H. The 39-year-old veteran crossed for Brahim DÃaz from the right to net the opening goal with a shot between the legs of Sparta goalkeeper Milan Heca in the 24th minute.
Ibrahimović, who contracted the coronavirus last month but has scored four goals in three matches since his return, wasted a golden opportunity to add another later in the first half.
After he was fouled in the area, Ibrahimović hit the crossbar from the penalty spot in the 36th.
He was replaced by Rafael Leão for the second half, and the substitute made it 2-0 from close range after he was set up by a precise cross from Diogo Dalot.
Dalot added the third after a solo run in the 67th.
Celtic wasted a 2-0 first half lead after a couple of goals from Mohamed Elyounouss to settle for a 2-2 draw at Lille for its first point.
QUICK GOALS BY GUNNERS
Pressing from the start, Arsenal looked frustrated as Dundalk's defense held firm. Then, it fell apart late in the first half.
Eddie Nketiah netted the opening goal in the 42nd from close range following a corner after the ball hit a defender's back and dropped in front of the striker.
Two minutes later, Joe Willock collected the ball after Nicolas Pépé's shot was blocked by Andy Boyle to score high into the net to double the lead.
Just half a minute into the second half, Pépé curled in a strike from the edge of the area.
Norway's Molde shares the lead of Group J with Arsenal after beating Rapid Vienna 1-0 for its second win.
IMPACT OF INFECTIONS
After AZ Alkmaar overcame a slew of coronavirus cases to upset Napoli 1-0 last week, the Dutch side earned a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Rijeka in Group F on Thursday.
Albert Guðmundsson scored two goals for Alkmaar.
Napoli recovered from the home loss with a 1-0 away win at Real Sociedad, ending a four-game winning streak for the hosts.
Piotr Zieliński and Elif Elmas were back in the Napoli squad for the first time in almost a month after the midfielders tested positive for the coronavirus.
OTHER GROUPS
Jamie Vardy put Leicester ahead in Athens after earning and converting a penalty in the 18th minute. An unmarked Hamza Choudhury made it 2-0 for Brendan Rodgers's team before substitute Muamer Tankovic pulled one back for AEK in the 49th. In the other Group G game, Braga won 2-1 away at Zorya Luhansk.
Villarreal went a goal down at QarabaÄŸ in the 78th minute before coming back for a 3-1 victory in Group I, where Maccabi Tel-Aviv also won 2-1 away at Sivasspor.
Wolfsberg has a perfect record in Group K after winning 4-1 at Feyenoord, with Michael Liendl scoring a hat trick. His first two goals came from penalties.
CSKA Moscow played to a 0-0 draw with Dinamo Zagreb.
Hoffenheim overcame a couple of coronavirus cases to beat Gent 4-1 away in Group L. Red Star Belgrade outplayed Czech club Liberec 5-1.
Roma was held 0-0 by CSKA Sofia in Group A while Cluj drew 1-1 with Young Boys Bern.
In Group C, Nice bounced back from a 6-2 loss to Leverkusen in the previous round with Amine Gouiri scoring the winner. Also Slavia Prague took its first three points by defeating Leverkusen 1-0.
Pizzi two goals for Benfica while Luca Waldschmidt also converted a penalty in the second half as the hosts beat Standard Liège 3-0 to earn their second win in Group D. Rangers defeated Lech 1-0, joining Benfica atop Group D.
PSV won 2-1 at Omonoia after Donyell Malen scored his second goal in injury time in Group E, where Granada was held 0-0 by PAOK.
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AC Milan's Simon Kjaer, challenges for the ball with Sparta's Lukas Julis during an Europa League Group H soccer match between AC Milan and Sparta Praha at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
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AC Milan's Diogo Dalot, left, scores his side's third goal during the Europa League Group H soccer match between AC Milan and Sparta Praha at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
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AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic stands after missing a penalty kick during the Europa League Group H soccer match between AC Milan and Sparta Praha at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
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Tottenham's Harry Kane, center, vies for the ball against Royal Antwerp's Jeremy Gelin during the Europa League Group J soccer match between Antwerp and Tottenham at the Bosuil stadium in Antwerp, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Francois Walschaerts)
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Tottenham's Son Heung-min, center, vies for the ball against Royal Antwerp's Faris Haroun, left, during the Europa League Group J soccer match between Antwerp and Tottenham at the Bosuil stadium in Antwerp, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Francois Walschaerts)
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Royal Antwerp players celebrate after winning the Europa League Group J soccer match between Antwerp and Tottenham at the Bosuil stadium in Antwerp, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Francois Walschaerts)
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Tottenham's Serge Aurier, left, congratulates Royal Antwerp's Faris Haroun after Royal Antwerp won the Europa League Group J soccer match between Antwerp and Tottenham at the Bosuil stadium in Antwerp, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Francois Walschaerts)
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AEK's Muamer Tankovic, right, celebrates his side's first goal during the Europa League group G soccer match between AEK Athens and Leicester at the Olympic stadium in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Leicester's James Justin, right, tries to stop AEK's Nelson Oliveira during the Europa League group G soccer match between AEK Athens and Leicester at the Olympic stadium in Athens, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Feyenoord's Bryan Linssen holds his head after missing a chance to score during the Group K Europa League soccer match between Feyenoord and Wolfsberger AC at De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
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Feyenoord's Luciano Narsingh, left, and Wolfsbergs' Dominik Baumgartner, right, vie for the ball during the Group K Europa League soccer match between Feyenoord and Wolfsberger AC at De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
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Hoffenheim's Mijat Gacinovic, left, scores past Gent's goalkeeper Davy Roef his side's third goal during the Europa League Group L soccer match between Gent and Hoffenheim at the KAA Gent stadium in Gent, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Gacinovic scored once in Hoffenheim's 4-1 victory. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
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Arsenal's Joe Willock looks to pass the ball during the Europa League Group B soccer match between Arsenal and Dundalk at the Emirates Stadium in London, Thursday, Oct. 29. 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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Dundalk's Stefan Colovic, left, and Arsenal's Willian battle for the ball during the Europa League Group B soccer match between Arsenal and Dundalk at the Emirates Stadium in London, Thursday, Oct. 29. 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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Arsenal's goalkeeper Runar Alex Runarsson takes the ball during the Europa League Group B soccer match between Arsenal and Dundalk at the Emirates Stadium in London, Thursday, Oct. 29. 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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Hapoel Beer-Sheva's Josue controls the ball during the Europa League Group C soccer match between OGC Nice and Hapoel Beer-Sheva at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, France,Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
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Hapoel Beer-Sheva's Jonathan Agudelo, left, vies for the ball with Nice's Dante and Nice's Morgan Schneiderlin during the Europa League Group C soccer match between OGC Nice and Hapoel Beer-Sheva at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, France,Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
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Nice's Jeff Reine-Adelaide, top, jumps over Hapoel Beer-Sheva's Gaetan Varenne and Hapoel Beer-Sheva's Or Dadia during the Europa League Group C soccer match between OGC Nice and Hapoel Beer-Sheva at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, France,Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
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Liege's Nicolas Gavory tries to get a shot past Benfica's Diogo Goncalves, left, during the end of the Europa League group D soccer match between Benfica and Standard Liege at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Benfica won 3-0. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
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Liege's Merveille Bokadi fights for the ball with Benfica's Darwin Nunez, left, during the end of the Europa League group D soccer match between Benfica and Standard Liege at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Benfica won 3-0. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
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Benfica's Jan Vertonghen, left, and Liege's Aleksandar Boljevic greet each other at the end of the Europa League group D soccer match between Benfica and Standard Liege at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Benfica won 3-0. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
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Real Sociedad's David Silva, right, vies for the ball with Napoli's Elseid Hysaj during the Europa League group F soccer match between Real Sociedad and Napoli at the Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Amaia Zabalo)
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Real Sociedad's Alexander Isak reacts during the Europa League group F soccer match between Real Sociedad and Napoli at the Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Amaia Zabalo)
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Rangers' Alfredo Morelos, front, celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game against Lech Poznan, with teammate James Tavernier, during their Europa League soccer match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday Oct. 29, 2020. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
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Rangers' Kemar Roofe, left, in an unsuccessful attempt at an overhead kick on goal against Lech Poznan, during their Europa League soccer match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday Oct. 29, 2020. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
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