Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette, second right, runs with the ball after scoring the opening goal of his team against Olympiakos during the Europa League round of 32, first leg, soccer match between Olympiakos and Arsenal at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus port, near Athens, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Mikel Arteta marked his first European game as Arsenal manager with a 1-0 victory at Olympiakos in the first leg of their round-of-32 meeting in the Europa League on Thursday.
Manchester United was held to a 1-1 draw at Club Brugge while Inter Milan had an easier time at Ludogorets in Bulgaria, with Christian Eriksen scoring his first goal for the Italian club in a 2-0 win.
Another Premier League side, Wolverhampton Wanderers, cruised to a 4-0 win over Espanyol thanks to a hat trick by Diego Jota and a spectacular long-range volley by Ruben Neves.
Winning the Europa League may be the best chance for all three Premier League teams to book a spot the lucrative Champions League next season.
Scottish side Rangers delivered the comeback of the evening by rallying from 2-0 down to beat Braga 3-2 at home.
Five-time Europa League champion Sevilla failed to win again after a 1-1 draw at Romania's Cluj while Ajax surprsingly lost 2-0 at Getafe.
Basel, Roma, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg also won. The second legs are scheduled for next week.
LACAZETTE ON TARGET
Having ended a two-month scoring drought this past weekend, Alexandre Lacazette made it two goals in two games with a late winner in Athens.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started the move on the left and released Bukayo Saka, who surged into the area and provided a precise cross for Lacazette to tap in nine minutes from time.
Arsenal had goalkeeper Bernd Leno to thank for keeping the game scoreless until then, with the German making several key saves in the first half.
'œThe first 10-15 minutes, we suffered,'ť Arteta said. 'œThe executions on the simple things was poor. We had a situation where we could completely break them and we kept giving simple balls away and that was almost throughout the game.'ť
UNITED HELD
Emmanuel Bonaventure put Brugge ahead after 15 minutes in Belgium, collecting a long pass from goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and one-timing a lob over the onrushing Sergio Romero.
Brugge had several chances for a second goal but Anthony Martial equalized for United in the 36th, capitalizing on Brugge's sloppy play to beat Mignolet one-on-one for his third goal in four games. Martial also hit the post later in the first half.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made six changes to his starting lineup from the team that beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Monday. But new signing Odion Ighalo remained on the bench until he replaced Martial in the 67th.
WOLVES WIN
After two scoreless draws in the Premier League, Wolves rediscovered their scoring touch. Jota netted a second successive hat trick in the Europa League, but it was Neves who provided the highlight against Espanyol, the last-place team in the Spanish league. Neves controled the ball with his chest before unleashing a sublime volley from long distance to make it 2-0 in the first half.
KAMADA HAT TRICK
Last season's semifinalist Eintracht Frankfurt is having another strong European campaign despite struggling in the Bundesliga, with Daichi Kamada scoring a hat trick in a 4-1 win over Salzburg. Kamada put Frankfurt 3-0 up in the 53rd before Filip Kostic added the fourth for the Germans.
OTHER GAMES
Two of Inter's recent big signings put the Italian team on the brink of a place in the next round. Former Manchester United striker came off the bench to set up Eriksen for his first goal since joining from Tottenham in January. Lukaku then doubled the lead with a penalty in stoppage time.
Ajax, though, will have to mount a big comeback in the second leg in order to advance. Brazilian striker Deyverson marked his European debut for Getafe with a goal and substitute Kenedy added the second in injury time against the Dutch champion, which reached the Champions League semifinals last year.
Rangers looked to be in big trouble after Fransergio and Abel Ruiz put Braga up 2-0 in Glasgow. But Ianis Hagi, the son of Romania great Gheorghe Hagi, started the comeback in the 67th minute and completed it with the winning goal in the 82nd, afte Joe Aribo had equalized for Steven Gerrard's side.
In a match of two teams that dropped out of the Champions League, Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Benfica 2-1.
Sevilla, the most successful team in the competition, remains without a win in five games across all competitions. Ciprian Deac put Cluj ahead from the penalty spot in the second half before substitute Youssef En-Nesyri equalizied for the Spanish team.
Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster saved a late penalty to help the Scottish club hold on for a 1-1 draw at Copenhagen.
Sporting captain Sebastian Coates scored the fastest goal of the night, netting after three to help the Portuguese club beat Istanbul Basaksehir 3-1.
Basel took a big step toward the round of 16 after a 3-0 away win at APOEL, while Roma defeated Gent 1-0.
Lucas Alario and Kai Havertz scored in Bayer Leverkusen's 2-1 victory over two-time European champion Porto.
Wolfsburg came from a goal down to edge Malmo 2-1. The visitors took the lead through Isaac Kiese Thelin's penalty early in the second half before Josip Brekalo equalized and Admir Mehmedi scored the winner.
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Associated Press writer Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report.
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Manchester United's Anthony Martial, front, vies for the ball with Brugge's Brandon Mechele to score his side first goal during an Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Brugge and Manchester United at the Jan Breydel stadium in Bruges, Belgium, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Martial scored once and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Manchester United's Anthony Martial, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's first goal during an Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Brugge and Manchester United at the Jan Breydel stadium in Bruges, Belgium, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Martial scored once and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Manchester United's Juan Mata, right, vies for the ball with Brugge's Clinton Mata during Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Brugge and Manchester United at the Jan Breydel stadium in Bruges, Belgium, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada, second right, scores past Salzburg's goalkeeper Cican Stankovic during the Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Red Bull Salzburg at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (Arne Dedert/dpa via AP)
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Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Red Bull Salzburg at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (Arne Dedert/dpa via AP)
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Ajax's Nicolas Tagliafico kicks the ball during a 1st leg, round of 32, of the Europa League soccer match between Getafe and Ajax at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium in Getafe, outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
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Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku fails to score during an Europa League, round of 32, first leg, soccer match between PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and Inter Milan at Huvepharma Arena in Razgrad, Bulgaria, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
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Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku, center, salutes fans at the end of the Europa League, round of 32, first leg, soccer match between PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and Inter Milan at Huvepharma Arena in Razgrad, Bulgaria, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
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A man walks with Fortuna, a female eagle, the mascot of PFC Ludogorets, during an Europa League, round of 32, first leg, soccer match between PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and Inter Milan at Huvepharma Arena in Razgrad, Bulgaria, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
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Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette, centre, and scorer of the winning goal celebrates with teammates after the end of a Europa League round of 32, first leg, soccer match between Olympiakos and Arsenal at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus port, near Athens, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Arsenal won 1-0. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Arsenal's Matteo Guendouzi, right, challenges for the ball with Olympiakos' Mathieu Valbuena during the Europa League round of 32, first leg, soccer match between Olympiakos and Arsenal at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus port, near Athens, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Arsenal won 1-0. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette celebrates after scoring the opening goal of his team against Olympiakos during the Europa League round of 32, first leg, soccer match between Olympiakos and Arsenal at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus port, near Athens, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Ruben Neves celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League round of 32 match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Espanyol at the Molineux Stadium, in Wolverhampton, England, Thursday Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/ Rui Vieira)
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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Ruben Neves, third right, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League round of 32 match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Espanyol at the Molineux Stadium, in Wolverhampton, England, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/ Rui Vieira)
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Basel's Valentin Stocker, right, scores against APOEL during the Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between APOEL and FC Basel at GSP stadium, in Nicosia, Cyprus, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
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Roma's Federico Fazio, center, and Gent's Roman Bezus, left, vie for the ball during their Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Roma and Gent at Rome's Olympic stadium, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Roma's Carles Perez celebrates after scoring during the Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Roma and Gent at Rome's Olympic stadium, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Rangers Ianis Hagi celebrates scoring his side's third goal of the game during the Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Rangers and Sporting Braga at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
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Sporting Braga's players celebrate their first goal of the game during the Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between Rangers and Sporting Braga at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
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Wolfsburg's Admir Mehmedi, third right, scores his side's second goal during the Europa League round of 32 first leg soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and Malmo FF in Wolfsburg, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
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