Europa League round-up: Spurs and Everton through but holders Sevilla on the brink
Defeat completes a miserable week for Spanish side
Feyenoord’s Karim El Ahmadi scored a superb goal to help them into the Europa League last 32 with a 2-0 win over Sevilla on Thursday that left the holders facing a winner-takes-all final game to stay in the competition.
The former European champions led nine teams – Everton, Napoli, Trabzonspor, Celtic, Tottenham Hotspur, Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas and Inter Milan – into the knockout stage of Europe’s second tier competition, setting up a nervy finale for others.
However, Feyenoord can take it easy in their final outing after they scored early in the second half through Jens Toornstra and wrapped up the points when El Ahmadi received a bouncing ball and struck a precise, looping finish.
The result compounded a miserable week for Sevilla who were thrashed 5-1 by Barcelona in La Liga on Saturday and must now get at least a point against Croatian side Rijeka in their final Group G game to continue the defence of their title.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Partizan Belgrade 1-0 with a goal from Benjamin Stambouli four minutes into the second half, but the match will be remembered for what appeared to be a bizarre publicity stunt.