(Football news) Leicester City defeated Legia Warsaw 3-1 which saw them leapfrog Napoli in Group C to the top of the table and put themselves in pole position to reach the knockout stages. The Foxes began the day at the bottom of the table but in the first half, Paston Daka got the hosts off to a quick start, he smartly finished after an aggressive run from Harvey Barnes which saw the ball deflect into the Zambian’s path, then Maddison added a quick second after he was allowed time to turn in the box and pick his spot. Legia sparked an unlikely comeback after they won a penalty which was missed by Mladenovic but the rebound was scored by Emerli. Wilfred Ndidi, whose handball gave away the penalty made amends by scoring a header from Maddisons corner and that pretty much put the game beyond the visitors. With this result Leicester moved to 8 points from 5 matches.
Brendan Rodgers after the match said "We had a big job to do tonight, we knew we had to win the game and to play as well as we did in the first half was equally as important. Positioning on the pitch was much better. Going into the last game, if we said that we would be top before we kicked off we would have taken that. You see the quality of the teams in the group, we are in control of where we finish. Our objective at the beginning was to qualify and that is in our hands."
Leicester midfielder James Maddison said "We knew after the result last night, we go into the game bottom and a win takes us top. All the teams have been up and down in the group but it was a convincing performance, three goals at home and we can be happy. We are in pole position. Ademola Lookman had good awareness and cut it back for me. There were bodies in front of me and I am comfortable with my left or right, I knew if I shifted it with a Cruyff turn I could finish it. I don't think I had a point to prove. I am hungry, I want to do well for my team, fans, family and the manager. I want to get back to my best and tonight I showed that. A goal and assist, affecting the team going forward. When you come away with the stats, it feels good."
Spartak Moscow caused a major upset as they beat Napoli 2-1 to move above them in the table. Napoli were missing a lot of players from the squad as they failed to get into any kind of rhythm, which was taken advantage of by Spartak Moscow. Russian international Sobolev gave Sparta the lead within the first three minutes after scoring a penalty before netting again at the half hour mark. Eljif Elmas pulled one back for the visitors in the second half, but Napoli could not find an equaliser. After a fast start to the season, Napoli is now winless in three games in all competitions. With this result Spartak moved to second with 7 points as they have a superior goal difference compared to Napoli.
West Ham secured their place in the last 16 after a 2-0 victory over Rapid Wien in a match played behind closed doors in Austria. In the first half, Andriy Yarmolenko put the Hammers ahead at the half hour mark after he headed Nikola Vlasic’s pinpoint cross, minutes later Yarmolenko was fouled in the penalty box and captain Mark Noble fired the penalty into the top corner to double their lead. David Moyes' side are now guaranteed to win Group H with a game to spare. West Ham won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965 and lost in the 1976 final. Their run in this season's Europa League is already their best performance in European competition since 1980-81.
Moyes after the match said: "A really good, professional job, not just tonight, how we've done in the group and great credit to the whole squad. We've used them all and taken some risks at times, but overall it has worked.At the start of the tournament I was unsure how it would be. It was relatively new to the players, but they've done such a great job. We thoroughly deserve to win the group and are looking forward to European football in March – and don't have to play in February which helps with the congestion.We should've been in front before we did score, but there was no doubt we deserved to be in front and no doubt we deserved to win.
Moyes added "It's a good sign when we won, but I don't think we played that well. The players that have come in have really done well. I really think the players have come a long way but there's more to go."I've tried to chop and change a little bit and keep everyone involved. We can play far better and need to do that in the games coming up. We can put this away and focus on the league now."
AS Monaco confirmed their position in the last 16 after a hard fought 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad. First half goals from Kevin Volland and Fofana were enough to secure the three points for the Monaquese side. Bayer Leverkusen defeated Celtics 3-2 as Moussa Diaby's late winner leaves Celtic unable to progress to the Europa League knockout stages, Robert Andrich heads hosts in front before Josip Juranovic and Jota turned the game in Celtic's favour but late goals from Andrich and Diaby helped them win the group for Bayer Leverkusen.
The other significant results were:
- Lokomotiv Moscow 0 – 3 Lazio (Immobile x2(pen), Pedro)
- Real Betis 2 (Tello, Canales) – 0 Ferencvaros
- Galatasaray 4 (Cicaldau, Caleta Car(og), Feghouli, Babel) – 2 Marseille (Milik x2)
- Olympiakos 1 (Tiquinho) – 0 Fenerbahce
- PSV 2 (C.V(pen), Bruma) – 0 SK Sturm Graz
- Rangers 2 (Morelos x2) – 0 Sparta Prague
