Fenerbahce outclass Anderlecht, Ajax and Sociedad earn first-leg leads
ISTANBUL : Turkey's Fenerbahce beat Belgian side Anderlecht 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round playoff on Thursday as Ajax Amsterdam and Real Sociedad also secured victories.
Fenerbahce, managed by Jose Mourinho, took an early lead through a close-range header from forward Dusan Tadic following a corner.
The hosts survived a scare when the referee consulted VAR about a potential penalty for handball, but it was not given and Edin Dzeko doubled their advantage before the break.
His initial strike was blocked by the Anderlecht defence before the Bosnian striker latched on to the rebound and struck a low shot into the corner of the net.
Morocco forward Youssef En-Nesyri sealed the win after the break with a fine header.
Fenerbahce, unbeaten across all competitions since mid-December, took the last playoff spot available as they finished the league phase in 24th place and qualified on goal difference.
Anderlecht, coming off consecutive defeats in the competition by Hoffenheim and Viktoria Plzen, were 10th.
AJAX, SOCIEDAD EARN FIRST-LEG LEAD
Sociedad, who reached the last 16 of the Champions League last season, earned a 2-1 win at Danish side Midtjylland.
Midfielder Brais Mendez put the LaLiga side ahead from the penalty spot before Japan forward Takefusa Kubo added a second with a shot from outside the area into the top corner.
The Danish hosts, who return to domestic action this weekend after more than a two-month winter break, pulled a goal back before the break through Poland striker Adam Buksa from close range.
The winners will face Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur in last 16.
Ajax secured a 2-0 victory at Belgium's Union Saint-Gilloise, forward Christian Rasmussen and defender Jorthy Mokio scoring the goals in the second half.
The Dutch side lost three consecutive games in the competition before their home win over Galatasaray in the final round of league matches.
Record 35-times Hungarian champions Ferencvaros, winners of the last six domestic league titles, beat Czech visitors Viktoria Plzen 1-0 to close in on a last-16 place.
Porto host AS Roma in one of the four later kickoffs. (This story has been refiled to say league matches, not group matches, in paragraph 14)
