Tottenham Overcomes Early Red Card to Post 3-0 Win in Revamped Europa League

Tottenham marked its return to European competition after one-year absence by overcoming an early red card to beat Qarabag 3-0 in the revamped Europa League on Thursday.
Defender Radu Dragusin was sent off in the eighth minute for bringing down Juninho to prevent the forward from going in alone on goal. But the hosts opened the scoring just four minutes later, The Associated Press reported.
Brennan Johnson's angled shot was his third goal in three games. Pape Sarr doubled the advantage early in the second half off a corner kick and Dominic Solanke finished it off on a rebound in the 68th.
“The red card was not ideal, we started really sloppily but the reaction afterwards was good,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou told TNT Sports. “We wanted to press high, even with ten men.”
Johnson also scored in a 3-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League and had a stoppage-time winner in a 2-1 victory over second-division Coventry the English League Cup three days earlier.
Tural Bayramov wasted a golden opportunity to score from the spot when the Azerbaijan visitors were 2-0 down.
Travel disruptions forced the game to start 35 minutes late.
Roma blows lead Roma allowed a late goal and settled for a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao following the Italian club's turbulent recent stretch that included firing coach Daniele De Rossi.
Aitor Paredes headed in the equalizer in the 85th minute to offset Artem Dovbyk's first-half goal.
Roma beat Udinese 3-0 in Serie A on Sunday in the first game under new coach Ivan Jurić.
Bilbao winger Nico Williams came on as a substitute for last 30 minutes in his return from an ankle injury.
Ajax cleans up Mika Godts had two goals, Kian Fitz-Jim and Kenneth Taylor added one each for Ajax in a 4-0 rout of Besiktas.
Czech side Viktoria Plzeň scored two late goals from Prince Adu and Vaclav Jemelka to hold high-flying Eintracht Frankfurt to a 3-3 away draw.
Frankfurt, the 2022 Europa League winner led 3-1 on goals from Hugo Ekitike, substitute Junior Dina Ebimbe and defender Rasmus Kristensen.
Olympiacos, last year’s Conference League champion, started with a 2-0 loss to Lyon in France on second half goals by Rayan Cherki and Said Benrahma.
Braga rallied to beat nine-man Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1. Romania’s FCSB beat Latvia’s RFS 4-1 in Bucharest.
Fenerbahce, Rangers score early wins Fenerbahce opened the competition with a 2-1 home win over Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise with both teams finishing the game with 10 men.
Defender Çağlar Söyüncü opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho's team in the 26th with a half-volley from close range and Christian Burgess' own goal in the 82nd made it 2-0 for Fenerbahce. Ross Sykes scored in stoppage time for the visitors.
Union defender Kevin Mac Allister received a red card in the 74th and Fenerbahce substitute Bright Osayi-Samuel was sent off in the final minute.
Last season, Fenerbahce eliminated Union in the round of 16 of the third-tier Conference League.
Europe’s second tier is a familiar turf for Mourinho, who led Manchester United to the 2017 title. He took the Fenerbahce job in the offseason. With Mourinho in charge, Roma lost the 2023 final to Sevilla after a penalty shootout.
In another early game, Rangers won 2-0 at Malmö.
The 2022 Europa League beaten finalist didn’t waste time. Nedim Bajrami scored in the opening minute. Ross McCausland scored in the second half.
Rangers lost in the 2022 final to Eintracht Frankfurt. The German club will be in action later Thursday, hosting Czech side Viktoria Plzeň.
As in the Champions League, the traditional group stage of the Europa League has been replaced with an expanded league phase with all 36 teams competing in a single standings.
Each Europa League team will play eight games against eight different opponents through Jan. 30.

Didier Deschamps announced Wednesday that he won’t continue as France coach after the next World Cup.

The 56-year-old Deschamps said in an interview with broadcaster TF1 that he will leave when his contract expires in the summer of 2026.

“I’ve been here since 2012, I’m scheduled to be here until 2026, the next World Cup, but that’s where it’s going to end because it has to end at some point,” Deschamps said in excerpts of the interview to be aired later Wednesday.

“I did my time, with the same desire and the same passion to keep the French team at the highest level, but 2026 is all very well.”

Deschamps started in his role as a successor to Laurent Blanc and led France to victory at the 2018 World Cup, also reaching the final in 2022 and at the 2016 European Championship.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, France reached the final and lost an epic title match to Argentina.

“I’m not here for the records,” Deschamps added. “The most important thing is that the France team remains at the top as it has been for many years.”

Europe will send 16 teams to the first 48-team World Cup, being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in the summer of 2026.

Deschamps did not elaborate on his future beyond the World Cup.

“There is a life afterwards,” he said. “I don’t know what it will be.”

Tottenham Overcomes Early Red Card to Post 3-0 Win in Revamped Europa League