Mourinho’s Fenerbahce beats Anderlecht 3-0 in Europa League playoff. Porto and Roma square off

By Canadian Press on February 13, 2025.

José Mourinho’s Fenerbahce might have only just squeezed into the Europa League knockout playoff round but it is already on the brink of the round of 16.

Fenerbahce dominated to beat Anderlecht 3-0 and take a comprehensive lead to Belgium for the second leg next week.

Two of Mourinho’s former clubs, Porto and Roma, were playing each other later Thursday in Europe’s second-tier competition.

Fenerbahce only just reached the playoffs by placing 24th in the new 36-standings format — the last qualification place, and on a tiebreaker of goal difference.

It took the lead in the 11th minute on Thursday. Anderlecht failed to clear a corner and the ball was put back to the area where Yusuf Akçiçek nodded it on for Dusan Tadic to head into the net.

Edin Dzeko doubled his team’s advantage shortly before halftime following good work from Filip Kostic down the left flank. Dzeko’s initial shot was blocked by Anderlecht defender Lucas Hey but the veteran forward fired home the rebound.

Youssef En-Nesyri added a third with a powerful header in the 57th minute and Fenerbahce missed several chances to extend its advantage.

Notably, Yusuf Akçiçek’s header was deflected onto the post — it would have been the 19-year-old’s first career goal, after recording his first-ever assist in the first half.

Teenager scores for Ajax

Ajax won 2-0 at Union Saint-Gilloise, with 16-year-old Jorthy Mokio netting his side’s second goal.

Mokio scored in the 71st minute. A corner was cleared but only as far as the Belgium Under-21 international on the edge of the area and he volleyed it in for his first goal for the senior Ajax team.

Mokio, aged 16 years and 350 days, became the youngest player to score in a knockout stage match in the Europa League, UEFA said.

Christian Rasmussen had netted the opener in 59th.

Elsewhere, Real Sociedad won 2-1 at Midtjylland and Ferencvaros beat Viktoria Plzen 1-0.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Daniella Matar, The Associated Press

20
-19