Darwin Nunez scored twice to help Liverpool beat Sparta 5-1 and advance to the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday.
Nunez’s right-footed shot from 25 meters (yards) flew past goalkeeper Peter Vindahl to double Liverpool’s early lead after Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty in Prague in the first leg of the round of 16.
The Uruguay international’s first strike of the evening was the 1,000th Liverpool goal scored under manager Jürgen Klopp, whose team will host the second leg at Anfield next week.
“We’re happy about the result and the performance,” Klopp told Czech public television. “Our goals were fantastic.”
In the first half of the stoppage time, Nunez let a pass from Mac Allister bounce in the right corner of the area before firing inside the far post for his second.
Nunez scored in the ninth minute of stoppage time on Saturday to earn Liverpool a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
In Prague, Liverpool needed just a few minutes to go ahead.
Mac Allister sent Vindahl in the wrong direction in the sixth minute to convert a penalty awarded after the Argentine was downed in the area by Asger Srensen.
Conor Bradley reduced the lead to 3-1 with an own goal a minute after coming on as a substitute at the start of the second half. Luis Daz regained the three-goal lead seven minutes later.
Dominik Szoboszlai added a goal during the stoppage time.
Liverpool’s next game is a crucial one against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.
Mohamed Salah’s return as a substitute in the 74th minute was a positive sign for the Reds.
Bundesliga leader Bayer Leverkusen made a long trip to Baku and needed a stoppage-time equalizer to draw 2-2 with Qarabag and extend their German record unbeaten run to 35 games across all competitions this season.
Substitute striker Patrik Schick rose in the area to head in an equalizer after another substitute, Florian Wirtz, had reduced Qarabag’s lead to one in the 70th minute.
The teams also met in the group stage — Leverkusen won 5-1 at home and 1-0 in Baku.
Leverkusen arrives in Germany for a potentially challenging Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Roma’s renaissance under coach Daniele De Rossi continued with a 4-0 thrashing of Brighton at Stadio Olimpico.
Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku gave the hosts 2-0 lead in the first half. Gianluca Mancini and Bryan Cristante finished it off in the second.
Roma has won eight of 10 matches across all competitions, with only one loss, to Serie A leader Inter Milan, since De Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho.
Two Brighton fans were stabbed in Rome during a pre-match incident. During the game, Brighton said it reported to UEFA and local police that bottles, coins and lighters were “being thrown by home supporters into the away end.”
Marseille’s new coach Jean-Louis Gasset has been successful in scoring for Marseille, with a 4-0 win over 10-man Villarreal and a total of 16 goals in four games under him.
Striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored from the spot and added one more for his 33rd career goal in the Europa League to improve his own record in the competition. Marseille also scored a goal from Jordan Veretout and an own goal from Yerson Mosquera.
Olivier Giroud, Tijjani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored a goal each at the end of the first half to put AC Milan in control 3-1 over 10-man Slavia Prague at San Siro. Ivan Schranz scored one more for Slavia before Christian Pulisic clinched a 4-2 win for the Italian powerhouse.
Michael Gregoritsch scored a late goal to secure Freiburg’s 1-0 home victory over West Ham.
Benfica’s 2-2 draw in Lisbon was salvaged by an own goal from Rangers’ defender Connor Goldson.
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
In the third-tier competition, Aston Villa held Ajax to a scoreless tie in Amsterdam. Both teams finished the game with 10 men after Ajax midfielder Tristan Gooijer and Villa defender Ezri Konsa received their second yellow card in the final 10 minutes.
Lille relied on two goals from Canadian striker Jonathan David to secure a 3-0 victory over Sturm Graz.
Maccabi Tel Aviv also recorded a comprehensive 4-1 victory at Olympiacos, and Norway’s Molde beat Club Brugge 2-1.
Antonín Barák scored five minutes into stoppage time for last year’s runner-up Fiorentina’s 4-3 victory over Maccabi Haifa in a game played in Budapest, Hungary due to the Israel’s war with Hamas.
