Bruno Fernandes recently signed a new contract with Sporting and celebrated the new deal with a devastating performance against PSV, scoring two and assisting another two. He set up the opening goal with an unconventional lofted cross into the box for Luiz Phellype, and then scored the second with a bouncing strike in off the post from 35 yards. For Sporting's third, he whipped a deep corner-kick to the back post for Jeremy Mathieu to slide a finish into the roof of the net, and then rounded off the win with a coolly taken penalty to make it 4-0.
The performance of Kamada ultimately cost Unai Emery his job as Arsenal head coach, as the Japanese scored two to complete a 2-1 comeback for Eintracht Frankfurt at the Emirates on Thursday. His goals came via a pair of outstanding finishes - the first being superbly curled into the bottom corner from the edge of the box and the second being squeezed beyond everyone into the same corner after a cleared corner-kick. He sent 11 passes into the final third, and helped his team out three ball recoveries and two clearances.
Dynamo Kyiv's hopes of qualifying from the Europa League group stage took a hit this week as they were defeated 4-3 away at Malmo. One player unlucky to be on the losing side was Buyalskyi who assisted two goals for Vitaliy Mykolenko and then Viktor Tsyhankov in the first half. As well as being a provider for his team-mates, he won the majority of his duels (6/8), tackles (2/3), and 100% of his aerial duels.
In contrast to Dynamo, Porto kept their progression hopes alive as Aboubakar scored twice to complete a 2-1 comeback for the Portuguese side away at Young Boys. Both goals highlighted his danger inside the box, as for his first he found himself positioned perfectly inside the box to open up his foot to divert a cross into the net, while the second saw him sniff out a close range finish at the back post. He worked hard, too, making four ball recoveries, one interception, and two clearances.
Roma moved ahead of Basaksehir in Group J after a comfortable 3-0 victory away against the Turkish side, with Pellegrini setting up the second and third goals after Jordan Veretout opened the scoring with a penalty. Both assists were a display of Pellegrini's excellent vision, and were fairly similar, too, as he sent through-balls for Justin Kluivert and then Edin Dzeko to score. Defensively, he won 6/9 duels, 2/3 tackles, and had 45 touches throughout his time on the pitch.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Nemanja Gudelj (8.7) may not have recorded a goal or an assist for Sevilla in the win over Qarabag, but he ran the midfield from start to finish, winning an incredible 17 out of 20 duels as well as completing more passes (115/120) than anyone else in the Europa League on Thursday.
ROUND TO FORGET
Alexandru Epureanu (4.9) didn't have a great night for Basaksehir against Roma as he was regularly bullied by Dzeko up top. He made zero tackles, and lost all of his duels and aerial duels.
