PARIS: Bayer Leverkusen made it three straight wins in the Europa League with a Jonas Hofmann double earning a 2-0 away win at OFI Crete as both Juventus and Sunderland lost ground in Thursday’s third matchday.
The once mighty Hungarian side Ferencvaros kept pace with Leverkusen on nine points thumping Portuguese outfit Torreense 4-1, while Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise won 4-0 against Israeli outfit Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Saint-Gilloise, Sunderland and Juve all have seven points from three games.
Juventus thought they had come from behind to beat French side Rennes but had their late ‘winner’ ruled out for a marginal offside.
Zeki Celik put Juve ahead after five minutes only for a poor clearance 10 minutes later allowing Musa Al-Taamari to poke home an equalizer. Jut before the break Boulaye Dia put the visitors ahead.
Juventus made it 2-2 thanks to a handball and a spot-kick transformed by Nick Woltemade before VAR provided the biggest talking point, disallowing Jhon Lucumi’s 88th minute strike.
Clad in a new all-pink kit, Sunderland were left kicking themselves after a 1-1 draw in Poland.
The Blacks Cats took a second minute leadin Poznan thanks to Timur Tutierov and dominated the game without being able to close out the win.
With two home games remaining, however, the second round still beckons for Regis Le Bris’ men.
In the Conference League, former Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah opened the scoring from the penalty spot in Trabzonspor’s 2-0 win over Scottish side Hearts.