Bournemouth stun AC Milan to maintain perfect Europa League start

Bournemouth recorded a third successive Europa League victory on Thursday by beating AC Milan 3-0 at home, according to Channels Television. The result gave the Premier League club a perfect start to its first campaign in the competition. The match turned decisively in Bournemouth’s favour after Milan goalkeeper and captain Mike Maignan was sent off early for a foul on Tyler Adams.

Milan, described by Channels Television as one of Europe’s leading clubs, was unable to recover after losing its goalkeeper. Justin Kluivert converted Bournemouth’s first-half penalty before Marcus Tavernier scored from another spot-kick. The two goals put the hosts in control before Amine Adli added a third in the 84th minute with what the broadcaster described as a sublime free-kick.

Bournemouth had already opened the campaign with an away win at Real Sociedad and followed that by beating Sturm Graz 3-0 at home. The victory over Milan therefore extended a run in which the club has scored three goals in each of its first three group-stage matches. The result was part of a night in which several clubs strengthened their positions.

Bayer Leverkusen also made it three wins from three, with Jonas Hofmann scoring twice in a 2-0 away victory at OFI Crete. Ferencvaros kept pace with Leverkusen after a 4-1 win over Portuguese side Torreense. Union Saint-Gilloise defeated Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva 4-0.

Channels Television said Saint-Gilloise, Sunderland and Juventus all had seven points from three matches, while Leverkusen and Ferencvaros remained on nine. Juventus were held by Rennes after a late goal was ruled out for marginal offside. Zeki Celik put Juventus ahead after five minutes, but Musa Al-Taamari equalised after a poor clearance.

Boulaye Dia then gave Rennes the lead before Juventus levelled from a handball penalty converted by Nick Woltemade. Sunderland drew 1-1 at Lech Poznan after taking the lead through Timur Tutierov in the second minute. The broadcaster said Sunderland dominated much of the game but could not secure the win, although two remaining home matches left its prospects of reaching the next round open.

Elsewhere, Marseille lost 1-0 to Sturm Graz and Lyon were beaten 3-0 by Hoffenheim. Crystal Palace drew 2-2 with Besiktas in Istanbul, while Celtic suffered a third straight defeat, losing 2-1 to Celta Vigo. In the Conference League, former Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah scored a penalty in Trabzonspor’s 2-0 win over Hearts.

Brighton drew 0-0 at Jablonec, Monaco defeated Freiburg 3-0 and Ajax beat Atalanta 2-0.