Jonatan Soriano’s love affair with the Europa League continued as last season’s top scorer grabbed a hat-trick on Thursday to help Salzburg become one of four teams to reach the knockout stages.
Soriano, one of the hottest goal scoring properties in Europe, took his season’s tally to 21 in 17 Europa League and Austrian Bundesliga games after a 5-1 win at Dinamo Zagreb that put Salzburg top of the pile in Group D.
Dynamo Moscow, Fiorentina and Legia Warsaw can also enjoy the final two rounds of group matches safe in the knowledge their berths in the last 32 are assured.
The Russian side kept up their perfect record with a 1-0 win over Estoril in Group E, as did Legia who beat Metalist Kharkiv 2-1 in Group L.
Fiorentina, who had also won their opening three games, progressed despite being held to a 1-1 draw by PAOK Salonika.
Austrian champions Salzburg were one of a number of sides who went into the fourth round of matches knowing victory could put them through and they had the goal scoring prowess of Soriano to thank for settling the issue.
The 29-year-old Spaniard, who hit eight goals in last season’s competition, moved on to five this term while strikes from Kevin Kampl and Massimo Bruno handed Salzburg their biggest away win in European competition.
Thick fogCeltic’s Group D clash with FC Astra in Romania looked in danger of being called off as thick fog enveloped the stadium.
The match went ahead though and the Scottish outfit missed out on a guaranteed place in the next stage of the competition after conceding a late equaliser to draw 1-1 in their 300th European game.
Celtic, who have eight points and are two behind group leaders Salzburg, could still be caught by third-placed Dinamo (three).
It was a similar story for Inter Milan. Dodo’s first-half effort for Inter was cancelled out by a goal from Moustapha Bayal Sall as their two teams drew 1-1 while Dnipro won 2-1 against their Azerbaijani opponents to leave all four teams in Group F with a chance of advancing.
It was a good night for English sides Tottenham Hotspur and Everton as both teams moved to the brink of qualification.
Spurs came through a nervy finale to beat Asteras Tripolis 2-1 in Group C thanks to an Andros Townsend penalty and a Harry Kane header.
Everton cruised to a 3-0 home win over Lille in Group H with goals from Leon Osman, Phil Jagielka and Steven Naismith.
FC Zurich triumphed 3-2 in an extraordinary game against Villarreal in Group A where all five goals were scored in a 10-minute spell in the first half.
