Europa League: Leverkusen fall to Villarreal; Shakhtar top Anderlecht
Cedric Bakambu scored in either half to give Villarreal a 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen and leave them in charge of their Europa League last-16 tie.
The forward broke the deadlock four minutes in and doubled the Yellow Submarine's advantage nine minutes after the restart to ensure they secured a healthy lead ahead of the return leg in Germany in seven days' time.
And Leverkusen will be without Tin Jedvaj for that contest after he was dismissed for two yellow cards, the second coming in the penultimate minute of stoppage time for a deliberate handball.
The hosts came into this contest having lost at home to Las Palmas in the league at the weekend, their first defeat in 11 fixtures, but they attacked from the off in this contest and were soon rewarded.
Ex-Tottenham forward Roberto Soldado should have made the breakthrough with a double chance that came his way after great work by Mario Gaspar.
The full-back somehow squeezed his way between two players near the byline and pulled the ball back for Soldado, who mis-hit his first shot but saw the ball come back to him when Bernd Leno punched it in his direction, yet his second attempt was driven wide.
He quickly redeemed himself, though, collecting Kyriakos Papadopoulos' poor header out and hooking it over the top for Bakambu and he let the ball drop into his path before slotting it between Leno's legs.
Apart from a Javier Hernandez header straight at Alphonse Areola, Leverkusen did not threaten and Soldado had opportunities to make it 2-0 break the break, volleying one chance over and flicking another near-post attempt into Leno's body.
Villarreal would get a second goal early in the second half as Bakambu, who had not scored in 11 games before this contest, found the net again.
Leverkusen were slow getting back from a corner and were caught out when Denis Suarez won a challenge inside his own half, with the ball spinning through for the pacey Bakambu to pick up over halfway.
The 24-year-old raced through on goal and repeated his trick of firing through Leno's legs, although the goalkeeper will have been more disappointed to see this one go past him.
He did prevent it becoming 3-0 late on by pushing substitute Leo Baptistao's header over the crossbar, but was fortunate he was not caught out when flapping at the resulting corner.
Leverkusen then lost Jedvaj to a red card when he followed up a first caution for tripping Samu Castillejo with another booking for preventing an Adrian pass going through by foolishly moving his left arm in front of the ball.
Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 Anderlecht
Shakhtar Donetsk kept their Europa League dreams alive with a 3-1 win over Anderlecht in the last-16 clash on Thursday evening.
First-half goals from Taison and Oleksandr Kucher gave the home side the edge in the first leg at the Arena Lviv.
Anderlecht fought back in the second half, Frank Acheampong pulling a goal back, but Eduardo Da Silva sealed the win.
Shakhtar scored two goals in three first-half minutes, Taison getting the opener after Anderlecht failed to clear the ball and he found the left corner of the net.
The home side doubled their lead when Kucher got on the end of Darijo Srna's cross.
Anderlecht picked up the pace in the second half and got an important away goal.
Coach Besnik Hasi brought Ibrahima Conte on and he was immediately thrust into the action, getting down the right wing before crossing to Acheampong, who was on hand to bundle the ball in the back of the net from a few yards out.
The game became more frenzied but Da Silva struck decisively with 10 minutes to go. His powerful header was too much for Anderlecht goalkeeper Silvio Proto, who could not react in time.
Anderlecht thought they had got one back with three minutes to go but referee Artur Soraes Dias ruled it out and booked defender Kara Mbodji for handling the ball into the net.
Fenerbahce 1-0 Braga
Mehmet Topal's strike eight minutes from time gave Fenerbahce a slender first-leg lead in their Europa League last-16 tie with Braga.
The midfielder, who only scored his first goal of the season in the previous round against Lokomotiv Moscow two weeks earlier, slotted home late on to give the Turkish side a 1-0 victory on home soil.
Topal's team-mate Robin van Persie had seen a goal chalked off for offside during a second half that Fener controlled after Braga spent much of the first 45 minutes on top.
The Portuguese outfit were forced into a defensive reshuffle early on when Ricardo Ferreira came off with an injury, yet they still were the most threatening side before the break.
Ahmed Hassan saw an attempt saved by Volkan Demirel and Andre Pinto almost reached an enticing cross from Wilson Eduardo as the visitors pushed for an away goal.
There were 38 minutes on the clock before Fener had even registered their first attempt on goal as Van Persie got a slight touch on a Volkan Sen cross that goalkeeper Matheus had to turn away with his left hand.
Hassan reached a similar delivery from Nikola Vukcevic at the other end and got a better connection on it only to prod the ball wide ahead of the half-time whistle.
It looked like being another frustrating night for Van Persie in a Fener shirt as he saw a goal ruled out for offside nine minutes after the break.
The former Manchester United striker, 32, has experienced a difficult transition in Turkey, scoring just 10 times all year, and he felt aggrieved to be denied an 11th because of an offside flag when Baiano seemed to play him onside as he found the net.
Van Persie was booked for diving moments later to compound his misery but the hosts, who threw on Nani and ex-Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles, eventually found a way through.
A loose pass from Luiz Carlos came to Topal near the halfway line and he strode forward, with nobody in a Braga shirt willing to close him down, before stroking a left-footed attempt into the corner of the net to consign the visitors to just their second loss of the season in this competition.
Basel 0-0 Sevilla
Holders Sevilla had Steven Nzonzi sent off as they played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie with Basel at St Jakob Park.
Nzonzi, the former Blackburn and Stoke midfielder, was dismissed three minutes from time for a second bookable offense, forcing the Spanish side to settle for 0-0.
The sending off occurred just as Sevilla, after a dull first half, had upped the tempo in search of a winner and forced Basel goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik into some good saves.
Basel lacked dynamism throughout but did spurn some good chances, including one early on when Marc Janko headed wide from a well-weighted Renato Steffen cross.
Nzonzi then failed to hit the target with a header at the other end after Coke volleyed across the area.
Birkir Bjarnason got into a threatening position for Basel after Taulant Xhaka lifted a ball over the defense but he failed to control and the chance was lost.
Sevilla finished the half the stronger but did not test Vaclik. Coke volleyed over and then had another effort blocked after a clever low free-kick by Ever Banega. Nzonzi headed wide for a second time just before the break.
The hosts started the second period more positively and Bjarnason passed up another opening when he blasted over after a Steffen shot was blocked and rebounded kindly.
Bjarnason then turned provider with a good low ball from the right but Adama Traore could not make clean contact in front of goal.
Sevilla went close on the hour as Nzonzi showed good control to take down a Banega ball but Vaclik rushed off his line to block. Vaclik was in action again soon after to turn away a shot from Kevin Gameiro and then smother a strike from Yevhen Konoplyanka.
Sevilla finished with 10 men after Nzonzi, harshly booked for clipping Steffen earlier, was shown a second yellow card for catching Bjarnason high with his arm.
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Valencia
Raul Garcia's first-half header gave Athletic Bilbao a 1-0 win in a near farcical first leg of their all-Spanish Europa League last-16 tie against Valencia.
Torrential rain rendered the pitch at the Estadio de San Mames almost unplayable but the game went ahead and Garcia's fine glancing effort after 20 minutes gave the Basque side the advantage.
It was the least the hosts deserved for coping superbly with a saturated and muddy surface, creating the better chances throughout and ensuring Valencia's Mat Ryan was by far the busier goalkeeper.
The ball frequently held up in water and there may even have been some doubt over whether the game could be completed, but ultimately both sides may have been pleased with the final outcome.
