PARIS: From savior to scapegoat in 10 nerve-shredding minutes, Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang went through the full range of emotions as his team was knocked out of the Europa League in agonising fashion on Thursday.

On a night when Portuguese sides Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon were all eliminated and one of the country’s recent exports — Bruno Fernandes — led Manchester United’s progress to the last 16, the biggest drama happened at Emirates Stadium and Aubameyang was at the centre of it.

Arsenal had beaten Olympiakos Piraeus 1-0 in the first leg and appeared to have done enough to squeeze through when the Gabon striker scored a fabulous scissor-kick in the 113th minute to cancel out Pape Cisse’s 53rd-minute header which levelled the tie on aggregate.

When Youssef El Arabi prodded home a speculative cross in the 119th, Olympiakos led on away goals but there was still time for one last chance for Arsenal, and it fell to their most lethal striker in the third and final minute of stoppage time.

This time, though, Aubameyang somehow managed to shoot wide from a central position at the edge of the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy.

Aubameyang fell to his knees and covered his face with his hands, having not long earlier been mobbed by his jubilant team-mates after his acrobatic goal.

“I feel very, very bad, he said. “It can happen but I do not know how I missed this chance. I was tired, I had some cramps but it is not an excuse.”

England will have to be content with two teams in the last 16, led by United and their new star signing Fernandes.

Fernandes, the Portugal playmaker, continues to prove that the 80 million euros ($88 million) he might end up costing United should be money well spent.

He stroked home a penalty following his signature skipping run-up, then had a hand in United’s two other first-half goals in a 5-0 win over 10-man Club Brugge. Fernandes had already left the field at Old Trafford, to another huge ovation, by the time Fred added the fourth and fifth goals to complete a 6-1 aggregate win.

Fernandes had made a seamless transition to the Premier League following his January move from Sporting, scoring and assisting in United’s win over Watford at the weekend.

Brugge was the architect of their downfall, with defender Simon Deli getting red-carded for handling a shot with a goalkeeper-like save to hand Fernandes his penalty chance in the 27th minute. Odion Ighalo scored his first goal for United to make it 2-0 before Scott McTominay added the third with a fine first-time shot from 18 metres just before the break.

Wolverhampton Wand­erers are the second English team through, beating Espanyol 6-3 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 3-2 in Spain.

Wolves took a 4-0 first-leg lead to Espanyol and never looked in danger as Adama Traore scrambled in a close-range effort and Matt Doherty also scored as they twice cancelled out goals from Jonathan Calleri who scored a hat-trick.

While Fernandes enchanted United fans at Old Trafford, there wasn’t a single supporter inside San Siro to see Inter Milan advance to the last 16.

Inter beat Ludogorets Razgrad 2-1 in an empty stadium as a precaution because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy. The voices of the players could be heard clearly in a game that saw Inter score through Cristiano Biraghi and Romelu Lukaku and progress 4-1 on aggregate.

Ludogorets’ players arrived at Milans Malpensa airport on Wednesday wearing protective face masks and gloves. Most wore the protective gear as they entered the stadium on Thursday, too.

AS Roma, 1-0 winners against Gent in the first leg, looked to face a struggle when Jonathan David levelled the tie on aggregate after 25 minutes but Justin Kluivert eased the Serie A side’s nerves with a quick equaliser as they progressed.

PORTUGUESE EXODUS

There are no Portuguese teams left in either the Europa League or Champions League this season.

It’s the first time since the introduction of the current competition format in 2003-04 that Portugal has failed to be represented in the last 16 of either competition.

Benfica led the Portuguese exodus, drawing 3-3 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk to go out 5-4 on aggregate.

Bayer Leverkusen blew Porto away with a 3-1 win on the road, after taking a 2-1 lead in Germany last week, thanks to goals from Lucas Alario, Kerem Demirbay and Kai Havertz before Moussa Marega netted a consolation for the home side.

Sporting exited after losing 4-1 at Istanbul Basaksehir following extra time to go down 5-4 on aggregate after Edin Visca gave the hosts a lifeline with a late goal in normal time and then netted a penalty to take them through.

Ajax, Champions League semi-finalists last season, are out of Europe altogether before the end of February this time despite beating Getafe 2-1.

Ajax kicked off two goals down to Getafe, this season’s Liga surprise team, and conceded another after five minutes. Jaime Mata exploited tentative Ajax defending to spin and drill in a low shot from close range.

That left the home needed needing to score four, they managed two, the first from young Brazilian Danilo Pereira, with his first for the club, and an own goal when Mathias Olivera deflected a free kick. Getafe held on comfortably.

Celtic could not capitalise on a 1-1 first-leg draw at FC Copenhagen as they suffered a 3-1 home defeat. Copenhagen scored three goals on three shots, but deserved the victory.

Jozo Simunovic’s weak back pass gave Copenhagen the ball close to goal after 51 minutes and Micheal Santos completed the punishment.

With seven minutes left, Odsonne Edouard levelled with a penalty but as Celtic tried to press, their defence panicked twice in the last five minutes. Pep Biel and Dame N’Doye coolly accepted the gifts to make the aggregate score 4-2.

Sevilla, winners of Europe’s second-tier competition five times in the last 14 years, are making another run at the trophy, advancing on away goals — 1-1 on aggregate — after a 0-0 draw with CFR Cluj.

Vfl Wolfsburg beat Swedish side Malmo 3-0 away to breeze through 5-1 on aggregate and FC Basel also advanced with a 1-0 home win over APOEL Nicosia for a 4-0 aggregate success.

LASK Linz were surprise 3-1 overall winners against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar after a Marko Raguz double helped the Austrians to a 2-0 victory.

The game between FC Salzburg and Eintracht Frankfurt was postponed because of a forecast of dangerously high winds and will be played on Friday.

Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2020