Associated Press

Tottenham marked its return to European competition after a year-long absence by overcoming an early red card to beat Qarabag 3-0 in the new-look Europa League on Thursday.

Defender Radu Dragusin was sent off in the eighth minute for bringing down Juninho to prevent the striker from going solo on goal. But just four minutes later the hosts took the lead.

Brennan Johnson’s angled shot was his third goal in three games. Pape Sarr doubled the lead early in the second half with a corner and Dominic Solanke finished with a rebound in the 68th minute.

“The red card wasn’t ideal, we started really sloppy but the reaction after that was good,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou told TNT Sports. “We also wanted to press hard with ten men.”

Johnson also scored in a 3-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League and three days earlier scored the injury-time winner in a 2-1 win over second division Coventry in the English League Cup.

Tural Bayramov missed a golden opportunity to score from the penalty spot as the visitors from Azerbaijan trailed 2-0.

Due to travel disruptions, the game had to start 35 minutes late.

Roma loses the lead

Roma allowed a late goal and settled for a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao after the Italian club’s recent turmoil and sacking of coach Daniele De Rossi.

Aitor Paredes headed the equalizer in the 85th minute, canceling out Artem Dovbyk’s first-half goal.

Roma beat Udinese 3-0 in Serie A on Sunday in their first game under new coach Ivan Jurić.

Bilbao winger Nico Williams was substituted for the final 30 minutes in his return from an ankle injury.

Ajax cleans up

Mika Godts scored two goals, Kian Fitz-Jim and Kenneth Taylor added one each for Ajax in a 4-0 win over Besiktas.

Czech side Viktoria Plzeň scored two late goals from Prince Adu and Vaclav Jemelka to hold leaders Eintracht Frankfurt to a 3-3 draw.

Frankfurt, the 2022 Europa League winner, led 3-1 with goals from Hugo Ekitike, junior substitute Dina Ebimbe and defender Rasmus Kristensen.

Olympiacos, last year’s Conference League champions, began with a 2-0 defeat to Lyon in France thanks to goals from Rayan Cherki and Said Benrahma.

Braga gathered all its strength and defeated the nine-man team Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1. Romania’s FCSB defeated Latvia’s RFS 4-1 in Bucharest.

Fenerbahce and Rangers score early wins

Fenerbahce opened the competition with a 2-1 home win over Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, with both teams finishing the game with 10 men.

Defender Çağlar Söyüncü opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho’s side in the 26th minute with a half-volley from close range, and in the 82nd minute an own goal from Christian Burgess made it 2-0 for Fenerbahce. Ross Sykes scored a goal for the visitors in stoppage time.

Union defender Kevin Mac Allister received a red card in the 74th minute and Fenerbahce substitute Bright Osayi-Samuel was sent off in the final minute.

Last season, Fenerbahce eliminated Union in the round of 16 of the third-tier Conference League.

Europe’s second division is familiar territory for Mourinho, who led Manchester United to the title in 2017. He took over the job at Fenerbahce in the off-season. Under Mourinho’s leadership, Roma lost the 2023 final to Sevilla on penalties.

In another early game, Rangers won 2-0 in Malmo.

The losing finalist of the 2022 Europa League wasted no time. Nedim Bajrami scored a goal in the first minute. Ross McCausland scored a goal in the second half.

The Rangers lost to Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 final. The German club will be in action later on Thursday, hosting Czech team Viktoria Plzeň.

As in the Champions League, the traditional group phase in the Europa League has been replaced by an expanded league phase in which all 36 teams compete against each other in a single classification.

Each Europa League team will play eight games against eight different opponents until January 30th.

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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer