The first day of Europa League play brought quite a few goals and three red cards as tensions were high. The early games saw Arsenal win with ease over FC Zurich as Marquinhos scored and assisted a goal in his debut for the club. Jose Mourinho wasn't so lucky as Ludogorets broke an 18-game losing streak in Europa League play with a 2-1 victory over Roma. An 88th-minute winner from Nonato was what sent the Bulgarian club ahead as Roma have now lost two consecutive matches.
The late matches saw Cristiano Ronaldo start as Manchester United struggled, losing 1-0 to Real Sociedad. It was a game decided by a referring decision as Lisandro Martinez was judged to have handled the ball. A shot rolled up his leg and hit his tucked-in arm, resulting a penalty, and then Brias Mendez buried his chance from the spot. Manchester United were unable to get their attack going against the Real Sociedad defense, so the one goal was all that it took.
Here's what to know:
Results
Lazio 4, Feyenoord 2
Real Sociedad 1, Manchester United 0
Monaco 1, Red Star 0
Ferencvaros 3, Trabzonspor 2
Sherriff 3, Omonia 0
SK Sturm Graz 1, Midtjylland 0
Nantes 2, Olympiacos 1
PSV 1, Bodo/ Glimt 1
Arsenal 2 , FC Zurich 1
Fenerbahce 2, Dynamo Kyiv 1
Ludogorets 2, Roma 1
Rennes 2, AEK Larnaca 1
Braga 2, Malmo 0
Real Betis 2, HJK 0
Union Saint-Gilloise 1, Union Berlin 0
Here are a few takeaways from Thursday's action:
Handballs are the difference for Manchester United
With Ronaldo and Casemiro starting for Manchester United, the team couldn't get past Real Sociedad's compact defense. Erik ten Hag made a double change at half withdrawing Diogo Dalot and Christian Eriksen for Bruno Fernandes and Lisandro Martinez, but that couldn't get the team going. In fact, only 14 minutes later, Martinez conceded a dubious handball after a David Silva shot. The penalty was confirmed after a VAR review, but at least based on Premier League judgment this season, it wouldn't have stood.
While it was up to United to turn their 15 shots into more than an xG of 0.87, it was a match where they likely deserved to leave with a point. After the progression that the team has shown this season, this was a match that put how fragile their depth is on display.
Welcome to Arsenal, Marquinhos
It's another match where Arsenal had to show resilience, as Zurich scored before halftime after Eddie Nketiah conceded a penalty. His growth showed as instead of dwelling on it, Nketiah scored the winner from a Marquinhos assist. On his first start for Arsenal, the Brazillian scored a goal and assisted another while creating four chances in an exciting display. At 19, it will be tough for Marquinhos to nail down a starting spot ahead of Bukayo Saka, but as Europa League is for Mikel Arteta to test his depth options, Marquinhos shined.
Fabio Vieira also got his first start for the club and looked like he belonged in the Martin Odegaard role. Arteta can be impressed with the poise from his backup attackers in Zurich but defensively, the team left much to be desired as Matt Turner was shaky in net with an error leading to a shot and only Takehiro Tomiyasu won more than one tackle.
What's going on with Roma?
Fresh off of a humbling 4-0 loss to Udinese, it couldn't get worse for Roma as they went to face a Ludogorets side that had lost 18 consecutive Europa League fixtures, right? Well, that's what we thought at least. After almost falling behind early in the match, Roma struggled to get the ball past Sergio Padt in net for the Bulgarian side. It was scoreless at the half until Cauly opened the scoring in the 72nd minute. Roma would get one back as the team opened up the attack via Eldor Shomurodov but that didn't last long.
Nonato, who joined Ludogorets from Internacional only six days ago, would score the decisive goal in the 88th minute. It is one of the biggest goals in the club's history as they start the Europa League group stage with an all-important three points. With HJK and Real Betis as the other teams in the group, there is a real chance that Ludogorets could advance to the knockout stages with this result behind them, which would be quite a boost for them and the First Professional Football League in Bulgaria.
Moments of silence in remembrance of Queen Elizabeth II
As Arsenal and Manchester United couldn't postpone their matches due to timing, moments of silence were observed to pay tribute after Queen Elizabeth II passed away on Thursday at the age of 96. Arsenal and Zurich observed theirs at the start of the second half while Manchester United observed theirs at the start of their match.
Here's how it looked during the Arsenal game:
Here is Old Trafford: