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LONDON, England (AP):
Manchester United and Tottenham put their inconsistent domestic campaigns aside and advanced to the Europa League round of 16 yesterday.
Diogo Dalot tapped in a precise cross by Kobbie Mainoo on the hour mark, and Mainoo netted eight minutes later for a 2-0 victory over Romanian champion FCSB in Bucharest.
Tottenham got goals from academy graduates to beat Swedish club Elfsborg 3-0 in London. Spurs waited until the 70th minute for substitute Dane Scarlett to break the deadlock before adding two more through substitute Damola Ajayi and 17-year-old Mikey Moore.
Of the 36 teams in the revamped competition, the top eight go directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into the two-legged knockout playoffs on February 13 and February 20, with the winners making the last 16.
The draw is scheduled for today.
United, who are 12th in the Premier League, competed the league phase of the second-tier European competition in third place and undefeated with five wins and three draws, trailing the top by one point.
“Kobbie (Mainoo) played very well in that position, with more freedom and not so much responsibility running back all the time,” United manager Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports. “The lads did a good job, another clean sheet.”
Amorim’s squad has shown signs of improvement since he said the team was “the worst, maybe, in the history of Manchester United.”
Yesterday’s victory was the third straight in one week after beating Rangers in the Europa League a week ago and Fulham in the Premier League three days later.
Tottenham are languishing in 15th place in the Premier League. Their seven-match winless run in the league is their worst since 2008. But they won five, drew two, and lost one for the fourth place in the Europa League.
Lazio, the only team that qualified to the round of 16 with a game to spare, were handed their first defeat, 1-0, away at Braga. Still, the Portuguese team was eliminated.
Lazio still topped the standings with 19 points, the same as the second, Athletic Bilbao.
Bilbao secured the second place after a 3-1 home win over 10-man Viktoria Plzen.
Frankfurt completed the league phase in fifth despite a 2-0 loss at Roma. Angeliño and Eldor Shomurodov lifted Roma with the goals at Stadio Olimpico.
Lyon were sixth despite being held 1-1 at home by Ludogorets.
Olympiacos are seventh after routing Qarabag 3-0.
Rangers squeezed in to complete the top eight by beating Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1.
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