Despite coming into the match on the back of their first consecutive wins of the season, Lazio couldn’t avoid an extraordinary upset at the hands of FC Midtjylland, who registered their first-ever win against an Italian opponent with a brave 5-1 victory in the UEFA Europa League.Having started their second successive UEL campaign with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to SK Sturm Graz, Midtjylland began surprisingly comfortably in the face of a stern Lazio, who arrived in Denmark in search of a maiden away victory this season. The hosts kept the Biancocelesti at bay for the majority of the opening half, before capitalising with a pair of goals at the other end in the space of a few minutes. Much to the elation of the home crowd, Paulinho struck first blood by striking a low drive past Ivan Provedel following an inch-perfect pass in the box, before Sory Kaba took full advantage of an unfortunate slip by new Lazio signing Mario Gila to drill the ball into the back of the net.Then arrived a flurry of exceptional saves by the two guardians between the posts, with Provedel first thwarting Henrik Dalsgaard’s headed effort towards the underside of the crossbar. The Italian’s praiseworthy save was matched by Midtjylland keeper Jonas Lössl, whose lightning reaction to Pedro’s left-footed effort left the entire stadium gasping. With the scoreline in his team’s favour, Albert Capellas went into the break certainly confident of garnering a first home win this season.Six minutes is all it took for Midtjylland to add to their lead once the match restarted. A gentle foul in the box by Danilo Cataldi prompted referee Nikola Dabanović to point to the penalty spot without hesitation, after which Evander made no mistake and lodged the ball into the bottom left corner. However, that goal was immediately cancelled by substitute Sergej Milinković-Savić before the hour mark, as his shot from outside the box was completely misjudged by Lössl due to a deflection despite him getting a hand on it.Having conceded four on each occasion an Italian team has visited the MCH Arena, Midtjylland went against the odds to register an astonishing fourth following yet another penalty call after Adam Marušić brought Gustav Isaksen down. Evander once again stepped up, only to see his shot brilliantly saved by Provedel, but the penalty-winning Dane was present at the right time to send the rebound in. Shortly after, Erik Sviatchenko found himself on the end of Evander’s accurate cross towards the far post, deftly sliding it in to make it 5-1. The manner of the victory – one of their greatest ever European results – leaves the Ulvene high on morale as they seek to carry the momentum. Meanwhile, Maurizio Sarri will have a lot to ponder before resuming Lazio’s domestic season against Cremonese.Elsewhere, Arne Slot’s Feyenoord hit a sensational six goals at De Kuip against Sturm Graz, in the pair’s first meeting since a UEFA Champions League qualifying match 22 years ago.Much to the dismay of the travelling Austrian supporters, a woeful first-half showing from Sturm saw the visitors ship four goals inside the opening 45 minutes. It started when a well-worked free-kick saw Orkun Kökçü’s defence-splitting pass slip Alireza Jahanbakhsh in on goal, with the Iranian international tucking home at the near post.With the feel for things, a Feyenoord side looking to avenge last week’s defeat by Lazio began tormenting the Sturm backline. Oussama Idrissi found teammate Dávid Hancko with an intricate backheel, before the Slovak defender nestled home a second goal on the half-hour mark.Remarkably, another Idrissi backheel was involved in the home side’s third, this time finding Marcos López, who squared the ball to Danilo Pereira for a simple tap-in. Already in control, a deflected Jahanbakhsh strike ensured Feyenoord entered the break with an unassailable four-goal advantage.Not that they needed to extend their lead after the interval, a ruthless Feyenoord side continued to press forward, with a fifth goal eventually arriving via Santiago Giménez. Netting his fourth goal in five matches, all of them arriving as a substitute, the 21-year-old was left unmarked inside the penalty area to power home a close-range header. An already scintillating performance was capped off late on, when the ever-dangerous Idrissi took aim from 22-yards-out, drilling his right-footed strike into the bottom corner.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUEThursdaySociedad – Omonia 2-1 (1-0)/Guevara 30, Sorloth 82 – Bruno 72/Sheriff Tiraspol – Man.Utd. 0-2 (0-2)/Sancho 17, Ronaldo 39 pen/Feyenoord – Sturm 6-0 (4-0)/Jahanbakhsh 9, 41, Hancko 31, Danilo 34, Gimenez 66, Idrissi 78/Midtjylland – Lazio 5-1 (2-0)/Paulinho 26, Kaba 30, Evander 52 pen, Isaksen 67, Sviatchenko 72 – Milinkovic-Savic 57/Olympiakos – Freiburg 0-3 (0-2)/Hofler 5, Gregoritsch 25, 53/Qarabag – Nantes 3-0 (0-0)/Owusu 60, Zoubir 65, Jankovic 72/Monaco – Ferencvaros 0-1 (0-0)/Vecsei 80/Trabzon – Crvena Zvezda 2-1 (1-0)/Hamsik 16, Trezeguet 68 – Nikolic 89/22.00: (1.58) Bodo (4.00) Zurich (6.00)22.00: (1.80) Dynamo Kyiv (3.60) AEK Larnaca (5.10)22.00: (1.87) Rennes (3.70) Fenerbahce (4.50)22.00: (1.15) Roma (9.00) Helsinki (22.0)22.00: (1.38) Betis (4.90) Ludogorets (10.0)22.00: (2.25) Braga (3.35) Union Berlin (3.50)22.00: (1.65) St.Gilloise (3.80) Malmo (6.25)***odds are subject to change©FlashScore
