Arsenal secured safe passage to the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League as Group A winners after a 1-0 victory over FC Zürich. A 12th consecutive victory at the Emirates Stadium equals their best win streak on home soil since 2009.Defeat in Eindhoven on matchday five meant victory was imperative for the Gunners, needing to win the group to avoid a daunting play-off with sides dropping down from the Champions League. Despite a strong start from the visitors, Mikel Arteta’s men would take the lead through an unlikely source, as Kieran Tierney netted his first goal of the season. The Scottish international showed tremendous technique to strike a bouncing ball into the bottom corner after Zürich had failed to clear their lines.Arteta was clearly not content despite his side being a goal to the good, with the Swiss champions’ endeavour making them a constant threat, albeit with very little to test Aaron Ramsdale. Arsenal remained the more threatening side, with both Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus brilliantly denied by Yanick Brecher either side of the interval.EUROPA LEAGUE: Man United win but stay second in their group, Ronaldo misfires but assistsArsenal introduced Bukayo Saka and Thomas Partey on the hour mark to try and put the game to bed, but found themselves on the end of a real scare at the other end. Antonio Marchesano’s driven shot was well kept out by Ramsdale, who was beaten by the rebound but the offside flag came to the Gunners’ rescue.With PSV comfortably ahead in Norway, it was a nervy final few minutes for Arsenal as they held off the resilient visitors to ensure they finished top of the group. Despite a spirited display, Zürich’s miserable season continued, exiting Europe while sitting bottom of the Swiss Super League.Elsewhere, Roma made hard work of it, but the Italian side qualified to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League, thanks to a 3-1 victory over Ludogorets.Requiring no less than a win to survive the group stage, Roma were by far the strongest side in the opening exchanges, but missed several gilt-edged chances to take the lead. Contrastingly, Ludogorets didn’t offer much throughout the first half, but they made the Romans pay dearly for their earlier misses just before halftime. Rick collected the ball inside his own half, and the Brazilian ran more than half the length of the pitch before unleashing a bullet driven shot into the bottom corner of the net, to completely stun the Stadio Olimpico, as he celebrated towards the corner flag, almost replicating a scene from Gladiator.🗣️ 𝐆⚽𝐋 𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐎𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒‼️👤 Rick ⏱️41’🇮🇹 Roma 0️⃣🆚1️⃣ Ludogorets 🇧🇬#EuropaLeague 🏆 #UELpic.twitter.com/Q5cwaRCHTJ— El Forastero (@ElForadeportivo) November 3, 2022 ‘Are you not entertained?’ was Rick’s battle cry, as the euphoria of Ludogorets’ shock lead kicked in. But Roma responded 10 minutes into the second period, when Lorenzo Pellegrini was given the chance to equalise from the penalty spot, and he emphatically put it away to kickstart La Lupa’s comeback mission. The relentless attacks from the home side did not stop after the equaliser, and halftime sub Nicolò Zaniolo was proving too hot to handle for the Ludogorets defence. The Italian duly won a second penalty less than ten minutes later, and captain Pellegrini stepped up to dispatch his second spot kick of the evening, sending Sergio Padt the wrong way again.Now needing to come out and find an equaliser, Ludogorets started creating threatening opportunities and thought they had found a precious, life-saving leveller in the 77th minute. A deflected shot fell into the path of Nonato, and he poked the ball in from close range, but his effort was controversially ruled out for a foul in the build-up after a VAR review. It was a huge let off for José Mourinho’s men, while Ludogorets’ former sense of composure disintegrated.Arsenal, Juventus, United, Barça, Ajax and Roma are all in the Europa League 😮Thursday nights are about to be a movie 🍿 pic.twitter.com/1Xe7BTDPSj— Ndubueze Prince Chiagoziem (@NdubuezePrince5) November 3, 2022 As the away side committed more men forward it left them open at the back and danger-man Zaniolo made them pay adding a late third, wrapping up Roma’s passage into the knockout stages. The misery didn’t stop there for Ludogorets, as Olivier Verdon was sent off for a stamp in the 90th minute. With Mourinho negotiating yet another crucial mind game on the continent, Roma will meet one of the Champions League’s third-place drop outs in the UEL’s knockout playoff round, while Ludogorets drop into the Conference League.EUROPA LEAGUEGroup stage – Round 6ThursdayMonaco – Crvena Zvezda 4-1 (2-0)/Volland 5, 27, 87, Rodic 50 og – Kanga 54 pen/Sociedad – Man.Utd. 0-1 (0-1)/Garnacho 17/Sheriff Tiraspol – Omonia 1-0 (0-0)/Akanbi 88/Feyenoord – Lazio 1-0 (0-0)/Gimenez 64/Midtjylland – Sturm 2-0 (1-0)/Dreyer 15, 72/Olympiakos – Nantes 0-2 (0-0)/Mostafa Mohamed 79, Blas 90/Qarabag – Freiburg 1-1 (0-1)/Owusu 90+2 – Petersen 25 pen/Trabzon – Ferencvaros 1-0 (1-0)/Bakasetas 7/Arsenal – Zurich 1-0 (1-0)/Tierney 17/Bodo – PSV 1-2 (0-1)/Zugelj 90+3 – Sampsted 36 og, Bakayoko 52/Dynamo Kyiv – Fenerbahce 0-2 (0-2)/Guler 23, Arao 45+2/Rennes – AEK Larnaca 1-1 (1-0)/Abline 17 – Rafa Lopes 76/Roma – Ludogorets 3-1 (0-1)/Pellegrini 55 pen, 65 pen, Zaniolo 85 – Rick 42/Betis – Helsinki 3-0 (2-0)/Ruibal 20, 41, Fekir 90+3/Braga – Malmo 2-1 (1-0)/Horta 36, Djalo 55 – Sejdiu 77/St.Gilloise – Union Berlin 0-1 (0-1)/Michel 6/©FlashScore
