Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (C) of Arsenal celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the Europa League match between Arsenal and Benfica in Athens, Greece, February 25, 2021. /CFP
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice, including a late winner, as Arsenal qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday with a 3-2 victory over Benfica in Greece, while Manchester United and Rangers cruised through to the next round.
The Gabon striker put Arsenal ahead at the Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus in their home leg of a tie relocated due to COVID-19 travel restrictions between Portugal and UK.
Diogo Goncalves levelled the contest with a magnificent free-kick and Rafa Silva gave Benfica a 2-1 lead on the night when he took advantage of an error from Dani Ceballos on the hour.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (C) scores the first goal for Arsenal during their Europa League match with Benfica in Athens, Greece, February 25, 2021. /CFP
Kieran Tierney rifled in an equalizer and Aubameyang headed in the decisive goal from Bukayo Saka's cross on the 87th minute, earning the Gunners a 4-3 aggregate victory and saving them from an unusual away-goals exit following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Rome.
"Everyone is happy tonight. This is what gives me power every day, take errors from the past and transform to strength," Aubameyang told BT Sport.
"The team showed a lot of character and we deserved the win. It was a hard game. What we showed tonight will be an example for the future."
Real Sociedad's Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi (C) beats Manchester United's French striker Anthony Martial (L) to a cross during their Europa League match at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, February 25, 2021. /CFP
United cemented their place in Friday's draw with a 0-0 draw at home to Real Sociedad, having effectively clinched the tie last week with an emphatic 4-0 win on neutral ground in Italy.
Mikel Oyarzabal's awful penalty miss represented the best chance at Old Trafford for La Real, while Bruno Fernandes rattled the crossbar and Axel Tuanzebe's header was disallowed for a foul.
Lukas Provod (R) celebrates after scoring the opening goal for Slavia Prague during their Europa League match with Leicester City in Leicester, England, February 25, 2021. /CFP
Leicester City, who are behind second-placed United in the Premier League only on goal difference, were knocked out after sliding to a 2-0 loss at home to Czech champions Slavia Prague.
Lukas Provod fired Slavia in front just after half-time following a goalless draw in the first leg, and Senegalese teenager Abdallah Sima ensured the visitors extended their run in the competition.
"We didn't create enough over two legs. We didn't defend with any intensity. We gave away two disappointing goals. The better team won," said Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers.
Borna Barisic of Rangers celebrates after he scores his team's fourth goal against Antwerp during their Europa League match in Glasgow, Scotland, February 25, 2021. /CFP
Steven Gerrard's Rangers progressed following their 5-2 win over Belgian side Antwerp at the Ibrox stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, with five different players on target for the Scottish league leaders.
After a dramatic 4-3 win in the first leg last week, goals from Alfredo Morelos, Nathan Patterson and Ryan Kent put Rangers in control before late penalties from Borna Barisic and Cedric Itten wrapped up the tie 9-5 on aggregate.
"I'm very satisfied, the performance was outstanding in a lot of areas," said coach Gerrard.
"The first three were top high-level goals. But, as a perfectionist, we still have to look at the areas we went wrong tonight."
Dejan Stankovic (R), head coach of Red Star Belgrade, has a handshake with Franck Kessie of AC Milan after their Europa League match in Milan, Italy, February 25, 2021. /CFP
AC Milan squeezed past Red Star Belgrade on away goals after a 1-1 draw in a clash of former European champions at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy.
Franck Kessie's early penalty was enough to book Milan's place in the last 16 despite El Fardou Ben Nabouhane equalizing as the tie finished 3-3 over the two legs.
Napoli's dismal run continued as they were knocked out 3-2 on aggregate by Granada despite winning 2-1 in the return fixture in Italy.
Ajax eliminated French Ligue 1 leaders Lille with a 2-1 victory in Amsterdam to complete a 4-2 overall win, while Gerard Moreno netted both goals as Villarreal dumped out Salzburg 4-1 on aggregate.
Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan's 88th-minute strike in Eindhoven sent Olympiakos through at the expense of PSV 5-4 on aggregate, while Roma and Young Boys brushed aside Braga and Bayer Leverkusen respectively.
Former winners Shakhtar Donetsk completed a 3-0 aggregate victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv, while Norwegians Molde dumped out Hoffenheim 5-3 on aggregate following a 2-0 win in Germany.
Dinamo Zagreb and Dynamo Kiev complete the line-up for the last 16, with Tottenham Hotspur also in the mix after destroying Wolfsberg AC of Austria by an aggregate score of 8-1 on Wednesday.