Roma misses penalty 3 times and loses 1-0 to Lille in Europa League
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3:32 AM on Thursday, October 2
By KAREL JANICEK
Roma missed three straight attempts from the penalty spot late in the game as Lille upset the Italian club 1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday.
In a bizarre sequence, Roma was given three tries to equalize from the spot after the first two efforts from Artem Dovbyk were both saved by goalkeeper Berke Özer — only for the referee to order the penalty to be retaken each time because of encroachment.
Roma then switched penalty takers to Matías Soulé, but Özer saved that one as well, diving to his right to punch the ball away in the 85th minute — nearly four minutes after Dovbyk had made his first attempt.
Hákon Arnar Haraldsson had put Lille ahead with an angled shot in the sixth minute at Stadio Olimpico, which was enough for the French club to earn a second win in two games.
In other early games, Ricardo Horta unleashed a long-distance drive to beat goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and substitute Gabri Martínez added a late second as Braga beat Celtic 2-0 in Glasgow.
A precise strike by Giovani Lo Celso from the edge of the area and an own goal from Spanish defender Son gave Real Betis a 2-0 win away at Ludogorets.
Fenerbahce forward Kerem Aktürkoğlu scored when one-on-one with goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf early in the game and added the second with a deflected shot en route to a 2-1 win over Nice.
Bologna drew 1-1 at home against Freiburg after Riccardo Orsolini scored for the hosts on a rebound before Junior Adamu equalized from the spot.
Milan Smit scored two late goals as Go Ahead Eagles came from behind to beat Panathinaikos 2-1 in Athens.
Czech side Viktoria Plzeň recorded its first win, 3-0, over Swedish club Malmö in a game where both sides were reduced to 10 men.
In other second-round games later Thursday, Nottingham Forest played its first home game in European competitions in almost 30 years looking for a first win for recently hired manager Ange Postecoglou.
Forest faced Danish side Midtjylland a week after it opened its Europa League campaign with a 2-2 draw at Real Betis. It was the first game in Europe for the Premier League club since 1996, when it reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, the predecessor of the Europa League.
Forest is winless in five games under Postecoglou since the former Tottenham manager took over from the fired Nuno Espírito Santo.
Another English club, Aston Villa, traveled to Feyenoord boosted by its first Premier League win this season, 3-1 against Fulham, and following a 1-0 win over Bologna.
Crystal Palace marked its first game in a major European competition by beating Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in the Conference League. The victory extended the London team’s unbeaten run to a club record 19 games, stretching back to April.
Daniel Muñoz headed in Yéremy Pino’s cross and substitute Eddie Nketiah doubled the advantage in the 58th. Palace finished the game with 10 men after midfielder Borna Sosa received his second yellow card in the 76th minute, but it was another impressive performance for Oliver Glasner's side which remains the last unbeaten team in the Premier League after beating defending champion Liverpool 2-1 on Saturday.
The FA cup winner was demoted to to the third-tier Conference League for breaching UEFA rules on club ownership.
Also, Rayo Vallecano celebrated its return to Europe after 25 years with a 2-0 win over newcomer Shkëndija from North Macedonia.
Polish club Jagiellonia beat Hamrun Spartans 1-0 as the first club from Malta in a European competition was reduced to 10 men in the 62nd minute.
The Conference League uses the same 36-team league format as the Champions League and the Europa League. But teams play only six, not eight different opponents during the league phase.
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