Sunderland and Bournemouth secured memorable Europa League victories on Thursday, while Crystal Palace fell short against Lyon.
Marking their first European away fixture for 53 years, Sunderland sealed a dramatic comeback against Torreense, snatching the spoils in stoppage time.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, celebrated their first-ever European home clash in style, cruising to a convincing win over Sturm Graz.
Sunderland leave it late
Torreense defender Volnei Feltes scored from distance to give the Portuguese side a first-half advantage in Leiria, but Jules Ahoka and Noah Sadiki helped deliver a dramatic turnaround.
Reflecting on the win, Black Cats boss Régis Le Bris said on Sky Sports: “Back in Europe 53 years later and winning this game just at the end is really special.
“It’s a symbol I think and important for many reasons. The first one is for the club and our fans – they were fantastic once again.
“Also, we are growing up and we need experiences. I think the team showed this belief until the end, which is really important for us.
“We showed again that we were in this mindset.”
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Bournemouth turn on style
Evanilson opened the scoring at the Vitality Stadium before Rayan and Álvaro Rodríguez put the icing on the cake for Bournemouth against Sturm Graz.
According to Sky Sports, Cherries head coach Marco Rose told TNT Sports: “A deserved win and now we have to continue and get consistent in this kind of thing.
“I believe in this team and I know we are always confident despite being in a difficult situation [in the Premier League].
“We could see that the squad is working, that everyone is keen to play, that everyone deserves to play – and it’s good for us for the next few weeks to have a competitive squad.
“If we stick together like this, if we have our fans, then we are hard to play and it’s hard to beat us.
“That’s what we should take into the next game. It’s getting tough, but it helps this kind of game, this result.”
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Crystal Palace wholly outclassed
Lyon controlled proceedings at the Groupama Stadium courtesy of strikes by Corentin Tolisso, Ernest Nuamah and Pavel Šulc, with the Eagles hitting back through Yéremy Pino and Daichi Kamada.
During a post-match interview with Sky Sports, Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage stated: “The scoreline may have been close, but there was a big difference in the way the two teams played.
“We were nowhere near our usual standards in the first half.
“We improved considerably after the break and gave ourselves a chance – but conceding that third goal made things difficult.
“I think our second-half efforts deserved an equaliser, although winning would have been a generous reward given that we only really played for one half.”
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