Europa League matchday 1, Thursday: Juventus score five, Beşiktaş take Marseille apart, and nine matches bring nine winners

Thursday completed the Europa League's opening round with nine matches, thirty goals and, unlike Wednesday, not a single draw. Juventus beat NEC Nijmegen 5–0, the biggest win of the round; Crystal Palace put four past Lech Poznań; Beşiktaş scored three in the second half to beat Marseille 4–1; and Celtic and Real Sociedad both lost at home. Five of the nine winners were away from home. Two players were sent off, the first red cards of the league phase. Across the two days the round produced forty-seven goals in eighteen matches.

The early kick-offs

Levski Sofia 0–1 Red Bull Salzburg turned on Haris Tabaković's goal on 39 minutes and on a statistic that is hard to look away from: Levski had fourteen shots and put none of them on target. Salzburg managed seven on target from twelve attempts and collected five yellow cards keeping the lead.

OFI 2–0 1899 Hoffenheim was the night's clearest case of the ball counting for nothing. Hoffenheim had 67 per cent of it, twenty-one shots and eight corners; OFI had 33 per cent, nine shots and the two goals, Aitor Cantalapiedra on 30 from Kenan Kodro's pass and Georgios Kanellopoulos on 84 from Borja González's.

The evening

Juventus 5–0 NEC Nijmegen was ruthless rather than dominant. Juventus had 48 per cent of the ball, eleven shots and no corners at all, and scored five: Nicolás Iván Gonzalez on 9, set up by the goalkeeper Kamil Grabara; Kerim Alajbegovic on 24 from Weston McKennie; Nick Woltemade's penalty on 35; Zeki Çelik on 75 from Randal Kolo Muani; and Kolo Muani himself on 82. Seven of the eleven shots were on target.

Beşiktaş 4–1 Marseille was level at the break. Ilhan Fakili scored on 15 from Junior Olaitan's pass, Keyliane Abdallah equalised on 29 from Himad Abdelli's, and then Beşiktaş scored three in twenty-five minutes: Václav Černý on 56 and Amir Murillo on 59, both from Orkun Kökçü, and Ernest Poku on 81 from Olaitan. Kökçü and Olaitan finished with two assists each.

Crystal Palace 4–0 Lech Poznań was three up inside 35 minutes through Yeremy Pino on 10, Chris Richards on 27 from Adam Wharton's pass and Jörgen Strand Larsen's penalty on 34; Eddie Nketiah added the fourth on 89 from Dwight McNeil. Lech had more shots than Palace, seventeen to sixteen, and finished with ten men after Radosław Murawski was sent off on 87.

Celtic 1–3 Ferencváros was decided by Bamidele Isa Yusuf, who scored on 20 and made both of the others. Mika Baur equalised for Celtic on 44 from Kieran Tierney's pass, but Kristoffer Zachariassen restored the lead in first-half stoppage time and Daniel Arzani scored two minutes into the second half. Celtic had 63 per cent of the ball and eleven corners to three, and four shots on target to Ferencváros's six.

Plzeň 0–3 Union Saint-Gilloise was the most accurate performance of the night: Union put thirteen of their twenty-two shots on target. Relebohile Mofokeng scored on 17 from Massire Sylla, Mateo Biondic on 43 from Louis Patris and Ondrej Kricfalusi on 59 from Besfort Zeneli.

Real Sociedad 1–2 Bournemouth was two down inside twenty minutes, Justin Kluivert on 11 from Adrien Truffert and Rayan Vitor Simplício Rocha on 20 from Alex Scott. Sergio Gómez pulled one back on 57. Bournemouth scored twice from three shots on target and defended ten corners.

Lillestrøm 1–2 Torreense was the other match where possession led nowhere. Lillestrøm had 67 per cent of the ball, twenty-five shots and eleven corners, and lost to Alejandro Alfaro's goal on 23 and Manuel Pozo's on 49. Thomas Lehne Olsen scored on 79, and Torreense held on with ten men after Nuha Jatta was sent off on 85.

The table after matchday 1

All thirty-six clubs have now played once, so the table is sixteen winners, four clubs on a point and sixteen on nothing. Juventus lead on goal difference of +5, from Crystal Palace on +4 and Beşiktaş, Sparta Praha and Union Saint-Gilloise on +3. Ferencváros, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica and OFI are the other clubs at +2. Dinamo Zagreb, Hapoel Beer Sheva, Rennes and Sturm Graz have the four points from Wednesday's two goalless draws. NEC Nijmegen are last on −5, below Lech Poznań on −4. The full standings are on the Europa League page.

Numbers to know

• Thirty goals in nine matches on Thursday against seventeen in nine on Wednesday, and nine winners against seven.
• Five away wins: Union Saint-Gilloise by three at Plzeň, Ferencváros by two at Celtic, and Salzburg, Torreense and Bournemouth each by one.
• The round's first two red cards, both on or after the 85th minute: Lech Poznań's Radosław Murawski while three down, Torreense's Nuha Jatta while a goal up.
• Three clubs had 60 per cent of the ball or more and lost: Hoffenheim and Lillestrøm on 67 per cent, Celtic on 63.
• Juventus scored five from eleven shots without taking a corner. Levski Sofia had fourteen shots and none on target.

Next up

Matchday 2 is a single day, Thursday 15 October, with all eighteen matches played together rather than split across two nights. Juventus go to Celta Vigo, Benfica host Celtic, Lyon host Crystal Palace, Marseille host Olympiakos and Hoffenheim host Beşiktaş. The full list is on the Europa League page.