Sparta Prague beat Galatasaray 4-1 to eliminate them in Europa League playoffs

Lions concede 3 goals after Kaan Ayhan’s sending off leaves them with 10 men

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

Czech side Sparta Prague eliminated Turkish team Galatasaray 6-4 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League playoffs after beating them 4-1 in a second leg match on Thursday.

Sparta Prague defender Angelo Preciado netted an early opener by lifting over Galatasaray goalie Fernando Muslera in the eighth minute at Letna Stadium in Prague.

The Lions recovered quickly and increased the pressure.

They equalized the score just eight minutes later with defender Abdulkerim Bardakci's header to a ball coming off the post.

Sparta attacker Jan Kuchta's low finish passed Muslera but it didn't count as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) called for an offside in the 42nd minute.

Galatasaray defender Kaan Ayhan was shown a straight red card following a VAR review of his tackle on Sparta midfielder Lukas Haraslin in the 68th minute.

Indrit Tuci scored the second goal for Sparta with a header in the 74th minute, just a few minutes after entering the match.

Haraslin finished underneath Muslera to make it 3-1 for the hosts in the 80th minute.

Kuchta scored the fourth goal of Sparta with an easy one-on-one shot against the keeper in the 96th minute.

The Round of 16 draws will be held Friday.

- Europa League Thursday Results:

Roma-Feyenoord: 1-1 (Agg: 2-2 Roma win 3-2 on penalties)

Sparta Prague-Galatasaray: 4-1 (Agg: 6-4)

Olympique Marseille-Shakhtar Donetsk: 3-1 (Agg: 5-3)

Toulouse-Benfica: 0-0 (Agg: 1-2)

Rennes-Milan: 3-2 (Agg: 3-5)

Freiburg-Lens: 3-2 (Agg: 3-2)

Qarabag-Braga: 2-3 (Agg: 6-5)