Leverkusen salvage late 2-2 at Qarabag, Liverpool win 5-1 in Prague
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Patrik Schick scored in stoppage time as Bayer Leverkusen came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Qarabag in the Europa League on Thursday and stretch their unbeaten run throughout the season to 35 matches, while Liverpool triumphed 5-1 at Sparta Prague.
Yassine Benzia opened the scoring in the last 16 first leg match in Azerbaijan in the 26th minute after Jonathan Tah lost the ball, and another Leverkusen mistake allowed Juninho to round goalkeeper Matej Kovar and net the second on the stroke of half-time.
Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga leaders were far from the form of their two victories against the same opponents in the group stage but regrouped when originally rested stars Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka came on.
Wirtz chipped Leverkusen back into the game in the 70th minute after intercepting a terrible back pass, and Schick nodded the equalizer in time added on off Robert Andrich's cross.
Premier League leaders Liverpool had no such worries as they were untroubled in Prague ahead of a big league match on Sunday against champions Manchester City.
Darwin Nunez scored a first-half brace after Alexis Mac Allister had opened the scoring for Jürgen Klopp's men with a sixth minute penalty. Luiz Diaz grabbed the fourth with a deflected shot in the 53rd, seven minutes after an own goal from Conor Bradley.
Mohamed Salah returned from injury in the 73rd minute to get a few minutes ahead of the Man City clash. He scored a few minutes later but the goal was nullified for offside upon review. The fifth however eventually came from Dominik Szoboszlai in stoppage time.
There was no such luck for the other English side in action in the early kick-offs, as Brighton & Hove Albion were crushed 4-0 at last year's finalists Roma from Paulo Dybala, Romelu Lukaku, Gianluca Mancini and Bryab Cristante.
Sporting Lisbon and Atalanta drew 1-1 on Wednesday while the other four first leg games are later Thursday.