PARIS: Nicolas Pepe finally lived up to his price tag as he came off the bench to lead Arsenal’s to a 3-2 comeback victory over Vitoria Guimaraes with perfectly-executed free kicks in the Europa League on Thursday.

Pepe, the club’s record signing, equalised by curling the ball around the defensive wall in the 80th minute and then replicated the feat in injury time to help Arsenal avoid an embarrassing home loss in Group ‘F’.

Arsenal and Sevilla are now the only two clubs with a full nine points as the group stage reached the halfway mark, with the Spanish side beating Dudelange of Luxembourg 3-0 in Group ‘A’ — Franco Vazquez scoring twice for the five-time champions.

Anthony Martial scored from the penalty spot for Manchester United to beat Partizan Belgrade 1-0 and end a four-game winless streak.

It was the first away win for United in any competition since March. However, the team still looked far from rediscovering their attacking verve and have only scored two goals in three games in the second-tier European competition.

The Premier League club held a ceremony on Thursday morning at the Partizan stadium in Belgrade to honour the victims of the 1958 Munich plane crash, which happened a day after playing a European Cup game at the same venue. United’s plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Munich, killing 23 people onboard, including eight players and three club employees.

United are one of the teams on seven points and need just one more win to ensure they qualify from Group ‘L’.

Celtic came from a goal down to beat Lazio 2-1 in Glasgow and remain top of Group ‘E’. PSV Eindhoven were held 0-0 at home by Austrian side LASK Linz but still lead Group D.

Rangers drew 1-1 in FC Porto in Group ‘G’ while Wolverhampton Wanderers rallied with two second-half goals to beat Slovan Bratislava 2-1 in Group ‘K’ and both are in contention.

Teun Koopmeiners scored two goals from the penalty spot in AZ Alkmaar’s 6-0 win over Astana but AS Roma were held to a 1-1 draw as Borussia Moenchengladbach equalised deep into stoppage time.

Arsenal had enjoyed 3-0 and 4-0 wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Standard Liege respectively in their opening games but Vitoria, despite having no goals or points before kickoff, were surprisingly a far tougher proposition.

Roared on by a noisy following, the northern Portuguese side took the lead in the ninth minute when English youngster Marcus Edwards, formerly of Tottenham Hotspur, jinked inside two Arsenal defenders before beating goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Brazilian teenager Gabriel Martinelli headed Arsenal level in the 32nd minute but Vitoria were soon ahead again when Bruno Duarte thumped home a rebound from a tight angle.

Pepe, who came off the bench in the 75th minute, spared Arsenal’s blushes. In the 80th, after fellow substitute Matteo Guendouzi was fouled, he curled a stunning free kick past Miguel Silva and repeated the trick to break Vitoria hearts.

Arsenal have nine points with Eintracht Frankfurt on six after they beat visitors Standard Liege 2-1.

“It’s important for Pepe,” said Arsenal manager Unai Emery of his big summer signing. “He can gain confidence from tonight. When he scores it’s good for him and the team.”

United claimed a first away win in 12 games thanks to Martial’s 43rd-minute penalty in Belgrade. They are top of Group ‘L’, two points ahead of Alkmaar, but it was not a performance to quicken the pulse as Martial’s penalty was their only shot on target.

Roma led through Nicolo Zaniolo but Moenchengladbach substitute Lars Stindl held his nerve to convert a 95th minute spot kick after Chris Smalling, on loan from Manchester United, conceded a penalty.

Roma lead Group ‘J’ with five points from Istanbul Basaksehir who beat Wolfsberg 1-0 to join the Austrians on four points with Moenchengladbach bottom on two.

In a tightly contested Group ‘G’, Young Boys jumped to the top of the standings with two goals from the penalty spot in a 2-0 victory over Feyenoord. Roger Assal converted the first after Edgar Ie’s handball in the 14th minute. Jean Pierre Nsam added the second in the 28th.

Young Boys have six points, two more than 2011 Europa League champions Porto and Rangers, who played out a draw. Luis Diaz’s piledriver put Porto ahead but Alfredo Morelos levelled before the interval. Feyenoord are bottom of the group with three points.

Lazio conceded late as they lost at Celtic. Christopher Jullien headed the winner two minutes from time after Ryan Christie cancelled out Manuel Lazzari’s opener. Celtic are a point of Romanians CFR Cluj who recorded a 1-0 win at Rennes.

Wolves trailed to a first-half goal by Andraz Sporar but Romain Saiss equalized in the 58th and Raul Jimnez scored the winner from the spot in the 64th to complete the comeback. Braga still top Group ‘K’ on seven points after beating Besiktas 2-1, one point ahead of Wolves.

Victor Campuzano scored as Espanyol continued to put their dire La Liga form behind them as they won 1-0 in Bulgaria against Ludogorets Razgard, a result that keeps them unbeaten and top of Group ‘H’ with seven points.

In Group ‘I’, pacesetters Gent and Wolfsburg have five points after a 2-2 draw in Belgium while Dynamo Kiev and FC Copenhagen drew 1-1 to stay level at the top of Group ‘B’ on five points.

FC Basel won 1-0 at Spanish side Getafe despite going down to 10 men in the 74th minute, a result that gives the Swiss club the lead in Group ‘C’.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2019