PARIS: Odion Ighalo kept up his scoring streak as Manchester United took a big step towards the Europa League quarter-finals by thrashing Austrian side LASK Linz 5-0 on Thursday in their last 16 first-leg tie.

FC Basel beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 away for another commanding lead, while Wolverhampton Wanderers needed a goal from a deflected free kick to earn a 1-1 draw at 10-man Olympiakos.

All three of those games were played in empty or near-empty stadiums because of the coronavirus outbreak. The match in Athens was given the go-ahead despite the Greek club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis saying earlier on Thursday he had contracted the virus.

Bayer Leverkusen celebrated a 3-1 win at Rangers in front of a full house at Ibrox, Istanbul Basaksehir fans rejoiced after an 88th-minute penalty by Edin Visca gave them a 1-0 home win over FC Copenhagen and Shakhtar Donetsk earned a 2-1 away win against VfL Wolfsburg.

Two games involving Italian teams were postponed because of the virus outbreak, including Inter Milan’s game against Getafe and AS Roma’s meeting with Sevilla.

The announcement came after Spanish authorities suspended flights until March 25 to the country from Italy, which has been the worst hit European nation by the spread of the virus.

With the second legs due to be played next week, it is unclear how the ties will be resolved.

Ighalo fired United ahead in the 28th minute as he juggled a Bruno Fernandes pass onto his left foot and unleashed a thunderbolt into the top corner from 18 metres at the Linzer Stadium. It was the striker’s fourth goal in three starts after joining United in January.

Daniel James doubled the lead when he side-stepped his marker and buried a crisp low shot into the bottom corner, leaving keeper Alexander Schlager rooted to the spot.

Juan Mata made it 3-0 with a clinical finish from 10 metres after 82 minutes before substitutes Mason Greenwood and Andreas Pereira put the icing on the cake in stoppage time.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised his team for stretching their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions in unfamiliar circumstances.

“It was a weird atmosphere and the boys were so focused and created their own atmosphere and I think the camaraderie and the team spirit was there to see,” Solskjaer told BT Sport. “It’s not to recommend [football behind closed doors] but I have to praise the boys because they did fantastic.”

Wolves gave themselves a good chance of continuing their first European run in nearly four decades with a draw at Olympiakos’ empty Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.

Olympiakos, who knocked out Arsenal in the previous round, had centre back Ruben Semedo sent off in the 28th minute for a last-man foul but Youssef El Arabi fired them ahead in the 54th with a close-range finish.

Pedro Neto levelled with a deflected shot from 23 metres as Wolves piled on the pressure after the break.

Wolves had asked that the match be postponed after Marinakis — also the owner of English club Nottingham Forest — had tested positive for coronavirus, but UEFA ordered the game to go ahead.

“You play a game of football and then you realise what’s happening worldwide with all these people ill and dying and all these things and you have to play a game of football,” said Wolves coach Nuno Espirito Santo to BT Sport. “It’s absurd.”

Frankfurt had hoped to play Basel with fans in the stadium. That was initially supported by city health officials Wednesday, but hours later the decision was reversed, Eintracht citing a change in the extent of the outbreak in areas including Basel.

The visitors took the lead in the 27th minute as Samuele Campo curled in a free kick before Kevin Bua and Fabian Frei added goals in the second half.

Ibrox was one of the two grounds where fans were allowed to attend, but the presence of Rangers’ home support couldn’t stop them losing to Leverkusen.

Bundesliga outfit Bayer are now favourites to progress should the second leg matches take place thanks to Kai Havertz’s penalty eight minutes before the break and two lovely second half strikes from Charles Aranguiz and Leon Bailey.

George Edmundson had briefly given Rangers hope in the 75th minute when he pulled the scores back to 2-1 with a well-placed header, but Steven Gerrard’s side could not capitalise.

Shakhtar took full advantage of an empty ground at Wolfsburg and beat the German side thanks to goals from Junior Moraes and Marcos Bahia, who cancelled out John Anthony’s Brooks effort for the hosts.

Viktor Kovalenko missed a penalty for Shakhtar before Wout Weghorst also squandered a spot-kick for Wolfsburg in an eventful first half.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2020