🏆 Leverkusen win at the death; Liverpool cruise; Roma, Milan advance | OneFootball

The Europa League last-16 met its end with another full slate of games Thursday night. Here is what went down around the grounds.

Schick the hero for Leverkusen

Scorers: Frimpong 71′ ; Zoubir 58′, Juninho 67′

After the shock result in the first-leg, Qarabag came into the night with a chip on their shoulders, looking to stun the Bundesliga leaders.

The biggest shock of the day came in the second-half at the BayArena when the visitors took the lead through Abdellah Zoubir who fired Qarabag in front.

The tie was turned almost immediately after however, as Elvin Cafarguliyev was sent off for a tackle from behind on Jeremie Frimpong.

Astonishingly, the visitors doubled their lead on the break a few minutes later when Juninho capped off a superb counter-attack to stun the home crowd.

It didn’t take long for Leverkusen to hit back however, as Frimpong fired home at the back-post to cut the lead.

While it looked like Qarabag would pull off an unlikely victory in Germany, second-half sub Patrik Schick popped up in stoppage-time to equalise and seemingly send the game into extra-time.

It was not to be however, as the Czech striker popped in the 97th minute to head home the winner and uphold Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak.

Liverpool thump Sparta

Scorers: Núñez 7′, Clark 8′, Salah 11′, Gakpo 14′, Szoboszlai 46′ ; Birmančević 42′

It was a quick start from the Reds, who already had a four-goal advantage from the first-leg.

A superb cross from Dominik Szoboszlai picked out Darwin Núñez in the box to tap home only a minute before Bobby Clark put the home side two-ahead on the night.

Mo Salah made it three almost immediately after, putting Klopp’s men seven goals clear on aggregate to rubber-stamp their dominance.

Cody Gakpo followed that up just three minutes later to rub further salt in the wound.

The visitors struck back through Veljko Birmančević, cutting Liverpool’s lead on the night to three, but it was merely consolation given the aggregate score.

Dominik Szoboszlai reclaimed the Reds’ eight-goal advantage almost immediately after the restart however.

Cody Gakpo bagged his brace less than 10 minutes later to cap off an emphatic win the the Premier League title hopefuls.

Atalanta ease past Sporting

Scorers: Lookman 47′, Scamacca 59′ ; Gonçalves 33′

Atalanta earned their spot in the quarter-finals by downing Portuguese side Sporting.

The hosts looked the more threatening side on the break in the opening 20 minutes, despite Sporting seeing the bulk of the possession.

The visitors took advantage of their domination of the ball, as Pedro Gonçalves was slipped in by Viktor Gyökeres before sliding home the opener to put Sporting ahead on aggregate.

The goalscorer was immediately subbed off after opening his account on the night however.

The home side reclaimed parity after the break thanks to Ademola Lookman, who bundled home at the back-post after Sporting failed to clear their lines.

Atalanta took the lead on the night, and in the tie just before the hour mark when Gianluca Scamacca stabbed home from inside the box.

Roma ride first-leg thumping into the last-eight

Scorers: Welbeck 37′

Roma rode their big first-leg lead to the final whistle on the south coast to move on to the quarter-finals.

The Seagulls looked to press from the offset, needing four goals to turn around their first-leg deficit.

They were rewarded for their pressure when Danny Welbeck opened the scoring past the half-hour mark.

That would be the only scare for the traveling Roma fans however, as the visitors held on to book their spot in the last-eight.

West Ham run riot over Freiburg

Scorers: Paquetá 9′, Bowen 32′, Cresswell 51′, Kudus 77′, 85′

West Ham turned around a slender first-leg deficit after thumping Freiburg.

The Hammers got just the start they were looking for when Lucas Paquetá darted in at the back-post to bundle home the ball from a set-piece and pull the home side level on aggregate.

David Moyes’ men continued to threaten, and eventually took the lead in the tie when Jarrod Bowen cut inside before firing home his strike into the bottom corner of the net to set the London Stadium alight.

West Ham all but wrapped up the tie after the break when Aaron Cresswell sent a superb strike into the bottom corner, scoring his first goal of the season at a crucial time.

The tie was officially put to bed when Mohammed Kudus went on a superb solo run before firing West Ham’s fourth into the bottom corner.

The former Ajax man bagged his second just eight minutes later to put West Ham five ahead on the night.

Benfica send Rangers out with Ibrox victory

Scorers: Silva 66′

A Rafa Silva strike saw Benfica march into Ibrox and send the hosts crashing out.

It was back and forth from the opening whistle, as both sides seemed keen on replicating the four goals from the first-leg in Lisbon.

Despite the aggression from both sets of players, quality in front of goal was majorly lacking.

Rangers started the second-half on the front-foot, creating a superb chance for Cyriel Dessers, but the striker sent his chance just wide.

Benfica finally broke the deadlock when a rip-roaring counter-attack was capped off by Rafa Silva, and while the goal was initially chalked off for offside, a VAR review revealed the striker was in is own-half when receiving the assist.

Milan thump Slavia Prague

Scorers: Pulisic 33′, Loftus-Cheek 36′, Leão 45+3′

Milan eased past Slavia Prague to book their spot in the quarter-finals.

It was bade news in the early going for Milan as Mike Maignan went down with an injury in the opening 10 minutes, but the keeper decided to play on.

The tie was turned on its head when Tomáš Holeš was sent off for a controversial challenge on Davide Calabria, forcing the home side to try and dig themselves out of a hole with 10 men.

The visitors took advantage of their numerical superiority, putting the tie to bed thanks to goals from Christin Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

A stunning strike from Rafael Leão with the last kick of the half saw Milan take a three goal lead on the night, five on aggregate.

Marseille hang on to fend off Villarreal

Scorers: Capoue 32′, Sørloth 54′, Mosquera 85′ ; Clauss 90+4′

Villarreal nearly pulled off the unthinkable but fell just short of coming from behind to stun Marseille.

Villarreal did not let the massive deficit dampen their spirits however, as they poured the pressure on Marseille in the opening 30 minutes.

They were rewarded for their quality start when Étienne Capoue headed home the opener to cut their visitors lead to three.

It became squeaky-bum time for the visitors when Alexander Sørloth snatched another for the home side after the break, cutting Marseille’s lead on aggregate to two.

It got even worse for Marseille in the final 10 minutes when Yerson Mosquera headed in Villarreal’s third on the night, ratcheting up the nerves for the visitors as their lead was cut to just one.

A late strike from Jonathan Clauss put the hints of a famous comeback to bed, sending Marseille through.