UEFA Europa League roundup: Bournemouth thumps 10-man AC Milan; Juventus held to 2-2 draw by Rennes

AFC Bournemouth's Justin Kluivert celebrates scoring after scoring his side’s first goal during the UEFA Europa League 2026-27 match against AC Milan. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Bournemouth pulled off a sensational 3-0 home victory over 10-man AC Milan on Thursday to make it three wins from its opening three games in UEFA Europa League 2026-27.

Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier converted first-half penalties to put Bournemouth firmly in control against AC Milan, one of Europe’s leading clubs.

Milan goalkeeper and skipper Mike Maignan was red carded early on for a foul on Tyler Adams and his side never fully recovered.

Amine Adli scored a sublime 84th free-kick to make it 3-0, the Premier League side having opened its inaugural Europa League campaign with victory at Real Sociedad followed by a 3-0 home win over Sturm Graz last week.

Bournemouth, which became the first English club since Sunderland in 1973/74 to win the first three European fixtures in its history, will now face Sparta Prague and Celta Vigo in November.

Bournemouth’s Premier League rival Crystal Palace rebounded from a 5-0 weekend thrashing by Brighton to claim a 2-2 draw with Beskitas in Istanbul, while Scottish giant Celtic suffered a third successive defeat, going down 2-1 to Celta Vigo.

Bayer Leverkusen, however, also made it three straight wins with a Jonas Hofmann double earning a 2-0 away win at OFI Crete as both Juventus and Sunderland lost ground in Thursday’s third matchday.

The once-mighty Hungarian side Ferencvaros kept pace with Leverkusen on nine points, thumping Portuguese outfit Torreense 4-1, while Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise won 4-0 against Israeli outfit Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

Saint-Gilloise, Sunderland and Juve all have seven points from three games.

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Juventus thought it had come from behind to beat French side Rennes but had its late ‘winner’ ruled out for a marginal offside.

Zeki Celik put Juve ahead after five minutes, only for a poor clearance 10 minutes later to allow Musa Al-Taamari to poke home an equaliser. Just before the break, Boulaye Dia put the visitor ahead.

Juventus made it 2-2 thanks to a handball and a spot-kick transformed by Nick Woltemade before VAR provided the biggest talking point, disallowing Jhon Lucumi’s 88th minute strike.

Clad in a new all-pink kit, Sunderland was left kicking itself after a 1-1 draw in Poland. The Blacks Cats took a second minute lead in Poznan thanks to Timur Tutierov and dominated the game without being able to close out the win.

With two home games remaining, however, the second round still beckons for Regis Le Bris’ side.

Marseille went down 1-0 to Sturn Graz while Lyon suffered a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Hoffenheim.

In the Conference League, former Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah opened the scoring from the penalty spot in Trabzonspor’s 2-0 win over Scottish side Hearts.

Brighton was held to a 0-0 draw at Czech side Jablonec, as Monaco thumped Freiburg 3-0 and Ajax snuck a 2-0 win over Atalanta.