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Europa League roundup: Braga qualify with 92nd-minute goal against Slovan Liberec

Sports Mole rounds upThursday's late Europa League games, featuring Celtic, Liverpool, Napoli and Braga.

Braga have secured qualification to the knockout stages of the Europa League in dramatic fashion after Crislan scored in injury time to clinch a 2-1 win over Slovan Liberec.

Braga's Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan (R) celebrates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Europa League group F football match SC Braga vs FC Groningen at the Municipal stadium in Braga on October 1, 2015© Getty Images

In Thursday night's Group F clash at the Estadio Municipal de Braga, Dmitri Efremov opened the scoring for the visitors in the 35th minute when he collected a pass from Lukas Pokorny before showing good composure inside the box to bury the ball into the back of the net.

The hosts equalised seven minutes later through Ricardo Ferreira's simple tap-in, and deep into second-half injury time, Crislan's clinical finish off the post gave the Portuguese side the win and confirmed qualification into the competition's last 32.

In the same group, Marseille have given themselves the edge in following Braga through to the latter stages of the Europa League with a 2-1 win over Groningen.

Georges-Kevin N'Koudou opened the scoring for the French outfit before their Dutch opponents pulled level through Hedwiges Maduro, but Michy Batshuayi's strike two minutes from time gave Michel's charges all three points.

Club Bruggess Felipe Gedoz (L) vies with Napoli's Omar El Kaddouri (R) during the UEFA Europa League Group D football match between Club Brugge and SSC Napoli played behind closed doors at the Jan Breydel stadium in Bruges on November 26© Getty Images

In Group E, Villarreal leapfrogged Rapid Vienna to the top of the standings after a 1-0 win against the Austrian side at the Estadio El Madrigal.

Bruno's 78th-minute winner put the Yellow Submarines on 12 points, the same as Rapid albeit with a better goal difference, but both sides nevertheless proceed to the last 32 after Dinamo Minsk and Viktoria Plzen ended the day on three points apiece.

Celtic's already-slender hopes of making it past the Europa League group stages were extinguished at the hands of Ajax after goals from Arkadiusz Milik and Vaclav Cerny cancelled out Callum McGregor's opener in a 2-1 defeat at Parkhead.

The Hoops would have been all but out had they got a result anyway, because Fenerbahce managed to seal a 2-0 win at Molde, Fernandao and Ozan Tufan settling the matter for the Turkish outfit in Norway.

Vaclav Cerny of Ajax celebrates as he scores their second goal during the UEFA Europa League Group A match between Celtic FC and AFC Ajax at Celtic Park on November 26, 2015 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. © Getty Images

Liverpool fared better as they secured their passage to the last 32 with a comeback 2-1 win against Bordeaux, with goals from James Milner and Christian Benteke cancelling out Henri Saivet's 33rd-minute strike.

Napoli continue to steamroll all in front of them as their 1-0 win at Club Brugge in Group D, courtesy of Vlad Chiriches's strike just before the break, maintained the Partenopei's 100% record in the competition.

The remainder of Group D remains wide open, however, as Legia Warsaw's 1-0 win over FC Midtjylland means that only two points separate Napoli's competitors with one game left to play.

PAOK's game against Qabala, which finished as a goalless draw, was nothing more than a dead rubber, with Borussia Dortmund and FC Krasnodar having both secured qualification earlier in the day.

Results in full (half-time scores in brackets): Braga 2-1 Slovan Liberec (1-1), Marseille 2-1 Groningen (1-0), Celtic 2-1 Ajax (1-1), Club Brugge 0-1 Napoli (0-1), Legia Warsaw 1-0 Midtjylland (1-0), Molde 0-2 Fenerbahce (0-0), PAOK 0-0 Qabala, Villarreal 1-0 Rapid Vienna (0-0), Liverpool 2-1 Bordeaux (2-1)

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Giuseppe Labellarte
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Omar El Kaddouri and Lorenzo Insigne of Napoli celebrate a goal 1-0 scored by Omar El Kaddouri during the UEFA Europa League Group D match between SSC Napoli and FC Midtjylland at Stadio San Paolo on November 5, 2015 in Naples, Italy.
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool17133140172342
2Chelsea18105338211735
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest1810442419534
4Arsenal1796234161833
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle188553021929
6Bournemouth188552721629
7Manchester CityMan City188463026428
8Fulham187742623328
9Aston Villa188462629-328
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1872939261323
12Brentford177283232023
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham186572330-723
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd186482124-322
15Everton173861522-717
16Crystal Palace183871826-817
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1843112940-1115
18Leicester CityLeicester1835102240-1814
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1813141137-266


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