Liverpool book quarter-final place

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A review of all Thursday night's Europa League action. ( March 17th 2016)

Philippe Coutinho's moment of brilliance extinguished Manchester United's faint hopes and saw Liverpool through to the Europa League quarter-finals.

Boasting a two-goal advantage from last week's frenetic, one-sided encounter at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp's men made the short journey knowing an away goal at Old Trafford would throw their rivals' comeback hopes off-kilter.

For a while Louis van Gaal's side had looked capable of a memorable comeback, only for Coutinho's magic to end United's hopes of progressing from the last-16 tie - as Liverpool held out for a 1-1 draw on the night, seeing them through 3-1 winners on aggregate.

United were always facing an uphill battle but started strongly, keeping firm at the back and attacking with panache.

Anthony Martial's penalty as half-time approached gave the home fans hope, which Coutinho snatched away with a mood-changing individual effort, ghosting into the area and clipping past David de Gea.

It all but ended the tie as Liverpool deservedly progressed and narrowed under-pressure Van Gaal's hopes of ending a difficult season with a trophy - and Champions League football.

Europa League

Man Utd 1 - 1 Liverpool
Valencia 2 - 1 Ath Bilbao
Lazio 0 - 3 Sp Prague
Anderlecht 0 - 1 Shak Donet
Sevilla 3 - 0 Basel
Tottenham 1 - 2 B Dortmund
Braga 4 - 1 Fenerbahce
Leverkusen 0 - 0 Villarreal

Europa League Results

Tottenham were left to focus fully on their Barclays Premier League title challenge as Mauricio Pochettino's side bowed of the Europa League following a 2-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

Spurs needed a minor miracle to retrieve a 3-0 deficit from the first leg in Germany but Pochettino named Harry Kane as a substitute and instead it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's double that secured Dortmund a 5-1 win on aggregate. Son Heung-min added a late consolation for the hosts.

It is the third consecutive year Tottenham have failed to reach the quarter-finals of Europe's second-tier tournament and their hopes of lifting silverware this season now rest entirely on the league, where they host struggling Bournemouth on Sunday.

Europa League holders Sevilla coasted into the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Basel at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

The Spanish side, who had left Switzerland with a goalless draw in the first leg, swept into a 35th-minute lead through a header by defender Adil Rami.

Kevin Gameiro tapped in a second two minutes before the break and quickly made Basel pay for more lax defending when scoring at third goal for the hosts just before half-time which ended the tie as a contest.

Braga turned the tables on eight-man Fenerbahce with a 4-1 victory.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Braga faced an uphill task when Alper Potuk cancelled out Ahmed Hassan's opener just before half-time.

But the 67th-minute dismissal of Mehmet Topal proved to be the turning point.

Josue netted the 69th-minute penalty and five minutes later Nikola Stojiljkovic put the Portuguese side ahead in the tie for the first time and Rafa Silva added a fine fourth goal.

There was still time for Fenebahce to implode as Potuk and Volkan Sen also both saw red.

Eduardo's stoppage-time goal earned Shakhtar Donetsk a 1-0 second-leg win to round off a comfortable progression past Anderlecht, 4-1 on aggregate.

Both sides finished with 10 men as Kucher for Shakhtar and Kara Mbodji for Anderlecht were sent off within two minutes of each other as tempers flared in the closing stages.

In Thursday's early evening kick-offs, Sparta Prague produced a brilliant first-half performance to thrash Lazio 3-0 to book their place in the last eight and went through 4-1 winners on aggregate.

Elsewhere, Gary Neville's Valencia side were knocked out on away goals by fellow Primera Division side Athletic Bilbao, despite a 2-1 victory on the night.

Villarreal also reached the last eight after a goalless draw at Bayer Leverkusen secured a 2-0 win on aggregate