Europa League Results: Man Utd thrash Fenerbahce, Southampton defeated away to Inter

New Delhi: World's most expensive player, Paul Pogba scored twice as Manchester United crushed Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday, while their Premier League rivals Southampton went down to Inter Milan.

AFP Sports picks out the best of the action on matchday three:

Paul Pogba scored twice in the first half as Jose Mourinho`s Manchester United thumped Fenerbahce 4-1 at Old Trafford. Pogba`s opener came from the penalty spot just after the half-hour mark, and his fellow Frenchman Anthony Martial also scored from the spot shortly after. The world`s most expensive player netted his second and the hosts` third in first-half stoppage time with a stunner, before a sweet Jesse Lingard strike made it four just after the break. Robin van Persie pulled one back against his old club late on, his close-range effort being met with applause from all around his old stomping ground. It was a second straight win for United in Group A, and they are level at the top of the group with Feyenoord, who beat Zorhya Luhansk 1-0 with Nicolai Jorgensen netting the only goal.

Under-pressure Frank de Boer saw his Inter side hold on with 10 men to beat Southampton 1-0 in at San Siro. Antonio Candreva got the only goal of the game midway through the second half for the Serie A club, coming across Virgil van Dijk to meet a Davide Santon ball and finish emphatically past Fraser Forster. Inter held on after Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic was sent off for a second yellow 13 minutes from time. It was a cruel result for Southampton, who had been the better side and saw Jay Rodriguez have a goal disallowed early in the second half. The result sees Saints remain on four points in Group K, two points behind Sparta Prague, who beat Hapoel Beer-Sheva 1-0 in Israel. "We should have had the game dead and buried in the first half but that is what happens if you don`t take your chances," said Van Dijk. Inter are off the mark after losing their first two games and De Boer needed a positive result with his side also struggling domestically.

It has been a fairytale run in Europe this season for Ireland`s champions-elect Dundalk, but they suffered a first defeat in Group D as they went down 2-1 at home to former UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg in Dublin. At the Tallaght Stadium home of Shamrock Rovers, Robbie Benson fired Dundalk in front early in the second half. However, Zenit drew level when a spooned kick out by goalkeeper Gabriel Sava put the home defence in trouble. Domenico Criscito then teed up Robert Mak to score. And the Russians went ahead on 77 minutes, a lovely move ending with Axel Witsel setting up Brazilian Giuliano. Zenit might have added another at the death, but Mauricio`s penalty was saved after he had been fouled by Brian Gartland in the area. Zenit have won three out of three, but Dundalk remain second on four points.

On the night Francesco Totti made his 100th European appearance, Roma seemed to be heading for a routine three points at home to Austria Vienna only to blow a two-goal lead and end up drawing 3-3 at the Stadio Olimpico. Stephan El Shaarawy`s brace turned the game around for Roma after Raphael Holzhauser had given the visitors the lead early on. Alessandro Florenzi then made it 3-1 midway through the second half, but goals in the last eight minutes from Dominik Prokop and Nigerian Olarenwaju Kayode allowed the Austrians to escape with a draw in the Group E clash.

Enjoying a fine start to the season in La Liga, where they sit fifth, level on points with Barcelona and two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, Villarreal remain unbeaten in Group L but only after battling back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Osmanlispor in Turkey. Two goals in as many minutes from Raul Rusescu had the hosts in control in Ankara, but Alfred N`Diaye pulled one back before Alexandre Pato levelled on 74 minutes.

Collated results on matchday three in the Europa League group stage on Thursday:-

Group A

At Manchester, England

Manchester United (ENG) 4 (Pogba 31-pen, 45+1, Martial 34-pen, Lingard 48) Fenerbahce (TUR) 1 (Van Persie 83)

At Rotterdam, Netherlands

Feyenoord (NED) 1 (Jorgensen 55) Zorya Luhansk (UKR) 0

Group B

At Piraeus, Greece

Olympiakos (GRE) 4 (Figueiras 25, Elyounoussi 33, Seba 34, 65) Astana (KAZ) 1 (Kabananga 54)

At Bern

Young Boys (SUI) 3 (Hoarau 18, 52, 82-pen) APOEL (CYP) 1 (Efrem 14)

Group C

At Saint-Etienne, France

Saint-Etienne (FRA) 1 (Ricardinho 70-og) Qabala (AZE) 0

At Mainz, Germany

Mainz (GER) 1 (Yunus Malli 10-pen) Anderlecht (BEL) 1 (Teodorczyk 65)

Group D

At Dublin

Dundalk (IRL) 1 (Benson 52) Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) 2 (Mak 71, Giuliano 77)

At Alkmaar, Netherlands

AZ Alkmaar (NED) 1 (Muehren 72) Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) 2 (Scarione 24, Golasa 82)

Group E

At Rome

Roma (ITA) 3 (El Shaarawy 19, 34, Florenzi 69) Austria Vienna (AUT) 3 (Holzhauser 16, Prokop 82, Kayode 84)

At Plzen, Czech Republic

Viktoria Plzen (CZE) 1 (Horava 86) Astra Giurgiu (ROU) 2 (Alibec 41, Horava 64-og)

Group F

At Genk, Belgium

Genk (BEL) 2 (Brabec 40, Ndidi 83) Athletic Bilbao (ESP) 0

At Vienna

Rapid Vienna (AUT) 1 (Schaub 7) Sassuolo (ITA) 1 (Schrammel 66-og)

Group G

At Vigo, Spain

Celta Vigo (ESP) 2 (Fontas 29, Orellana 82) Ajax (NED) 2 (Ziyech 22, Younes 71)

At Liege, Belgium

Standard Liege (BEL) 2 (Edmilson Junior 45+1-pen, Belfodil 82) Panathinaikos (GRE) 2 (Ibarbo 12, 36)

Group H

At Lviv, Ukraine

Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 5 (Kovalenko 12, Ferreyra 30, Bernard 46, Taison 75, Malyshev 85) Gent (BEL) 0

At Konya, Turkey

Konyaspor (TUR) 1 (Milosevic 9) Braga (POR) 1 (Ahmed Hassan 55)

Group I

At Krasnodar, Russia

Krasnodar (RUS) 0 Schalke (GER) 1 (Konoplyanka 11)

At Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg (AUT) 0 Nice (FRA) 1 (Plea 13)

Group J

At Liberec, Czech Republic

Liberec (CZE) 1 (Sevcik 58) Fiorentina (ITA) 3 (Kalinic 8, 23, Babacar 70)

At Baku

Qarabag (AZE) 2 (Dani Quintana 56, Amirguliyev 87) PAOK (GRE) 0

Group K

At Beersheba, Israel

Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR) 0 Sparta Prague (CZE) 1 (Pulkrab 71)

At Milan, Italy

Inter Milan (ITA) 1 (Candreva 67) Southampton (ENG) 0

Group L

At Bucharest

Steaua Bucharest (ROU) 1 (Golubovic 63) FC Zurich (SUI) 1 (Kone 86)

At Ankara

Osmanlispor (TUR) 2 (Rusescu 23, 24) Villarreal (ESP) 2 (N`Diaye 56, Pato 74)