European reaction: West Ham, Brighton, Villa & Rangers win; VAR drama for Liverpool

1. Rangers edge out Sparta to bolster qualification hopes

   Rangers 2-1 Sparta Prague

   George O'Neill

   BBC Sport Scotland

   Rangers strengthened their hopes of progressing to the Europa League knockout stages as they survived a nervy finish to beat Sparta Prague at Ibrox.

   First-half strikes from Danilo at Todd Cantwell gave the hosts a deserved 2-0 lead at half-time, before Lukas Haraslin's goal after the break halved the deficit.

   Rangers missed several chances to kill the game off, but held on for a crucial three points despite a late rally by the Czech side.

   Philippe Clement's side now sit second in Group C, two points behind Real Betis and three clear of Sparta.

   

   ReutersCopyright: Reuters

2. Seagulls beat Dutch giants to boost qualification hopes

   Ajax 0-2 Brighton

   

   Brighton boosted their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Europa League with a comfortable win over a youthful Ajax side in Amsterdam.

   Ansu Fati opened the scoring for the visitors with a low effort into the bottom-left corner after collecting Simon Adingra's pass.

   Ansu then turned provider, as Ivory Coast winger Adringa doubled Brighton's lead with a rising close-range effort.

   Brian Brobbey's volley, which hit both posts, was the closest Ajax came to scoring.

   Roberto de Zerbi's side move on to seven points and could clinch their place in the next phase of the tournament if they win at AEK Athens in their penultimate Group B fixture.

   

   ReutersCopyright: Reuters

3. Hammers win to edge closer to knockout stages

   West Ham 1-0 Olympiakos

   

   Simon Stone

   BBC Sport at London Stadium

   Lucas Paqueta's excellent finish 17 minutes from time gave West Ham victory in their Europa League encounter with Greek side Olympiakos to send them to the brink of the knockout stages.

   Paqueta lit up what had been a largely drab contest at the London Stadium when he perfectly met James Ward-Prowse's chipped cross into the penalty area and sent his volley into the corner.

   Although the goal was initially ruled out for offside, the Brazilian put his hands together in prayer, which was rewarded when video assistant referee confirmed Paqueta had been onside as Ward-Prowse delivered the crucial pass.

   The win avenged West Ham's loss to the same opponents in Athens a fortnight ago, which marked the end of an impressive 17-match unbeaten run for David Moyes' side in Europe.

   

   ReutersCopyright: Reuters

4. Thursday's Conference League results

5. Thursday's Europa League results

6. Good morning...

   ...and welcome to today's live page, as we bring you all the reaction to Thursday's European games. There were big wins for Brighton and Rangers, while West Ham and Aston Villa also triumphed.

   But I'm afraid to say I'm going to have to mention that dreaded phrase yet again... VAR controversy. That's right, there was more of it at Toulouse as Liverpool were denied an equaliser deep into stoppage time.

   We'll get you up to to speed on all the Europa League and Europa Conference League action before bringing you the best lines from Friday's Premier League news conferences - and there'll be lots of them!