ISTANBUL, Jan 22 (Reuters) - AS Roma took a big step towards qualifying for the Europa League last 16 with a 2-0 win over VfB Stuttgart on Thursday, after Aston Villa and Olympique Lyonnais had earlier become the first teams through to the knockout stage.
Roma midfielder Niccolo Pisilli slotted in to give his side the lead shortly before halftime and added another in stoppage time to seal the win.
Disturbances in the stands marred many of the evening matches. In France, tensions escalated between Nice fans and Go Ahead Eagles supporters, prompting security forces to intervene for several minutes before order was restored, with Nice ultimately securing a 3-1 win.
Utrecht's match against Genk experienced a half-hour delay when Dutch police were forced to clear a section of the stadium. Local media reported that visiting Genk fans without tickets had breached the area, prompting the intervention.
Nottingham Forest suffered a calamitous evening in Braga when Morgan Gibbs-White missed a penalty in the 53rd minute before Ryan Yates scored an own goal less than a minute later to give the home side a 1-0 win.
To compound Forest's troubles, Elliot Anderson was sent off in stoppage time.
Earlier, Villa took the lead in Istanbul in the 25th minute as Jadon Sancho steered a precise downward header into the net after a deflected cross from Matty Cash.
The second half brought a flurry of action and Fenerbahce thought they had equalised in the 75th minute when Kerem Akturkoglu found the net, only for it to be disallowed after an offside in the build-up and Villa held on for the win.
Celtic got off to a flying start in Bologna with two first-half goals, as Reo Hatate struck early and Auston Trusty doubled the lead before the break. However, between the two goals Hatate was sent off after receiving two yellow cards.
Bologna responded through Thijs Dallinga before Jonathan Rowe brought them level with a goal in the 72nd minute as the match ended 2-2.
Lyon secured their place in the next round with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Young Boys, as Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck deep into first-half stoppage time in Bern.
A late goal from Igor Matanovic gave Freiburg a 1-0 win at home against Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
In the Norwegian city of Bergen, a penalty in the tenth minute of stoppage time from Joachim Soltvedt rescued a 3-3 draw for SK Brann against Danish side Midtjylland in a highly entertaining Nordic clash.
Real Betis’ strong run in the competition took a hit as they lost 2-0 at PAOK, where a goal from Andrija Zivkovic and a penalty from Giorgos Giakoumakis secured the Greek side a win.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Christian Radnedge)
