London: British sides Liverpool and Rangers grabbed late goals to sneak into the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday, while Villarreal eliminated Napoli to end Italian representation in the competition.
Liverpool, which has won Europe's second-tier cup competition three times, required an 86th-minute header by Netherlands forward Dirk Kuyt to beat Sparta Prague 1-0 in their last-32 second leg and progress by the same scoreline on aggregate.
United States midfielder Maurice Edu's close-range finish in injury time earned Rangers a 2-2 draw at Sporting Lisbon, with the Scottish champions going through on away goals after the first leg finished 1-1 at Ibrox.
Rangers will next play Dutch league leader PSV Eindhoven, which defeated Lille 3-1 to advance 5-3 on aggregate.
Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi scored the winner for Villarreal in its 2-1 second-leg victory over Napoli, with the Spanish club going through by the same score.
Other leading sides to advance on Thursday were Manchester City, Ajax, Zenit St. Petersburg and Bayer Leverkusen. FC Porto and CSKA Moscow qualified for the last 16 earlier this week.
Kuyt glanced home an inswinging corner from Raul Meireles, sparing Liverpool the need for extra time at Anfield.
"It took us a while to score but 1-0 is enough to go through so we're happy with that," Kuyt said. "It was a hard game and we should have finished it off earlier, but at the end of the day a win is all that counts."
Liverpool, which will play Braga in the second knockout round, dominated the second leg but could not find a way past goalkeeper Jaromir Blazek until Kuyt's late strike.
Yannick Djalo's goal seven minutes from time put Sporting 3-2 ahead on aggregate in its entertaining match against Rangers.
Substitute David Healy, though, slid in a cross that Edu couldn't fail to finish off from one meter out, allowing the the 2008 finalists to progress.
"There wasn't much between the teams in the second half at all," Rangers manager Walter Smith said. "With the circumstances of getting the goal, we are pleased to progress."
Second-half goals from Balazs Dzsudzsak, Jeremain Lens and Marcelo put PSV through at the expense of French league leader Lille, which took a 3-2 aggregate lead when Pierre-Alain Frau opened the scoring in the 22nd minute.
After a goalless first leg between Villarreal and Napoli, the Italian side went ahead after 22 minutes of the return match when Marek Hamsik headed underneath goalkeeper Diego Lopez. Napoli's fans spilled onto the field at El Madrigal Stadium when a barrier collapsed in the ensuing celebrations.
Borja Valero set up Nilmar's equalizer for Villarreal in the 43rd before feeding Rossi for the winner in the second minute of first-half added time.
Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko scored twice and midfielder Yaya Toure added a third as emerging English giant Man City eased past Aris 3-0 in the second leg and on aggregate.
"I am very happy, it's the first time I have scored two goals in one game for Manchester City," said Dzeko, who has netted four in total since joining the big-spending northwest club from Wolfsburg in the January transfer window.
Dynamo Kiev was next for City after the Ukrainian side breezed to an impressive 8-1 win over Besiktas over the two legs.
Serbia forward Miralem Sulejmani grabbed a brace for Dutch club Ajax — a four-time European champion — in its 2-0 victory over Anderlecht, sealing a 5-0 win overall. Ajax next plays Spartak Moscow, which went through at the expense of Basel.
Zenit, which beat Rangers in the 2008 final in Manchester, rallied from a two-goal aggregate deficit to eliminate Swiss side Young Boys 4-3 and stay on course for a second Europa League title in four years.
Ammar Jemal put the visitors 3-1 up in the two-leg series but Danko Lazovic and Sergei Semak scored on either side of the break and Roman Shirokov added a third in the 76th to ease the Russian side through.
Simon Rolfes and Michael Ballack scored second-half goals for German side Leverkusen in a 2-0 win over Metalist Kharkiv that completed a 6-0 aggregate win.
FC Twente, Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica also went through to the last 16 on Thursday.
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