Europa League roundup: Erik Lamela hat-trick inspires Tottenham Hotspur win

Erik Lamela inspired Tottenham Hotspur to victory over AS Monaco, while Schalke 04 also impressed with the thrashing of Asteras Tripolis in two of this evening’s later Europa League kick offs.

Group G bottom side Rosenborg suffered another defeat at the hands of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, who won 3-0 courtesy of a Matheus brace and Yevhen Shakhov goal.

Leaders Lazio were meanwhile held to a 1-1 draw against Saint-Etienne, who equalised through Valentin Eysseric after Alessandro Matri broke the deadlock early in the second half.

A close race to progress from Group H continued, with Lokomotiv Moscow now top after goals from Dmitri Tarasov, Baye Oumar Niasse and Aleksandr Samedov gave the Russian side a 3-0 win over Skenderbeu.

However, Sporting Lisbon remain hot on their heels thanks to a 3-1 win over Besiktas as Islam Slimani, Bryan Ruiz and Teofilo Gutierrez cancelled out Mario Gomez’s opener for the Turkish side, who remain one point behind their Portuguese opponents in third.

Basel remain top of Group I following a 1-0 away victory over Lech Poznan through a Jean-Paul Boetius goal, while Fiorentina made sure to stay within range of the Swiss side as Khouma Babacar secured a 1-0 win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

In Group J, Spurs continued at the top as Erik Lamela starred with a first half hat-trick in an impressive 4-1 win against Ligue 1 side Monaco, which also included goals from Tom Carroll for the Premier League side and Stephan El Shaarawy for the visitors.

Anderlecht sealed victory with a 2-1 over Qarabag FK as Andy Najar and Stefano Okaka scored for the Belgian giants to cancel out Dani Quintana’s opener for the visitors. Schalke pulled five points clear at the top of Group K thanks to a 2-0 away win against Asteras Tripolis, with former Chelsea and Wigan Athletic frontman Franco Di Santo putting Andre Breitenreiter’s side ahead before an Eric Choupo-Moting brace and Max Meyer finish sealed things for the Royal Blues.

Meanwhile, second place Sparta Prague are now eight points above Asteras after beating Greek side APOEL 3-1, coming from behind to grab all three points with goals from Lukas Julis and David Lafata.

Group L leaders Ahletic Bilbao came from a goal down at home to draw 2-2 wth AZ Alkmaar. Joris van Overeem gave the visitors the lead midway through the first half, but Kike Sola equalised two minutes before the break and a Mikel San Jose penalty early in the second half put Los Leones back on track. AZ levelled the game with just two minutes remaining, however, thanks to Vincent Janssen.

The race for second spot is very much alive, though, after Augsburg beat Partizan Beolgrade 3-1 away from home. Aboubakar Oumarou had put the Serbian hosts in control after 11 minutes, but Jeong-Ho Hong, Paul Verhaegh and Raul Bobadilla reversed the scoringto help their side draw level with their opponents on nine points.