Europa League: Lille denied stunning comeback against PAOK in seven-goal thriller

Lille’s winning start to their Europa League campaign came to an end after they were defeated 4-3 by 10-man PAOK.

Things looked bleak for the Ligue 1 side after they were 3-0 down before the break, with Soualiho Meite, Andrija Zivkovic and Giannis Konstantelias all getting on the scoresheet.

However, Benjamin Andre and Hamza Igamane revived hopes of another win with two goals early in the second half, but Zivkovic, who also missed a penalty in the 70th minute, scored his second soon after to restore the visitors' comfortable cushion. 

Igamane secured a brace of his own to set up a thrilling finish, and Andre thought he had rescued a point for Lille in the 98th minute, but his goal was disallowed for a foul following a VAR review.

The seven-goal thriller ended with Tomasz Kedziora picking up his second yellow card in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time, but his team were able to hold on for an impressive victory. 

Fellow French team Lyon suffered no such heartbreak as they maintained their 100% record in the competition with a 2-0 win against Basel.

Captain Corentin Tolisso needed just three minutes to give his side the lead before Afonso Moreira made sure of the victory with the second in the final minute of the match.

Lyon are one of three teams to win each of their first three matches in the Europa League this season, along with Midtjylland and Braga.

Roma, meanwhile, were stunned by a clinical Viktoria Plzen side as they lost 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Prince Adu, assisted by goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka, and Cheick Souare scored inside two first-half minutes as the Serie A side failed to build on Paulo Dybala's penalty nine minutes after the restart. 

Plzen scored with their only two shots on target in the match, producing just 0.16 expected goals (xG) to Roma's 2.36 from their 20 attempts throughout the match. 

Data Debrief: Long-awaited Greek joy against the French

PAOK made some history with their victory, becoming the first Greek side to beat a French team in the Europa League.

The previous nine games between French and Greek sides in the competition had all been won by the French, while scoring at least two goals in every match (20 scored, five conceded).

It was also Lille's first home defeat in the group stages of a major European competition after they went unbeaten in the previous 14 such fixtures, winning each of the last eight, too.