Valencia, Atletico progress LONDON – Manchester United advanced to the next round of the Europa League Thursday despite losing its first ever home game in the competition 2-1 to Ajax. Javier Hernandez stretched United's 2-0 first-leg advantage in the sixth minute before Aras Ozbiliz made it 1-1 on the night 31 minutes later. Toby Alderweireld scored with three minutes left but Ajax could do no more than scare United, which is in the second-tier tournament after it was eliminated from the Champions League group stage. The English powerhouse progressed 3-2 on aggregate. United will face Atletic Bilbao in the round of 16 after the Spanish side beat Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0 to advance on away goals. Valencia and Atletico Madrid also progressed, as did PSV Eindhoven and Udinese. Valencia beat Stoke 1-0 for the second time in eight days to advance 2-0 on aggregate. Diego Godin scored in the 48th to wrap up a comfortable 4-1 aggregate win for Atletico Madrid over Lazio. Atletico coach Diego Simeone remains unbeaten in nine games since taking charge of the Spanish club at the start of the year, while Lazio has lost three straight to further pressure manager Edy Reja. Udinese continued Italy's interest in style with a 3-0 win at PAOK Thessaloniki that ended the Greek side's 11-match unbeaten run in Europe and clinched progress by the same score. Danilo headed in a corner from Giovanni Pasquale in the sixth minute and Floro Flores fired a free kick past goalkeeper Dario Kresic nine minutes later. Udinese captain Maurizio Domizzi made it 3-0 with a penalty in the 51st after Stelios Malezas had pulled Flores to the ground. Hannover won 1-0 at FC Brugge to advance 3-1, PSV eased past Trabzonspor 4-1 and 6-2 on aggregate, FC Twente advanced 2-0 after a 1-0 win over Steaua Bucharest, and AZ Alkmaar went through 2-0 after a 1-0 win at Anderlecht. Sporting Lisbon beat Legia Warsaw 1-0 to advance 3-2 on aggregate, while fellow Portuguese club Braga was eliminated 2-1 with a 1-0 defeat at Besiktas. Metalist Kharkiv, Standard Liege and Olympiakos also advanced. Manchester City progressed Wednesday with a 4-0 win over defending champion FC Porto.
