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Arsenal, United advance but Leicester out

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates the first of his double that steered Arsenal past Benfica.
Camera IconPierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates the first of his double that steered Arsenal past Benfica.

English clubs experienced mixed fortunes in the Europa League with Arsenal and Manchester United progressing to the last 16, but Leicester City have crashed out of the competition.

Lacklustre City suffered a tame defeat to Slavia Prague on Thursday, with Lukas Provod and Abdallah Sima striking in the second half to settle the last-32 tie 2-0 on the night and on aggregate.

United eased into the next round after a 0-0 home draw with Real Sociedad for a 4-0 aggregate win over the Spanish side.

With one eye on Sunday's Premier League clash against Chelsea, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started striker Marcus Rashford and defender Harry Maguire on the bench.

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Sociedad missed a 13th-minute penalty as Mikel Oyarzabal blazed his spot-kick wide before a lethargic United came to life and Bruno Fernandes rattled the crossbar with a swerving shot from 15 metres.

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Earlier, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck a late winner as Arsenal dug deep to beat Benfica 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate to advance.

When a dreadful mistake by Dani Ceballos just past the hour mark allowed Rafa Silva to put Benfica 2-1 ahead in Athens it meant Arsenal required two goals to avoid a disappointing exit.

But Kieran Tierney's goal gave Arsenal hope and Aubameyang, who had put the English side ahead in the first half, was in the right place to head home in the 86th minute.

There was still a nervous moment in stoppage time as Benfica hit the woodwork but Arsenal hung on to complete a notable win in Athens.

Elsewhere, Socceroo Milos Daganek's Red Star Belgrade went out to AC Milan who advanced on away goals from a 3-3 aggregate after a 1-1 in Milan.

Franck Kessie put Milan ahead with an early penalty, and Ben levelled for fighting Red Star who had Marko Gobeljic dismissed.

Roma beat Braga 3-1 to progress 5-1 on aggregate while Germany's Hoffenheim were shocked 2-0 by Norwegian minnows Molde, who advanced 5-3 on aggregate.

PSV beat Olympiacos 2-1 but the Greek giants advanced 5-4 on aggregate.

Napoli lost 3-2 on aggregate against Granada despite a 2-1 home win; Villarreal also advanced for Spain 2-1 on the night and 4-2 overall against Red Bull Salzburg; just as Ajax against Lille; and Steven Gerrard's Rangers clobbered Antwerp 5-2 on the night to go through 9-5 overall.

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