Bournemouth produced an impressive 3-0 victory over 10-man AC Milan on Thursday to maintain their perfect start to the UEFA Europa League campaign, while Juventus were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Rennes.
The Premier League side took control of the league-phase encounter at the Vitality Stadium after AC Milan goalkeeper and captain Mike Maignan was sent off early in the match for a foul on Tyler Adams.
Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier converted first-half penalties to put Bournemouth firmly in control before Amine Adli sealed the emphatic victory with a superb free-kick in the 84th minute.
The result extended Bournemouth’s winning run in their maiden Europa League campaign to three matches, following victories over Real Sociedad and Sturm Graz.
Bournemouth also became the first English club since Sunderland in the 1973/74 season to win their first three European fixtures.
Speaking after the match, Kluivert said the team’s confidence had grown following their previous victories.
“It means a lot. We came off two victories, so that gave us a good feeling for this game,” he told TNT Sports.
“We trust ourselves. It doesn’t matter who we play against. We know what we’re capable of, and I think we showed that today.”
Bournemouth will face Sparta Prague and Celta Vigo in November as they seek to maintain their strong run in the competition.
Juventus suffered a frustrating night after their late goal was ruled out for offside in a 2-2 draw against Rennes.
The Italian side took an early lead through Zeki Celik after five minutes, but Musa Al-Taamari capitalised on a defensive mistake to equalise for the French visitors 10 minutes later.
Boulaye Dia then put Rennes ahead shortly before half-time.
Juventus fought back after the break, with Nick Woltemade converting a penalty following a handball to restore parity.
The hosts appeared to have snatched victory when Jhon Lucumi scored in the 88th minute, but a VAR review ruled out the goal for a marginal offside infringement.
The draw left Juventus among the teams dropping points in the third round of fixtures.
Bayer Leverkusen also recorded their third consecutive victory, defeating OFI Crete 2-0 away from home through a brace from Jonas Hofmann.
Hungarian side Ferencvaros remained level with Leverkusen on nine points after securing a convincing 4-1 win over Portuguese club Torreense.
Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise also impressed, beating Hapoel Be’er Sheva 4-0.
Union Saint-Gilloise, Sunderland and Juventus had seven points each after three matches, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Sunderland missed an opportunity to claim all three points after drawing 1-1 with Lech Poznan in Poland.
Timur Tutierov gave the English side a second-half lead, but they were unable to secure victory despite dominating much of the contest.
Crystal Palace recovered from their heavy weekend defeat to Brighton to draw 2-2 with Besiktas in Istanbul, while Celtic suffered their third consecutive defeat, losing 2-1 to Celta Vigo.
Elsewhere, Marseille lost 1-0 to Sturm Graz, while Lyon were beaten 3-0 by Hoffenheim.
In the UEFA Conference League, former Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah opened the scoring from the penalty spot as Trabzonspor defeated Scottish side Hearts 2-0.
Brighton were held to a goalless draw by Czech side Jablonec, while Monaco secured a 3-0 victory over Freiburg.
Ajax also claimed a 2-0 win against Atalanta to round off another eventful night of European football.