Lyon Beat Crystal Palace 3-2 as Sunderland Snatch Dramatic Late Win in Europe

French side Lyon defeated Crystal Palace 3-2 on Thursday, while Sunderland scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner against Portuguese second-division club Torreense in a night of action across European football.

Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Benfica and Bournemouth also secured victories, continuing their strong starts in their respective European campaigns.

Lyon Punish Palace in Five-Goal Thriller

Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage endured a disappointing return to his former club as Lyon claimed victory over the UEFA Conference League champions.

Corentin Tolisso opened the scoring for Lyon inside the first 10 minutes, before Ernest Nuamah doubled the hosts’ lead in first-half stoppage time.

Yeremy Pino pulled one back for Palace early in the second half. However, Pavel Sulc restored Lyon’s two-goal advantage with a close-range finish.

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Daichi Kamada scored Palace’s second with nine minutes remaining, but Lyon held on to secure their second consecutive win in the league phase.

“It’s a very disappointing return because we lost,” Sage told UEFA.com, adding that his team had fallen well below its usual standards in the first half.

Sunderland Break Torreense Hearts

Sunderland left it late to secure a 2-1 victory over Torreense at the Estadio Municipal de Leiria.

The Portuguese side, which plays in the country’s second division, stunned their Premier League opponents in the 37th minute when centre-back Volnei Feltes struck from around 30 yards.

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris introduced Granit Xhaka and Enzo Le Fee shortly before the hour mark. The changes helped spark a response, with Jules Ahoka scoring the equaliser soon afterwards.

Torreense appeared poised to earn a memorable draw after a lengthy VAR review resulted in no late penalty for Sunderland. However, Noah Sadiki struck in the 93rd minute to seal the visitors’ comeback.

Torreense coach Carlos Simoes described the last-minute goal as a devastating blow.

“The players are in the dressing room, devastated,” he said.

Leverkusen and Bournemouth Impress

Bayer Leverkusen followed their opening 2-0 victory with a commanding 4-0 win away to Polish side Lech Poznan.

Bournemouth also enjoyed a successful European home debut, defeating Sturm Graz 3-0. Evanilson, Rayan and Alvaro Rodriguez scored for the Premier League side.

Juventus produced a late turnaround to beat Celta Vigo 2-1. Hugo Alvarez gave the Spanish hosts the lead before Nick Woltemade equalised for Juventus. Randal Kolo Muani then scored an injury-time winner.

Benfica Defeat Struggling Celtic

Celtic’s difficult start to the season continued with a 4-1 defeat away to Benfica.

The Scottish side have now suffered four defeats in their last five matches, adding further pressure as they seek to regain consistency.

AC Milan also recorded a 4-0 victory over Red Bull Salzburg, with teenager Alphadjo Cisse scoring a hat-trick. Goncalo Ramos completed the scoring in the 72nd minute, although a red card for Filippo Terracciano took some of the shine off the result.

Thursday’s matches provided a mix of emphatic wins, narrow victories and late drama as European clubs continued their campaigns.