Atletico Madrid and Lazio take major steps towards Europa League semi-finals while RB Leipzig edge Marseille

Round-up: Atletico, the 2012 winners, brushed aside Sporting Lisbon 2-0 while late goals from Felipe Anderson and Ciro Immobile gave Lazio a 4-2 win over Salzburg

Atletico Madrid celebrate Antoine Griezmann’s goal (Getty Images)

Atletico Madrid and Lazio took big steps towards reaching the Europa League semi-finals after convincing home first-leg victories, and RB Leipzig also stayed on course with a 1-0 win over Marseille on Thursday. Atletico, the 2012 winners, brushed aside Sporting Lisbon 2-0 while late goals from Felipe Anderson and Ciro Immobile gave Lazio a 4-2 win over Salzburg after the visiting Austrians had twice drawn level.

Atletico, second in Spain’s La Liga, extended their winning home streak in all competitions to nine games after Koke scored inside the opening 30 seconds and Antoine Griezmann added the second shortly before half-time. Both scorers took advantage of sloppy defending, with Diego Costa setting up Koke for the opener while Griezmann capitalised on an error by fellow Frenchman Jeremy Mathieu to fire a crisp low shot into the bottom corner.

Italy’s Lazio ended Salzburg’s 35-game unbeaten run stretching back to August after the Austrian side were undone by late goals from Anderson and Immobile.

Marco Parolo scored the game’s most eye-catching goal with a cheeky back-heel to give Lazio a 2-1 lead after a Valon Berisha penalty had cancelled out Senad Lulic’s opener in Rome. Takumi Minamino made it 2-2 as adventurous Salzburg looked like causing an upset before Anderson and Immobile struck in quick succession.

Germany’s Leipzig, playing in European competition for the first time, put themselves in a good position to progress after a Timo Werner goal on the stroke of half-time sank Marseille.

Reuters