A week out from the Republic of Ireland's World Cup play-off semi-final in Prague, Troy Parrott continued his fine goalscoring form with a goal in the Czech capital as AZ Alkmaar powered their way into the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals.
Irish fans will be hoping the Dubliner can replicate his international form next week when Heimir Halgrimsson’s side bid to reach a play-off final against either Denmark or North Macedonia.
Parrott, whose two goals against Sparta Prague in the first leg had the Eredivisie club in the driving seat, effectively killed off any lingering hopes for the Czech club when he struck close to the hour mark to make it 4-1 on aggregate.
In a swift counter-attack, Parrott was there to meet Denso Kasius’ inviting cross to finish first time to the back of the net for his 33rd goal of the season.
Sven Mijnans made it 3-0 on the night shortly after before Parrott added an assist to his night’s work when setting up Ro-Zangelo Daal, selflessly rolling it across for his team-mate to nudge into an empty net when he could have taken the one-on-one opportunity himself after another lightning break.
Manager Leeroy Echteld was content, with the result firmly put to bed, to call Parrott ashore with quarter of an hour to play.
A moment of brilliance from Emiliano Martinez helped Aston Villa reach a third successive European quarter-final as they saw off Lille in the Europa League.
The Argentina goalkeeper, whose long-term future at Villa remains in doubt, played a big part in John McGinn's second-half opener 15 seconds after making an important save.
Leon Bailey’s late second goal completed a 2-0 win on the night, 3-0 on aggregate, setting up a quarter-final meeting with either Bologna or Roma.
Progress keeps Villa’s dream of a trophy alive and, after falling short in the Conference League and Champions League in the last two seasons, Europa League specialist Unai Emery must be smelling the scent of a fifth title.
As Emery was at pains to point out before the game, these are halcyon days for Villa.
Their journey under the Spaniard has been full of highlights and three successive European quarter-finals are proof of that. Indeed, few would bet against him lifting the trophy in Istanbul in May.
Midtjylland missed all three of their penalties in a decisive shoot-out as Nottingham Forest overcame a first-leg deficit to book their spot in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Forest had trailed 1-0 heading into the second leg but registered a 2-1 away victory in Denmark before prevailing 3-0 on penalties.
Goals have evaded Forest for the best part of a tough campaign but they made their quality count on a couple of occasions and then again from the spot to set up a quarter-final clash with either Stuttgart or Porto.
A much-changed Forest side were looking to overturn their narrow deficit from the City Ground last week but Vitor Pereira's team selection made it seem like the focus was on Premier League survival rather than European qualification.
Forest were dominant but were still unable to breach Elias Rafn Olafsson’s goal when Ryan Yates hit the crossbar and Philip Billing cleared one off the line.
However, they managed to get their deserved opener towards the end of the first period courtesy of Nicolas Dominguez’s header and they edged ahead in the tie through captain Yates’ rocket before Martin Erlic’s strike for the hosts sent the match to extra time.
Lorenzo Lucca and Yates had goals ruled out through offside in extra time and, in the shootout, Midtjylland missed all three from the spot while Forest were perfect.
The Danish team had won both of their previous two Europa League meetings with Forest coming into the match but it was the English side that prevailed when it mattered the most to continue their European adventure.
Ismaila Sarr booked Crystal Palace a Conference League quarter-final meeting with Fiorentina with the extra-time winner in their 2-1 victory at nine-man AEK Larnaca to settle the tie by the same score on aggregate.
The Senegal international also opened the scoring in the 13th minute at the home of the second-placed Cypriot First Division side, where the visitors emerged with more attacking intent than last week's lacklustre Selhurst Park draw.
Enric Saborit powered home a header to draw the sides level in the 63rd minute, then made things much harder for his team-mates when he was sent off for tugging Sarr down 10 minutes later.
Sarr finally broke the deadlock from a Palace corner in the ninth minute of the first period of added time, and came within inches of a hat-trick when he clipped the crossbar twice before the final whistle.
The hosts played out the closing minutes with nine men after Petros Ioannou was dismissed for a dangerous challenge on second-half substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta, who appeared alongside January club record signing Jorgen Strand Larsen for the first time.
Watch Czech Republic v Republic of Ireland on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 7pm on Thursday, 26 March. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app or listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
