Ismaïla Sarr scored twice as Stade Rennais FC clinched their place in the UEFA Europa League knockout stages with a 2-0 win over FC Astana on Thursday, but Girondins de Bordeaux bowed out despite winning in Copenhagen.
FC Kobenhavn 0-1 Girondins de Bordeaux 
The French side arrived in the Danish capital knowing three points would not be enough if Slavia Prague won against Zenit St. Petersburg, who had already secured their place in the next round.
The visitors were fortunate not to go behind before the break. Robert Skov had a shot blocked bravely by Pablo (38′) before Damé N’Doye’s breathtaking half-volley ricocheted off a post (45+1′).
Benoît Costil’s fine save from Sotiriou Papagiannopoulos (64′) kept Les Girondins’ spirits up and hopes alive, as did the fortune they enjoyed when Skov also found the woodwork (71′).
They almost immediately capitalised on their good luck: Yann Karamoah’s work down the right was finished off by Jimmy Briand with an outrageous backheel (73′).
Karamoh might have added to the scoreline with seconds left (90+1′), but sent a shot narrowly wide. In the end, it didn’t matter — Slavia’s 2-0 home win over Zenit meant Bordeaux’s efforts were in vain
Stade Rennais FC 2-0 FC Astana 
Julien Stephan’s men knew a win would lift them over their Kazakh opponents and into the top two places in Group K, synonymous with a spot in the Last 32 for the first time in Rennes’ history.
The hosts dominated at Roazhon Park, and Hatem ben Arfa and Jordan Siebatcheu both came close to opening the scoring before the half-time break.
The breakthrough eventually arrived just after the hour mark, much to the relief of a boisterous and expectant crowd.
Hamari Traoré’s ball gave Sarr the chance to race in behind the visiting back four, and Baktiyar Zaynutdinov’s challenge brought the Senegal international down in the box — Sarr showed no mercy from the penalty spot (68′).
Ivan Mayewski very nearly equalised soon after but Abdoulaye Diallo preserved Rennes’ precious lead with a top-drawer save (70′), and when Sarr swivelled to smash a shot high into the net (73′) the hosts had done enough to ensure they would be in Monday’s knockout stage draw at UEFA HQ in Switzerland.
Olympique de Marseille 1-3 Apollon Limassol 
A miserable group stage campaign ended with a fifth defeat in six games for Marseille, last season’s runners-up in the competition.
Rudi Garcia’s plans were thrown into turmoil early: defender Boubacar Kamara was sent off for the foul that led to Anton Maglica putting the visitors ahead from the penalty spot just eight minutes in.
Florian Thauvin quickly levelled (11′), but that was as good as it got for the hosts, who fell behind again to a Maglica header (30′) and Marios Stylianou (56′) added a third on a trying night for OM, who saw Lucas Ocampos sent off for a second bookable offence in added time (90+3′).
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