Thursday, November 05, 2009

Europa League Play Resumes: Shakhtar, Werder, And Galatasaray Advance To Knockout Stage; Cottagers and Toffees Lose

The second half of group stage play in the Europa League commenced on Thursday.

Group A:

At Brussels, Belgium:

Matias Suarez (PK-29'), Mbark Boussoufa (69'), and Jonathan Legear (90'+5) all provided a goal apiece as RSC Anderlecht defeated visiting FC Timisoara 3-1.

At Zagreb, Croatia:

Marco Pantelic (13') and Demy de Zeeuw (45'+1) provided the first-half goalpower that carried Ajax Amsterdam to a 2-0 road win over Dinamo Zagreb.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Ajax (GP: 4; GD: +3; PTS: 8)
2. RSC Anderlecht (GP: 4; GD: +4; PTS: 8)
3. FC Timisoara (GP: 4; GD: -5; PTS: 2)
4. Dinamo Zagreb (GP: 4; GD: -2; PTS: 0*)

*Three points deducted because of fan disturbance in away match against FC Timosoara (subject to appeal). The points deduction, for the time being, eliminated Dinamo Zagreb from European competition. Pending Dinamo Zagreb's appeal, RSC Anderlecht has clinched a berth in the knockout stage of the Europa League.

Group B:

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Petr Janda (79') and Peter Grajciar (82') provided the late scoring that wiped out a two-goal deficit as Slavia Prague salvaged a 2-2 home draw with Valencia (whose goals came from Joaquin Sanchez [PK-22] and Hedwiges Maduro [47']).

At Genoa, Italy:

Genoa, with goals from Rodrigo Palacio (14'), Hernan Crespo (58'), and Giuseppe Sculli (90'+3), defeated visiting Lille 3-2.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. Lille (GP: 4; GD: +6; PTS: 7)
2. Valencia (GP: 4; GD: +1; PTS: 6)
3. Genoa (GP: 4; GD: 0; PTS: 6)
4. Slavia Prague (GP: 4; GD: -6; PTS: 2)

Group C:

At Hamburg, Germany:

Visiting Celtic and Hamburg battled to a 0-0 stalemate.


At Vienna, Austria:

Avihay Yadin (13'), Gil Vermouth (65'), and Bebars Natcho (70') each tallied once as visiting Hapoel Tel-Aviv overpowered Rapid Vienna 3-0.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. Hapoel Tel-Aviv (GP: 4; GD: +6; PTS: 9)
2. Hamburg (GP: 4; GD: 0; PTS: 7)
3. Rapid Vienna (GP: 4; GD: -1; PTS: 4)
4. Celtic (GP: 4; GD: -2; PTS: 2)


Group D:

At Lisbon, Portugal:

Sporting salvaged a 1-1 home draw with FK Ventspils, thanks to Carlos Saleiro's equalizer at 22 minutes. Alessandro Zamperini had put the Latvian club ahead briefly at 15 minutes.


At Heerenveen, Netherlands:

Valeri Domovchiyski scored twice (21', 52') and Artur Wichniarek added the game winner (90'+1) as Hertha Berlin came from behind to top SC Heerenveen 3-2 on the road.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. Sporting (GP: 4; GD: +3; PTS: 10)

2.Hertha Berlin (GP: 4; GD: -1; PTS: 4)

3. SC Heerenveen (GP: 4; GD: -1; PTS: 4)

4. FK Ventspils (GP: 4; GD: -1; PTS: 3)



Group E:

At Rome:

John Arne Riise (69') and Stefano Okaka Chuka (76') each scored a goal as AS Roma came from behind to defeat visiting Fulham 2-1.

At Basel, Switzerland:

FC Basel defeated visitng CSKA Sofia 2-1, thanks to goals courtesy of Marcos Gelabert (35') and Alexander Frei (PK-41', 67')

GROUP E STANDINGS:

1. FC Basel (GP: 4; GD: +5; PTS: 9)
2. AS Roma (GP: 4; GD: +1; PTS: 7)
3. Fulham (GP: 4; GD: 0; PTS:5)
4. CSKA Sofia (GP: 4; GD: -6; PTS: 1)

Group F:

At Bucharest, Romania:

Harry Kewell (22'), Shabani Nonda (24'), and Mehmet Topal (56') provided the scoring that carried Galatasaray to a 3-0 road beatdown of Dinamo Bucharest as the Turkish club clinched a berth in the knockout stage of the Europa League.

At Graz, Austria:

Kostas Katsouranis scored the only goal of the match (70') as Panathinaikos eliminated SK Sturm Graz from European competition with a 1-0 road win.

GROUP F STANDINGS:

1. Galatasaray* (GP: 4; GD: +8; PTS: 10)

2. Panathinaikos (GP: 4; GD: +1; PTS: 9)

3. Dinamo Bucharest (GP: 4; GD: -6; PTS: 3)

4. SK Sturm Graz# (GP: 4 GD: -3; PTS: 1)


*Advanced to knockout stage of UEFA Europa League
#Eliminated from European competition



Group G:


At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Franz Schiemer goal during second-half injury time (90'+3) was the only tally of the match as Red Bull Salzburg defated Levski Sofia 1-0 on the road.

At Villarreal, Spain:

Robert Pires scored twice in the first half (2', PK-15') to help lead Villarreal to a 4-1 home fistbeating of Lazio.


GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. Red Bull Salzburg (GP: 4; GD: +5; PTS: 12)

2. Villarreal (GP: 4; GD: +1; PTS: 6)

3. Lazio (GP: 4; GD: +1; PTS: 6)

4. Levski Sofia (GP: 4; GD: -7; PTS: 0)

Group H:

At Enschede, Netherlands:

Miroslav Stoch doubled (7', 89') as FC Twente defeated visiting FC Sheriff Tiraspol 2-1.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Andre Santos (15'), Bilica (51'), and Alexsandro (Alex) de Souza (67') provided the goals that powered Fenerbahce to a 3-1 home triumph over Steaua Bucharest.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. Fenerbahce (GP: 4; GD: +3; PTS: 9)

2. FC Twente (GP: 4; GD: 0; PTS: 7)

3. FC Sheriff Tiraspol (GP: 4; GD: 0; PTS: 4)

4. Steaua Bucharest (GP: 4; GD: -3; PTS: 2)

Group I:

At Athens, Greece:

AEK Athens settled for a 2-2 home deadlock with BATE Borisov. Ismael Blanco (1') and Gustavo Manduca (38') scored for the hosts, while the visiting club from Belarus got tallies courtesy of Vitali Rodionov (17') and Alyaksandr Valodzka (25')


At Liverpool, England:

SL Benfica blanked hosts Everton 2-0 as Javier Saviola (63') and Oscar Cardozo (76') provided the second-half scoring for the Eagles.

GROUP I STANDINGS:

1. SL Benfica (GP: 4; GD: +8; PTS: 9)

2. Everton (GP: 4; GD: 0; PTS: 6)

3. FC BATE Borisov (GP: 4; GD: -2; PTS: 4)

4. AEK Athens (GP: 4; GD: -4; PTS: 4)

Group J:

At Toulouse, France:

Luiz Adriano (50') and Oleskiy Hai (63') each tallied once in the second half as Shakhtar Donetsk took control of a match that was scoreless at halftime and defeated hosts Toulouse 2-0 to lock up a berth in the round of 32.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Dorge Kouemaha's double (36', 57') was part of Club Brugge's 4-2 road win over Partizan Belgrade, eliminating the hosts from European competition.

GROUP J STANDINGS:

1. Shakhtar Donetsk* (GP: 4; GD: +12; PTS: 12)

2. Club Brugge (GP: 4; GD: +1; PTS: 7)

3. Toulouse (GP: 4 GD: -5; PTS: 4)

4. Partizan Belgrade# (GP: 4; GD: -8; PTS: 0)

*Advanced to the knockout stage of the Europa League

#Eliminated from European competition

Group K:

At Copenhagen, Denmark:

Balazs Dzsudzsak's 72nd-minute equalizer lifted PSV Eindhoven to a 1-1 road draw with FC Copenhagen, whose goal came from Jesper Gronkjaer on a successful penalty kick at 39 minutes.

At Cluj-Napoca, Romania:

Bony Wilfried scored the game winning goal at 90 minutes +5 as Sparta Prague defeated CFR Cluj 3-2 on the road.

GROUP K STANDINGS:

1. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 4; GD: +2; PTS: 8)

2. Sparta Prague (GP: 4; GD: +2; PTS: 7)

3. FC Copenhagen (GP: 4; GD: -2; PTS: 4)

4. CFR Cluj (GP: 4; GD: -2; PTS: 3)

Group L:

At Bremen, Germany:

Tim Borowski (81') and Hugo Almeida (84') came up with critical goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation as Werder Bremen clinched a berth in the knockout stage with their 2-0 home win over Austria Vienna.

At Funchal, Portugal:

Joseba Etxeberria's penalty kick at 85 minutes canceled out Edgar's 64th-minute PK as Athletic Bilbao came from behind to gain a 1-1 road stalemate with CD Nacional.

GROUP L STANDINGS:

1. Werder Bremen* (GP: 4; GD: +5; PTS: 10)

2. Athletic Bilbao (GP: 4; GD: +2; PTS: 7)

3. CD Nacional (GP: 4; GD: -2; PTS: 2)

4. Austria Vienna (GP: 4; GD: -5; PTS: 2)

*Advanced to the knockout stage of the Europa League


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