Thursday, September 17, 2009

Europa League Group Stage Play Begins

Thursday marked the start of group stage play in the renamed UEFA Europa League (the ex-UEFA Cup).

Group A:

At Amsterdam, Netherlands:

FC Timisoara held hosts Ajax Amsterdam to a 0-0 draw.

At Zagreb, Croatia:

Goals from Victor Bernandez (74') and Jonathan Legear (88') paced RSC Anderlecht to a 2-0 road win over Dinamo Zagreb.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

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

Group B:

At Villeneuve d'Ascq, France:

Gervinho's late equalizer (86') enabled LOSC Lille Metropole to salvage a 1-1 home deadlock with Valencia. The Spanish club got their one goal at 78 minutes from Juan Mata.

At Genoa, Italy:

Alberto Zapater (4') and Giuseppe Sculli (39') provided the goalpower that guided Genoa to a 2-0 home win over Slavia Prague.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

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

Group C:

At Tel-Aviv, Israel:

Nemanja Vucicevic (75') and Maaran Lala (88') provided the goals in the final fifteen minutes of a match that saw Hapoel Tel-Aviv come from behind to topple visiting Celtic 2-1.

At Vienna, Austria:

Steffen Hofmann (35'), Nikica Jelavic (44'), and Christopher Drazan (76') each contributed a goal as Rapid Vienna shocked and overpowered visiting Hamburg 3-0.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

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

Group D:

At Berlin:

In a first ever match in group stage play of a UEFA competition for any club from Latvia, FK Ventspils gained a 1-1 road stalemate with Hertha Berlin, thanks to Edgars Guaracs' equalizer at 48 minutes. The club from the German capital got their tally from Lakasz Piszczek at 34 minutes.

At Heerenveen, Netherlands:

Liedson's hat trick (17', 40', 88') made the difference as Sporting outlasted SC Heerenveen 3-2 on the road.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. Sporting Club Portugal (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. FK Venspils (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. Hertha BSC Berlin (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. SC Heerenveen (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group E:

At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Diomansky Kamara's 65th-minute equalizer enabled Fulham to gain a 1-1 road stalemate with CSKA Sofia. Michel had put the hosts up 1-0 with his goal three minutes earlier.

At Basel, Switzerland:

Perhaps symptomatic of their domestic struggles this season, AS Roma were blanked on the road 2-0 by FC 1893 Basel. The Swiss club were fortified by goals from Carlitos (11') and Federico Almerares (87').

GROUP E STANDINGS:

1. FC 1893 Basel (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
2. Fulham (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
3. CSKA Sofia (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. AS Roma (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group F:

At Athens, Greece:

Goals from Elano (5') and Milan Baros (48') helped power Galatasaray to a 3-1 road triumph over Panathinaikos.

At Graz, Austria:

Gabriel Tamas scored the only goal of the match (80') as Dinamo Bucharest posted a 1-0 road win over SK Sturm Graz.

GROUP F STANDINGS:

1. Galatasaray (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS; 3)

2. Dinamo Bucharest (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)

3. SK Sturm Graz (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS; 0)

4. Panathinaikos (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group G:

At Rome:

Two late goals--from Franz Schiemer (82') and Marc Janko (90"+3) powered FC Red Bull Salzburg to a 2-1 come-from-behind win on the road at Lazio's expense.

At Villarreal, Spain:

Nilmar was the man as his 72nd-minute tally powered Villarreal to a 1-0 home win over Levski Sofia.

GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. FC Red Bull Salzburg (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)

2. Villarreal (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS; 3)

3. Lazio (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

4. Levski Sofia (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group H:

At Bucharest, Romania:

FC Sheriff held hosts Steaua Bucharest to a 0-0 stalemate.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Blaise Nkufo's double (75', 80') enabled FC Twente to come from behind and edge Fenerbahce 2-1 on the road.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. FC Twente (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)

2. FC Sheriff (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)

Steaua Bucharest (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)

4. Fenerbahce (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group I:

At Lisbon, Portugal:

Thanks to goals from Nuno Gomes (36') and Oscar Cardoza (41'), SL Benfica got their campaign in Group I to a rousing start as they blanked visiting BATE Borisov 2-0.

At Liverpool, England:

In stark contrast to their sleeping-pill start on the domestic stage in England, Everton got goals from Joseph Yobo (10'), Sylvain Distin (17'), Pienaar (37'), and Jo (82') as the Toffees brassknuckled visiting AEK Athens 4-0.

GROUP I STANDINGS:

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

2. SL Benfica (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)

3. FC BATE Borisov (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

4. AEK Athens (GP: 1; GD: -4; PTS: 0)

Group J:

At Bruges, Belgium:

FC Shakhtar Donetsk began their defense of the old UEFA Cup crown with a 4-1 road thumping of Club Brugge. Olexiy Gai (11'), William (19'), Darijo Srna (35'), and Konstyantyn Kravchenko (75') each contributed a tally for the Ukrainian club.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

With goals from Pantxi Siriex (30', 38') and Antoine Devaux (49'), Toulouse came from behind to down hosts Partizan Belgrade 3-2.

GROUP J STANDINGS:

1. Shakhtar Donetsk (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)

2. Toulouse (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)

3. Partizan Belgrade (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

4. Club Brugge (GP:1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group K:

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Jonathan Reis scored twice (80', PK-90'+1) as PSV Eindhoven gained a 2-2 road deadlock with Spart Prague. Roman Hubnik (76') and Martin Zeman (87') each scored a goal for the hosts.

At Cluj-Napoca, Romania:

Julio Culio (53') and Lacina Traore (75') provided the second half tallies as CFR 1907 Cluj blanked visitin FC Copenhagen 2-0.

GROUP K STANDINGS:

1. CFR 1907 Cluj (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)

2. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)

3. Sparta Prague (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)

4. FC Copenhagen (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group L:

At Bilbao, Spain:

With goals from Fernando Llorente (PK-8', 24') and Iker Munian (56'), Athletic Bilbao smothered visiting Austria Vienna 3-0.

At Funchal, Portugal:

Werder Bremen, with goals from Torsten Frings (PK-39') and Claudio Pizarro (55', 85') topped CD Nacional 3-2 on the road.

GROUP L STANDINGS:

1. Athletic Bilbao (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)

2. Werder Bremen (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)

3. CD Nacional (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

4. Austria Vienna (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)


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