Thursday, September 16, 2010

Europa League: Group Stage Play Begins: Easy Pickin's For Liverpool; Citizens Win Too; Juve Deadlocked

Thursday marked the opening of group stage play in the Europa League.

Group A:

At Turin, Italy:

Despite blowing a two-goal lead and falling behind, Artjoms Rudnevs' second goal of the match in second-half stoppage time (his earlier goal came at 30 minutes) enabled Lech Poznan to gain a 3-3 road draw with Juventus.  Giorgio Chiellini scored twice (45', 50') for The Old Lady and Alessandro Del Piero scored the go-ahead goal (68') for Juve before the visiting Polish club's stoppage-time equalizer.

At Walz-Siezenheim, Austria:

David Silva (8') and Jo (8') each provided a goal as Manchester City defeated Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 on the road.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Manchester City (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
2. Juventus (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
     Lech Poznan (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Red Bull Salzburg (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group B:

At Thessaloniki, Greece:

Peral Javito scored the only goal of the match at 59 minutes as Aris Salonika spoiled the opening of guests' Atletico Madrid's Europa League title defense with a 1-0 win.

At Leverkusen, Germany:

Patrick Helmes delivered a hat trick (4', 58', 61') as Bayer Leverkusen demolished visiting Rosenborg 4-0.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. Bayer Leverkusen (GP: 1; GD: +4; PTS: 3)
2. Aris Salonika (GP: 1; GD; +1; PTS: 3)
3. Atletico Madrid (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)
4. Rosenborg BK (GP: 1; GD: -4; PTS: 0)

Group C:

At Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France:

Simon Vukcevic (11') and Helder Postiga (34') provided the goals that enabled Sporting to hold off LOSC Lille Metropole 2-1 on the road.

At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Serginho Greene provided the game winner at 84 minutes as Levski Sofia came from behind to defeat guests KAA Gent 3-2.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. Levski Sofia (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. Sporting (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. KAA Gent (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS; 0)
4. LOSC Lille Metropole (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group D:

At Zagreb, Croatia:

Ante Rukavina (18') and Sammir (80') each scored once as Dinamo Zagreb blanked visiting Villarreal 2-0.

At Bruges, Belgium:

Stylianos Malezas' equalizer at 78 minutes lifted PAOK FC to a 1-1 road draw with Club Brugge.  The hosts took a short-lived lead thanks to Dorge Kouemaha at 61 minutes.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. Dinamo Zagreb (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
2. Club Brugge (GP: 1; GD; 0; PTS:1)
     PAOK FC (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Villarreal (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group E:

At Alkmaar, Netherlands:

AZ Alkmaar defeated visiting FC Sheriff 2-1, thanks to goals courtesy of Johann Gudmundsson (14') and Kew Jaliens (83').

At Kiev, Ukraine:

FC BATE Borisov battled hosts Dynamo Kiev to a 2-2 stalemate.  The visiting club from Belarus got goals from Vitali Rodionov (3') and Pavel Nekhaychik (54') while the hosts from the Ukrainian capital got their tallies from Artem Milevskiy (34') and Roman Eremenko (44').  

GROUP E STANDINGS:

1. AZ Alkmaar (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. Dynamo Kiev (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
     FC BATE Borisov (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 0)
4. FC Sheriff (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Group F:

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Wilfried Bony (17'), Jiri Kladrubsky (68'), and Vaclav Kadlec (75') each tallied once as Sparta Prague defeated visiting Palermo 3-2.

At Lausanne, Switzerland:

Vagner Love scored twice (22', PK-80') as CSKA Moscow delivered a 3-0 beatdown on hosts Lausanne-Sport.

GROUP F STANDINGS:

1. CSKA Moscow (GP: 1; GD; +3; PTS: 3)
2. Sparta Prague (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. Palermo (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)
4. Lausanne-Sport (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group G:

At Brussels, Belgium:

Alexander Kerzhakov's first-half hat trick (8', 33', 44') proved more than enough as Zenit Saint Petersburg manhandled RSC Anderlecht 3-1 on the road.

At Athens, Greece:

Rafik Djebbour (12'), Nikos Liberopoulos (65'), and Ignacio Scocco (89') each scored a goal as AEK Athens took care of business, beating visiting Hajduk Split 3-1.

GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. AEK Athens (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
    Zenit Saint Petersburg (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
3. Hajduk Split (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)
     RSC Anderlecht (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group H:

At Stuttgart, Germany:

Jeronimo Baretto Cacau (PK-23'), Christian Gentner (59'), and Serdar Tasci (90') each tallied once as VfB Stuttgart belted visiting BSC Young Boys 3-0.

 At Getafe, Spain:

After scoring an own goal at 44 minutes, Javier Arizmendi scored for his own team at 51 minutes, and Maestre Pedro Rios scored the game winner at 82 minutes as Getafe came from behind to down visiting Odense BK 2-1.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. VfB Stuttgart (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)
2. Getafe (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. Odense BK (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)
4. BSC Young Boys (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group I:

At Budapest, Hungary:

Edmar Aparesida scored twice (24', 74') as FC Metalist Kharkiv demolished hosts Debreceni VSC 5-0.

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

Balazs Dzsudzsak's equalizer (89') salvaged a 1-1 home draw for PSV Eindhoven against Sampdoria.  The Genoese club's goal came at 25 minutes from Fabrizio Cacciatore.

GROUP I STANDINGS:

1. FC Metalist Kharkiv (GP: 1; GD: +5; PTS: 3)
2. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
     Sampdoria (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Debreceni VSC (GP: 1; GD: -5; PTS: 0)

Group J:

At Lviv, Ukraine:

After blowing a two-goal lead, Lucas Barrios equalized at 87 minutes, then, Mario Gotze (who previously scored at 27 minutes) scored the winning goal at 90 minutes as Borussia Dortmund came back to stun hosts FC Karpaty Lviv 4-3.

At Seville, Spain:

Nene-----Anderson Luiz de Carvalho Nene, that is----scored the game's only goal at 76 minutes as Paris Saint-Germain knocked off Sevilla 1-0 on the road.

GROUP J STANDINGS:

1. Borussia Dortmund (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. Paris Saint-Germain (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. FC Karpaty Lviv (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)
4. Sevilla (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)



Group K:

At Naples, Italy:

FC Utrecht held hosts Napoli to a 0-0 stalemate.

At Liverpool, England:

David Ngog scored twice in the second half (PK-56', 90') as Liverpool broke open a close game and ran over visiting Steaua Bucharest 4-1.

GROUP K STANDINGS:

1. Liverpool (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)
2. FC Utrecht (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
     Napoli (GP: 1; GD: 0; PTS: 1)
4. Steaua Bucherest (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group L:

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Thanks to his noggin, Fabian Ernst scored the only goal of the match at 90 minutes as Besiktas defeated visiting CSKA Sofia 1-0.

At Porto, Portugal:

Jorge Pires da Fonseca Rolando (26'), Falcao (66'), and Ruben Micael (79') each contributed a goal as FC Porto ran roughshod over visiting Rapid Vienna 3-0.

GROUP L STANDINGS:

1. FC Porto (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)
2. Besiktas (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. CSKA Sofia (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)
4. Rapid Vienna (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

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