Thursday, September 29, 2011

Europa League Group Stage: Spurs, Cottagers, Brumbies, Potters Grab Wins; Bhoys Settle For Home Draw

Thursday marked Match Day #2 in Europa League group stage play with 24 games on the schedule.

Group A:

At Kazan, Russia:

Giorgos Fotakis notched the equalizer in the 80th minute, and, along with the earlier score from Stefanos Athanasiadis (22'), carried PAOK FC to a 2-2 road draw with FK Rubin Kazan.  Nelson Haedo Valdez (52') and Vladimir Dyadyun (67') scored the goals for the Russian club.


At London:

Roman Pavlyuchenko (60'), Jermain Defoe (61'), and Giovani Dos Santos (65') each scored a goal during a six-minute stretch of the second half as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to defeat visiting Shamrock Rovers 3-1.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. FC Rubin Kazan (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 4)
2. Tottenham Hotspur (GP: 2; GD: +2; PTS: 4)
3. PAOK FC (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 2)
4. Shamrock Rovers (GP: 2; GD: -5; PTS: 0)

Group B:

At Poltava, Ukraine:


Mohamed Abdellaoui (32') and Christian Pander (44') provided the scoring that proved just enough as Hannover 96 held off FC Vorskla Poltava 2-1 on the road.

At Liege, Belgium:

Luis Seijas (57'), Martins Felipe (72'), and Antonio Kanu (79') each scored a goal in the second half as Standard Liege dominated visiting FC Copenhagen 3-0.

GROUP B STANDINGS:


1. Standard Liege (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 4)
2. Hannover 96 (GP: 2; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. FC Copenhagen (GP: 2; GD: -2; PTS: 3)
4. FC Vorskla Poltava (GP: 2; GD: -2; PTS: 0

Group C:

At Warsaw, Poland:


Miroslav Radovic scored the winning goal in the 79th minute as Legia Warsaw edged visiting Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-2.

At Bucharest, Romania:


Wilfred Bouma (42'), Ola Toivonen (88'), and Tim Matavz (90') each tallied once as PSV Eindhoven came from behind and downed home standings Rapid Bucharest 3-1.

GROUP C STANDINGS:


1. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
2. Legia Warsaw (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
3. Rapid Bucharest (GP: 2; GD: -1; PTS: 3)
4. Hapoel Tel-Aviv (GP: 2; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group D:

At Piatra Neamt, Romania:


Alexandre Alphonse (32') and Admir Mehmedi (79') provided the goals that carried FC Zurich to a 2-2 road draw with FC Vaslui in a game played at Piatra Neamt since the Yellow-Greens' own stadium did not meet UEFA criteria.  Wesley Lopes da Silva (PK-62') and Mike Tamwanyera (76') provided the Yellow-Greens' tallies.

At Lisbon, Portugal:


Despite finishing the contest with only ten men, Sporting CP, with Ricky van Wolfswinekel (21') and Emiliano Insua (45') providing the scoring, defeated visiting Lazio 2-1.

GROUP D STANDINGS:


1. Sporting Club Portugal (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
2. FC Vaslui (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 2)
3. Lazio (GP: 2; GD: -1; PTS: 1)
4. FC Zurich (GP: 2; GD: -2; PTS: 1)

Group E:

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Maccabi Tel Aviv and visiting Dynamo Kiev battled to a 1-1 stalemate.  Brown Ideye scored in the 9th minute for the Ukrainian club, but Micha Dor equalized at 44 minutes for the hosts.

At Stoke-on-Trent, England:

Stoke City came back from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat visiting Besiktas 2-1.  Peter Crouch (15') and Jonathan Walters (PK-78') provided the scoring punch for the Potters.

GROUP E STANDINGS:

1. Stoke City (GP: 2; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
2. Besiktas (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 3)
3. Dynamo Kiev (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 2)
4. Maccabi Tel-Aviv (GP: 2; GD: -4; PTS: 1)

Group F:

At Wals-Siezenheim, Austria:


After a scoreless first half, FC Red Bull Salzburg erupted for three goals---courtesy of Santiago Vitor Leonardo (60'), Eulogio Zarate (76'), and Dusan Svento (90')---in the second half as they won going away from visiting Slovan Bratislava.

At Bilbao, Spain:

Igor Gabilondo (20') and Markel Laskurain Susaeta (45') each scored once in the first half as Athletic Bilbao blanked visiting Paris Saint-Germain 2-0.

GROUP F STANDINGS:


1. Athletic Bilbao (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
2. Paris Saint-Germain (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
3. FC Red Bull Salzburg (GP: 2; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
4. Slovan Bratislava (GP: 2; GD: -4; PTS: 0) 

Group G:

At Kharkiv, Ukraine:

Freda Barcellos Taison's 77th-minute equlizer salvaged a 1-1 home draw for FC Metalist Kharkiv in their match with AZ Alkmaar.  Jozy Altidore scored at 26 minutes for the visiting Dutch club.

At Malmo, Sweden:

Nacer Barazite (17') and Alexander Grunwald (37') each scored once as Austria Vienna held off Malmo FF 2-1 on the road.

GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. AZ Alkmaar (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 4)
2. FC Metalist Kharkiv (GP: 2; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. Austria Vienna (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
4. Malmo FF (GP: 2; GD: -4; PTS: 0)

Group H:

At Braga, Portugal:

Joseph Akpala (71') and Ryan Donk (90') provided the scoring as Club Brugge came from behind to knock off Sporting Braga on the road, 2-1.

At Maribor, Slovenia:

Birmingham City came from behind to upend NK Maribor 2-1 on the road.  Chris Burke (64') and Wade Elliot (79') provided the scoring for the Brumbies.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. Club Brugge (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
2. Sporting Braga (GP: 2; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. Birmingham City (GP: 2; GD: -1; PTS: 3)
4. NK Maribor (GP: 2; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group I:

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Almen Abdi's successful penalty kick at 88 minutes lifted Udinese to a 1-1 road draw with Celtic.  Ki Sung-Yeung converted his own penalty kick in the 3rd minute for the Bhoys.

At Rennes, France:

Torres Belen Juanfran provided the late equalizer (87'), enabling Atletico Madrid to come back and earn a 1-1 road draw with Stade Rennes.  Victor Montano scored in the 56th minute for the hosts.

GROUP I STANDINGS:

1. Atletico Madrid (GP: 2; GD: +2; PTS: 4)
2. Udinese (GP: 2; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. Stade Rennes (GP: 2; GD: -1; PTS: 1)
4. Celtic (GP: 2; GD: -2; PTS: 1)

Group J:

At Gelsenkirchen, Germany:

Christian Fuchs doubled (7', 65') as Schalke 04 defeated visiting Maccabi Haifa 3-1.

At Nicosia, Cyprus:

Mihai Costea's equalizer at 65 minutes lifted Steaua Bucharest to a 1-1 road draw with AEK Larnaca.  Miljan Mrdakovic scored for the Cypriot club in the 59th minute.

GROUP J STANDINGS:

1. FC Schalke 04 (GP: 2; GD: +2; PTS: 4)
2. Maccabi Haifa (GP: 2; GD: -1; PTS: 3)
3. Steaua Bucharest (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 2)
4. AEK Larnaca (GP: 2; GD: -1; PTS: 1)

Group K:

At Enschede, Netherlands:

Marc Janko scored twice (45', 57') as FC Twente dominated visiting Wisla Krakow 4-1.

At Odense, Denmark:

Andrew Johnson provided both goals (36', 88') in Fulham's 2-0 road win over Odense Bollklub.

GROUP K STANDINGS:

1. FC Twente (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 4)
2. Fulham (GP: 2; GD: +2; PTS: 4)
3. Odense Bollklub (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
4. Wisla Krakow (GP: 2; GD: -5; PTS: 0)

Group L:

At Moscow:

Matias Suarez (10') and Dieudonne Mbokani (70') provided the goals as RSC Anderlecht defeated Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 on the road.

At Athens, Greece:

Late dramatics for SK Sturm Graz as Thomas Burgstaller (87') and Mario Haas (90') provided the scoring that enabled the Austrian club to come from behind and shock AEK Athens 2-1.

GROUP L STANDINGS:

1. RSC Anderlecht (GP: 2; GD: +5; PTS: 6)
2. Lokomotiv Moscow (GP: 2; GD: -1; PTS: 3)
3. SK Sturm Graz (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
4. AEK Athens (GP: 2; GD: -4; PTS: 0)

No comments: