Thursday, September 15, 2011

Europa League: Spurs, Potters, Cottagers Settle For Draws; Shamrock Rovers, Bhoys, Birmingham City Drop Openers

Group stage play in the Europa League commenced on Thursday with 24 games being played.

Group A:

At Thessaloniki, Greece:

Tottenham Hotspur held hosts PAOK FC to a 0-0 stalemate.

At Dublin, Ireland:

Obafemi Martins (3'), Cristian Noboa (52), and Gokdeniz Karadeniz (62') each tallied once as FC Rubin Kazan dominated Shamrock Rovers 3-0 on the road.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

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

Group B:

At Hanover, Germany:

Hannover 96 and visiting Standard Liege battled to a 0-0 stalemate.

At Copenhagen, Denmark:

Morten Nordstrand's successful penalty kick in the 54th minute carried FC Copenhagen to a 1-0 home win over FC Vorskla Poltava.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

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

Group C:

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Ovidiu Herea scored the only goal of the match in the 55th minute as Rapid Bucharest defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 1-0 on the road.

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

Dries Mertens provided the only goal of the match at 21 minutes as PSV Eindhoven downed visiting Legia Warsaw 1-0.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

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

Group D:

At Zurich, Switzerland:

With Federico Insua (4') and Ricky van Wolfswinkel (20') providing the early scoring, Sporting CP defeated FC Zurich 2-0 on the road.

At Rome:

Lazio settled for a 2-2 home draw with FC Vaslui.  Djibril Cisse (PK-35') and Guiseppe Sculli (71') each scored a goal for the homestanding Young Eagles while Wesley Da Silva Lopes scored both goals (59', PK-63') for the visiting Romanian club.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

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

Group E:

At Kiev, Ukraine:

Ognjen Vukojevic's 90th-minute equalizer salvaged a 1-1 home draw for Dynamo Kiev in their match with Stoke City.  Cameron Jerome scored for the visiting Potters in the 55th minute.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Hugo Almeida scored twice in the first half (3', 28') as Besiktas delivered a 5-1 home beatdown on Maccabi Tel Aviv.

GROUP E STANDINGS:

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

Group F:

At Bratislava, Slovakia:

Iker Munain scored the winning goal in the 40th minute as Athletic Bilbao defeated Slovan Bratislava 2-1 on the road.

At Paris:

Anderson Luiz de Carvalho Nene (PK-35'), Mathieu Bodmer (44'), and Jeremy Menez (67') each scored once as Paris Saint-Germain defeated visiting FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-1.

GROUP F STANDINGS:

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

Group G:

At Alkmaar, Netherlands:

Jozy Altidore (21'), Rasmus Elm (PK-33'), Adam Maher (39'), and Brett Holman (49') each scored once as AZ Alkmaar dominated visitng Malmo FF 4-1.

At Vienna, Austria:

Papa Gueye (56') and Ribeiro Cleiton Xavier (PK-79') provided the scoring as FC Metalist Kharkiv came from behind to defeat Austria Vienna 2-1 on the road.

GROUP G STANDINGS:

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

Group H:

At Bruges, Belgium:

Vadis Odjija Ofoe (7') and Nabil Dinar (24') provided the scoring punch that carried Club Brugge to a 2-0 home whitewashing of NK Maribor.

At Birmingham, England:

Helder Barbosa scored twice (6', 88') as Sporting Braga defeated Birmingham City 3-1 on the road.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

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

Group I:

At Udine, Italy:

Antonio Di Natale (39') and Pablo Armero (83') provided the goals that enabled Udinese to come from behind and upend visiting Stade Rennes 2-1.

At Madrid:

Radamel Falcao Garcia (3') and Diego Ribas de Cunha (68') each tallied once as Atletico Madrid blanked visiting Celtic 2-0.   

GROUP I STANDINGS:

1. Atletico Madrid (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
2. Udinese (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. Stade Rennes (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)
4. Celtic (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group J:

At Haifa, Israel:

Mohammed Gadir provided the lone goal of the match in the 54th minute as Maccabi Haifa defeated visiting AEK Larnaca.

At Cluj-Napoca, Romania:

Steaua Bucharest and visiting FC Schalke 04 battled to a 0-0 stalemate.

GROUP J STANDINGS:

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

Group K:

At Krakow, Poland:

In a battle of clubs who lost their UEFA Champions League playoff-round series, Andreas Johansson (35'), Peter Utaka (80'), and Rasmus Jensen (90'+2) provided the scoring that lifted Odense Bollklub to a 3-1 road win over Wisla Krakow.

At London:

Mark Schwartzer's own goal in the 41st minutes ended up costing Fulham two points as the Cottagers had to settle for a 1-1 home draw with FC Twente.  Andrew Johnson scored for the London club in the 19th minute.

GROUP K STANDINGS:

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

Group L:

At Graz, Austria:


Victor Obinna (28') and Dmitri Sychev (29') each scored a goal a minute apart as Lokomotiv Moscow came from behind to top SK Sturm Graz 2-1 on the road.

At Brussels, Belgium:

Matius Suarez delivered a hat trick (16', 41', 84') as RSC Anderlecht dominated visiting AEK Athens 4-1.

GROUP L STANDINGS:


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

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