Europa League: Home Wins For Liverpool and Newcastle United; Spurs Gain Road Draw In Slovenia

Group-stage action in the Europa League reached the midway point on Thursday as 24 matches were contested.

Group A:

At Liverpool, England:

Stewart Downing scored the only goal of the match in the 53rd minute as Liverpool moved to the top of Group A with their 1-0 home win over FC Anzhi Makhachkala.

At Bern, Switzerland:

Raul Bobadilla's hat trick (4', 71', PK-81') carried BSC Young Boys past visiting Udinese 3-1.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Liverpool (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 6)
2. FC Anzhi Makhachkala (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. Udinese (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 4)
4. BSC Young Boys (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 3)

Group B:

At Madrid:

Diego Costa (48') and Emre Belozoglu (67') provided the scoring for Atletico Madrid as the Mattress Makers defeated visiting Academica 2-1.

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Pavel Horvath (45'+1) and Frantisek Rajtoral (55') each delivered a goal in FC Viktoria Plzen's 2-1 road win over Hapoel Tel Aviv.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. Atletico Madrid (GP:3; GD: +5; PTS: 9)
2. FC Viktoria Plzen (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 6)
3. Hapoel Tel Aviv FC (GP: 3; GD: -4; PTS: 1)
4. Academica de Coimbra (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 1)

Group C:

At Monchengladbach, Germany:

Filip Daems (PK-33') and Peniel Mlapa (67') each scored a goal as Borussia Monchengladbach blanked visiting Marseille 2-0.

At Nicosia, Cyprus:

Egemen Korkmaz scored the only goal of the match in the 72nd minute as Fenerbahce picked up a road win, 1-0 over AEL Limassol, spoiling ex-Sporting Braga and CFR Cluj boss Jorge Costa as the hosts' new manager.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. Fenerbahce (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
2. Borussia Monchengladbach (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 4)
3. Marseille (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 4)
4. AEL Limassol (GP: 3; GD: -5; PTS: 1)

Group D:

At Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England:

Gabriel Obertan scored the only goal of the match in the 48th minute as Newcastle United blanked visiting Club Brugge 1-0.

At Funchal, Portugal:

Valentin Roberge's equalizer in the 36th minute cancelled out Yoan Gouffran's tally at 30 minutes as CS Maritimo came from behind to gain a 1-1 home draw with Bordeaux.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. Newcastle United (GP: 3; GD: +4; PTS: 7)
2. Bordeaux (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. Club Brugge (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 3)
4. CS Maritimo (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 2)

Group E:

At Bucharest, Romania:

Vlad Chiriches (30') and Raul Rusescu (32') each scored a goal two minutes apart as Steaua Bucharest defeated visiting Molde FK 2-0.

At Stuttgart, Germany:

The match between VfB Stuttgart and visiting FC Copenhagen ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

GROUP E STANDINGS:

1. Steaua Bucharest (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
2. FC Copenhagen (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 4)
3. Molde FK (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 3)
4. VfB Stuttgart (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 2)

Group F:

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

Jeremain Lens' equalizer in the 80th minute lifted PSV Eindhoven to a 1-1 home draw with AIK Solna.  Kwame Karikari scored in the 61st minute for the visiting Swedish club.

At Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine:

Artem Fedetsky (2'), Matheus Leite Nascimento (42'), and Giuliano Victor de Paula (64') provided the goal power as FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk dominated visiting Napoli 3-1.

GROUP F STANDINGS:

1. FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (GP: 3; GD: +5; PTS: 9)
2. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. Napoli (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 3)
4. AIK Solna (GP: 3; GD: -5; PTS: 1)

Group G:

At Szekesfehervar, Hungary:

Marco Caneira scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 32nd minute as Videoton held off visiting FC Basel 2-1.

At Genk, Belgium:

Benjamin De Ceulaer (25') and Ealyaniv Barda (88') provided the goals as KRC Genk came back from an early deficit to top visiting Sporting CP 2-1.

GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. KRC Genk (GP: 3; GD: +4; PTS: 7)
2. Videoton FC (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 6)
3. FC Basel (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 2)
4. Sporting CP (GP: 3; GD: -4; PTS: 1)

Group H:

At Kazan, Russia:

Alan Kasaev scored the lone goal of the match in the 16th minute in Rubin Kazan's 1-0 home win over Neftchi Baku.

At Milan, Italy:

Rodrigo Palacio scored the game's only goal in the 88th minute as Inter Milan defeated visiting Partizan Belgrade 1-0.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. FC Rubin Kazan (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
2. Inter Milan (GP: 3; GD: +4; PTS: 7)
3. Neftchi Baku PFC (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 1)
4. Partizan Belgrade (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 1)

Group I:

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Ladislav Krejci (7'), Vaclav Kadlec (10'), and Ondrej Svejdik (44') each scored a first-half goal as Sparta Prague coasted to a 3-1 home win over Ironi Kiryat Shmona. 

At Lyon, France:

Jimmy Briand scored the winning goal in the 86th minute as Lyon defeated visiting Athletic Bilbao 2-1.

GROUP I STANDINGS:

1. Lyon (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 9)
2. Sparta Prague (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
3. Ironi Kiryat Shmona FC (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 1)
4. Athletic Bilbao (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 1)

Group J:

At Athens:

Toche's late equalizer (90'+1) carried Panathinaikos to a 1-1 home draw with Lazio.  Giourkas Seitaridis' own goal in the 25th minute netted the Young Eagles' lone score.

At Maribor, Slovenia:

Gylfi Sigurdsson's equalizer in the 58th minute lifted Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 road draw with NK Maribor.  Robert Beric scored for the hosts in the 42nd minute.

GROUP J STANDINGS:

1. Lazio (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 5)
2. NK Maribor (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 4)
3. Tottenham Hotspur (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
4. Panathinaikos (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 2)

Group K:

At Trondheim, Norway:

Marlos (81') and Cleiton Xavier (89') Provided the scoring as FC Metalist Kharkiv came from behind in the waning minutes to upend hosts Rosenborg 2-1.

At Vienna, Austria:

Gonzalo Castro scored twice (56', 90'+2) as Bayer Leverkusen demolished Rapid Vienna 4-0 on the road.

GROUP K STANDINGS:

1. Bayer Leverkusen (GP: 3; GD: +5; PTS: 7)
2. FC Metalist Kharkiv (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
3. Rosenborg BK (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 3)
4. Rapid Vienna (GP: 3; GD: -7; PTS: 0)

Group L:

At Helsingborg, Sweden:

Just two minutes after Alvaro Santos' equalizer for Helsingborg (90'+1), Didier Ya Konan scored the game winner (90'+3) for Hannover 96 as the visiting German club won the match 2-1.

At Valencia, Spain:

Pedro Rios scored twice (78', 88') as Levante dominated visiting FC Twente 3-0.

GROUP L STANDINGS:

1. Hannover 96 (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 7)
2. Levante (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
3. FC Twente (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 2)
4. Helsingborgs IF (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 1)