Thursday, October 23, 2014

Europa League: Group Stage At Midway Point

Group-stage play in the Europa League reached the midway point on Thursday with 23 games.

Group A:

At Villarreal, Spain:

Luciano Vietto scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 57th minute as Villarreal dominated visiting FC Zurich 4-1.

At Monchengladbach, Germany:

Ibrahima Traore scored twice (11', 67') as Borussia Monchengladbach made mince meat of visiting Apollon Limassol 5-0.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Villarreal (GP: 3; GD: +7; PTS: 7) 
2. Borussia Monchengladbach (GP: 3; GD: +5; PTS: 5)
3. Apollon Limassol (GP: 3; GD: -8; PTS: 3)
4. FC Zurich (GP: 3; GD: -4; PTS: 1)



Group B:

At Turin, Italy:

Cristian Molinaro (35') and Amauri (58') each delivered a goal in Torino's 2-0 home blanking of HJK Helsinki.

At Bruges, Belgium:

Victor Vazquez delivered the stoppage time equalizer (90'+2) that enabled Club Brugge to salvage a 1-1 home draw with FC Copenhagen.  Daniel Amartley scored for the Lions in the 89th minute.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. Torino FC (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
2. Club Brugge (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 5)
3. FC Copenhagen (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
4. HJK Helsinki (GP: 3; GD: -7; PTS: 0)



Group C:

At London:

Harry Kane delivered a hat trick (13', 76',81') and Erik Lamela added a double (30', 66') enabled Tottenham Hotspur to smother visiting Asteras Tripoli 5-1.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Four different goal scorers, starting with Veli Kavlak in the 18th minute, each tallied once as Besiktas went to the Serbian capital and demolished Partizan Belgrade 4-0.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. Besiktas (GP: 3; GD: +4; PTS: 5)
2. Tottenham Hotspur (GP: 3; GD: +4; PTS: 5)
3. Asteras Tripoli FC (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 4)
4. Partizan Belgrade (GP: 3; GD: -6; PTS: 1)



Group D:

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Stefan Scepovic (73') and Stefan Johansen (79') each tallied once as Celtic held off visiting FC Astra Giurgiu 2-1.

At Wals-Siezenheim, Austria:

Alan Carvalho produced a hat trick (14', 45', 52') as FC Red Bull Salzburg doubled up visiting Dinamo Zagreb 4-2.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. Celtic FC (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 7)
2. FC Red Bull Salzburg (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
3. Dinamo Zagreb (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
4. FC Astra Giurgiu (GP: 3; GD: -6; PTS: 0)



Group E:

At Estoril, Portugal:

Yuri Zhirkov scored the winning goal in the 80th minute as Dynamo Moscow defeated Estoril 2-1 on the road.

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

Nikolaos Karelis' equalizer in the 87th minute lifted Panathinaikos to a 1-1 road draw with PSV Eindhoven.  Memphis Depay scored for the hosts in the 44th minute.

GROUP E STANDINGS:

1. Dynamo Moscow (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 9)
2. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 4)
3. Estoril (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
4. Panathinaikos (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 1)



Group F:

At Milan, Italy:

Inter Milan battled visiting Saint-Etienne to a 0-0 stalemate.

At Kiev, Ukraine:

Muarem Muarem scored the only goal of the match in the 21st minute as Qarabag FK blanked FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1-0 on the road, becoming the first club from Azerbaijan to win a UEFA group-stage contest.

GROUP F STANDINGS:

1. Inter Milan (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
2. Qarabag FK (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 4)
3. Saint-Etienne (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
4. FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 1)



Group G:

At Rijeka, Crotia:

Andrej Kramaric delivered a hat trick (63', 71', PK-76') as HNK Rijeka defeated visiting Feyenoord Rotterdam 3-1.

At Liege, Belgium:

Sevilla held home-standing Standard Liege to a 0-0 stalemate.

GROUP G STANDINGS:

1. Sevilla (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 5)
2. Standard Liege (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. HNK Rijeka (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 4)
4. Feyenoord Rotterdam (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 3)



Group H:

At Krasnodar, Russia:

Kevin De Bruyne scored twice (46', 80') as VfL Wolfsburg defeated FC Krasnodar 4-2 on the road.

At Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France:

Everton held hosts LOSC Lille Metropole to a 0-0 deadlock.

GROUP H STANDINGS:

1. Everton (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 5)
2. VfL Wolfsburg (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 4)
3. LOSC Lille Metropole (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
4. FC Krasnodar (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 2)



Group I:

At Bratislava, Slovakia:

David Lafata (56'), Tiemoko Konate (61'), and Ladislav Krejci (81') delivered the goals in Sparta Prague's 3-0 road domination of FC Slovan Braitislava.

At Bern, Switzerland:

Guillaume Hoarau (52') and Leonardo Bertone (90'+2) each scored once as BSC Young Boys blanked visiting Napoli 2-0.

GROUP I STANDINGS:

1. Sparta Prague (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
2. BSC Young Boys (GP: 3; GD: +5; PTS: 6)
3. Napoli (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 6)
4. FC Slovan Bratislava (GP: 3; GD: -10; PTS: 0)



Group J:

At Aalborg, Denmark:

Nicolaj Thomsen scored twice (39', 90'+1) as Aalborg BK dominated visiting Dynamo Kiev 3-0.

At Bucharest, Romania:

Raul Rusescu scored twice (17', 46') to power Steaua Bucharest past visiting Rio Ave 2-1.

GROUP J STANDINGS:

1. Steaua Bucharest (GP: 3; GD: +5; PTS: 6)
2. Dynamo Kiev (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 6)
3. Aalborg BK (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 6)
4. Rio Ave (GP:3; GD: -5; PTS: 0)



Group K:

At Barysaw, Belarus:

Dynamo Minsk settled for a 0-0 home draw with Guingamp.

At Thessaloniki, Greece:

Juan Manuel Vargas scored the only goal of the match in the 38th minute as Fiorentina defeated PAOK FC 1-0 on the road.

GROUP K STANDINGS:

1. Fiorentina (GP: 3; GD: +7; PTS: 9)
2. Guingamp (GP: 3; GD: -1; PTS: 4)
3. PAOK FC (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
4. FC Dinamo Minsk (GP: 3; GD: -8; PTS: 1)



Group L:

At Trabzon, Turkey:

In the lone Thursday Group L contest, Trabzonspor, with goals from Mustapha Yatabare (54') and Kevin Constant (87') blanked visiting Lokeren 2-0.

GROUP L STANDINGS:

1. Legia Warsaw (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 9)
2. Trabzonspor (GP: 3; GD: +2; PTS: 6)
3. Lokeren (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 3)
4. FC Metalist Kharkiv (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

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