Action from the Europa League's group stage resumed on Thursday with 24 games. Group A: At Krasnodar, Russia: Lorenzo Melgarejo scored twice (3', 71') as Kuban Krasnodar demolished visiting FC St. Gallen 4-0. At Swansea, Wales: Daniel Parejo scored the only goal of the match in the 20th minute as Valencia clinched a berth in the knockout stage with a 1-0 win on the road at Swansea City's expense. GROUP A STANDINGS: 1. x-Valencia (GP: 5; GD: +5; PTS: 12) 2. Swansea City AFC (GP: 5; GD: +3; PTS: 8) 3. FC Kuban Krasnodar (GP: 5; GD: 0; PTS: 5) 4. z-FC St. Gallen (GP: 5; GD: -8; PTS: 3) x-Clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group B: At Odessa, Ukraine: Anatoliy Didenko's stoppage-time game winner (90'+1) lifted FC Chornomorets Odessa to a 1-0 home win over Dinamo Zagreb. At Sofia, Bulgaria: PFC Ludogorets Razgrad, with Roman Bazjak scoring both goals (38', 79'), blanked visiting PSV Eindhoven and locked up the Group B title. GROUP B STANDINGS: 1. xy-PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (GP: 5; GD: +8; PTS: 13) 2. PSV Eindhoven (GP: 5; GD: 0; PTS: 7) 3. FC Chornomorets Odessa (GP: 5; GD: -1; PTS: 7) 4. z-Dinamo Zagreb (GP: 5; GD: -7; PTS: 1) xy-Won Group B and clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group C: At Boras, Sweden: Marco Meilinger scored the only goal of FC Red Bull Salzburg's road win over IF Elfsborg in the 39th minute. At Esbjerg, Denmark: Esbjerg fB, with a two-goal performance from Mick van Buren (18', 79'), defeated visiting Standard Liege 2-1. GROUP C STANDINGS: 1. x-FC Red Bull Salzburg (GP: 5; GD: +9; PTS: 15) 2. x-Esbjerg fB (GP: 5; GD: +3; PTS: 12) 3. z-Standard Liege (GP: 5; GD: -5; PTS: 1) 4. z-IF Elfsborg (GP: 5; GD: -7; PTS: 1) Group D: At Kazan, Russia: Dejan Mezga's equalizer in the 86th minute lifted NK Maribor to a 1-1 road draw with Rubin Kazan. Bibras Natkho scored in the 43rd minute for the already knockout-stage-bound hosts. At Wigan, England: Bernard Malanda-Adje scored the winning goal in the 88th minute as SV Zulte Waregem knocked off Wigan Athletic 2-1 on the road and jumped the Lactics into second place in Group D. GROUP D STANDINGS: 1. xy-Rubin Kazan (GP: 5; GD: +8; PTS: 11) 2. SV Zulte Waregem (GP: 5; GD: -4; PTS: 7) 3. Wigan Athletic FC (PG: 5; GD: 0; PTS: 5) 4. NK Maribor (PG: 5; GD: -4; PTS: 4) xy-Won Group D and clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage Group E: At Guimaraes, Portugal: A 0-0 draw on the road against Pacos de Ferreira enabled Fiorentina to stay on top of the Group E standings. At Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine: FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, with four players each scoring a goal (Roman Zozulya scoring the game winner in the 56th minute), defeated visiting Padurii Targu Jiu 4-1. GROUP E STANDINGS: 1. x-Fiorentina (GP: 5; GD: +8; PTS: 13) 2. x-FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (GP: 5; GD: +7; PTS: 12) 3. z-Pacos de Ferreira (GP: 5; GD: -7; PTS: 2) 4. z-CS Pandurii Targu Jiu (GP: 5; GD: -8; PTS: 1) x-Clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group F: At Bordeaux, France: Martin Lanig scored the only goal of the match as Eintracht Frankfurt locked up a knockout-stage berth in clinched top spot in Group F with their 1-0 road win over Bordeaux. At Nicosia, Cyprus: A 0-0 stalemate on road for Maccabi Tel Aviv against APOEL FC place the Israeli club on the cusp of advancing to the Round of 32. GROUP F STANDINGS: 1. xy-Eintracht Frankfurt (GP: 5; GD: +7; PTS: 12) 2. Maccabi Tel Aviv FC (GP: 5; GD: +1; PTS: 8_ 3. APOEL FC (GP: 5; GD: -3; PTS: 5) 4. z-Bordeaux (GP: 5; GD: -5; PTS: 3) xy-Won Group F and clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group G: At Genk, Belgium: Bennard Yao Kumordzi scored the game winner at 37 minutes as KRC Genk both clinched a knockout-stage berth and won the Group G title by beating visiting Dynamo Kiev 3-1. At Vienna, Austria: Branko Boskovic scored the winning goal in the 64th minute as Rapid Vienna kept their hopes of advancing to the knockout rounds alive by eliminating visiting FC Thun 2-1. GROUP G STANDINGS: 1. xy-KRC Genk (GP: 5; GD: +4; PTS: 11) 2. Dynamo Kiev (GP: 5; GD: +2; PTS: 7) 3. Rapid Vienna (GP: 5; GD: 0; PTS: 6) 4. z-FC Thun (GP: 5; GD: -6; PTS: 3) xy-Won Group G and clinched berth in Europa League group stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group H: At Liberec, Czech Republic: Francis Coquelin scored the winning goal in the 73rd minute as SC Freiburg held off home-standing Slovan Liberec 2-1. At Seville, Spain: Ruben Fernandes' equalizer in the 90th minute carried Estoril to a 1-1 road draw with Sevilla. Kevin Gameiro scored in the seventh minute for the hosts, who still locked up a berth in the knockout stage. GROUP H STANDINGS: 1. x-Sevilla (GP: 5; GD: +3; PTS: 9) 2. SC Freiburg (GP: 5; GD: -1; PTS: 6) 3. FC Slovan Liberec (GP: 5; GD: 0; PTS: 6) 4. z-GD Estoril Praia (GP: 5; GD: -2; PTS: 3) x-Clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group I: At Lyon, France: Bafetimbi Gomis scored the only goal of the match in the 66th minute as Lyon locked up a berth in the knockout stage with a 1-0 home win over Real Betis, who also punched their ticket for the Round of 32. At Rijeka, Croatia: HNK Rijeka and visiting Vitoria de Guimaraes were both eliminated from the tournament following their 0-0 stalemate. GROUP I STANDINGS: 1. x-Lyon (GP: 5; GD: +2; PTS: 9) 2.x-Real Betis (GP: 5; GD: +1; PTS: 8) 3.z-Vitoria de Guimaraes (GP: 5; GD: +2; PTS: 5) 4.z-HNK Rijeka (GP: 5; GD: -5; PTS: 3) x-Clinched berth in Europa League group stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group J: At Trabzon, Turkey: Olcan Adin delivered a hat trick (23', 61', 81') as Trabzonspor clinched a Round-of-32 berth by eliminating visiting Apollon Limassol 4-2. At Warsaw, Poland: Brayan Perea (24') and Felipe Anderson Pereira Gomes (57') delivered the scoring for Lazio as the visiting Young Eagles laid claim to a Europa League knockout-stage berth after their 2-0 shutout of Legia Warsaw. GROUP J STANDINGS: 1. x-Trabzonspor (GP: 5; GD: +7; PTS: 13) 2. x-Lazio (GP: 5; GD: +4; PTS: 11) 3. z-Apollon Limassol (GP: 5; GD: -3; PTS: 4) 4. z-Legia Warsaw (GP: 5; GD: -8; PTS: 0) x-Clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group K: At Ramenskoye, Russia: Alexandru Epureanu scored in the 58th minute as FC Anzhi Makhachkala gained a 1-1 home draw with FC Sheriff Tiraspol, eliminating the visiting Moldovan club from the tournament, despite Ismail Isa's tally in the 52nd minute. At Tromso, Norway: Adnan Causevic (OG-63') and Mousa Dembele (76') provided the scoring as Tottenham Hotspur clinched the Group K crown after their 2-0 road blanking of Tromso IL. GROUP K STANDINGS: 1. xy-Tottenham Hotspur (GP: 5; GD: +10; PTS: 15) 2. x-FC Anzhi Makhachkala (GP: 5; GD: 0; PTS: 8) 3. z-FC Sheriff Tiraspol (GP: 5; GD: -3; PTS: 3) 4. z-Tromso IL (GP: 5; GD: -7; PTS: 1) xy-Won Group K and clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage x-Clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage z-Eliminated from European competition Group L: At Astana, Kazakhstan: Lucas Perez (54') and Stelios Kitsiou (90'+2) provided the scoring as PAOK FC defeated FC Shakhter Karagandy 2-0 on the road and clinched a berth in the Europa League's knockout stage, eliminating the hosts from the competition in the process. At Alkmaar, Netherlands: Nemanja Gudelj (37') and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (90'+5) delivered the goals as AZ Alkmaar earned a berth in the knockout stage after they blanked visiting Maccabi Haifa 2-0. GROUP L STANDINGS: 1. x-PAOK FC (GP: 5; GD: +4; PTS: 11) 2. x-AZ Alkmaar (GP: 5; GD: +4; PTS: 11) 3. z-Maccabi Haifa FC (GP: 5; GD: -4; PTS: 2) 4. z-FC Shakhter Karagandy (GP: 5; GD: -4; PTS: 2) x-Clinched berth in Europa League knockout stage z-Eliminated from European competition
Two games in Group D of the UEFA Champions League were contested on Wednesday.
At Khimki, Russia: Arjen Robben (17'), Mario Gotze (56'), and Thomas Muller (PK-65') delivered the goalpower as knockout-stage-bound Bayern Munich (shown here celebrating) notched a 3-1 road win over CSKA Moscow. It was the defending champions' tenth straight Champions League victory.
AFP photo
At Manchester, England: Alvaro Negredo scored the winning goal in the 78th minute as Manchester City secured a berth in the knockout stage with a 4-2 home doubling of FC Viktoria Plzen. Here, we see the Citizens' Joleon Lescott make a move for the ball.
Two game in Group C of the UEFA Champions League were contested on Wednesday.
At Brussels, Belgium:
Rodrigo Moreno Machado scored the winning goal in the 90th minute as SL Benfica remained very much alive in the race for a Champions League knockout-stage berth with a 3-2 road win over RSC Anderlecht, eliminating the hosts from European competition. Here's the Eagles' Nemanja Matic using his noggin (he scored in the 34th minute). Photo from ESPN FC website
At Paris: Edinson Cavani scored the winning goal in the 90th minute as ten-man Paris Saint-Germain, already bound for the knockout stage, clinched the Group C title with a 2-1 home win over Olympiacos. Yep, that's ol' Edinson being mobbed by teammates after he scored his late winner.
Two games from Group B of the UEFA Champions League were played on Wednesday.
At Madrid: Gareth Bale (37', that's him here), Alvaro Arbeola (51'), Angel di Maria (63'), and Isco (81') each scored a goal as Real Madrid dominated visiting Galatasaray 4-1.
Reuters photo
At Turin, Italy: Arturo Vidal's hat trick (PK-29', PK-60', 64', that's him celebrating) carried Jeventus to a 3-1 home win over FC Copenhagen, eliminating the visiting Lions from contention for a Champions League knockout-stage berth.
Eight UEFA Champions League group-stage games---including two in Group A---were contested on Wednesday.
At Leverkusen, Germany: Five different goal scorers----beginning with Antonio Valencia in the 22nd minute----each tallied once as Manchester United locked up a berth in the knockout stage by demolishing Bayer Leverkusen 5-9 on the road. Here's the Red Devils' Chris Smalling celebrating with Wayne Rooney after he scored in the 77th minute.
At Donetsk, Ukraine: Douglas Costra scored twice (68', 87') as Shakhtar Donetsk climbed into second place in Group A after their 4-0 home demolition of Real Sociedad as the Spanish club were eliminated from European competition. Here, we see a linesman's flag go up as Shakhtar's Luiz Adriano attempts a shot.
Two games from Group H of the UEFA Champions League were contested on Tuesday.
At Glasgow, Scotland:
Kaka (13'), Cristian Zapata (49'), and Mario Balotelli (60',) each delivered a goal as AC Milan ended Celtic's hopes of staying in European competition with a 3-0 road domination at the Bhoys' expense. Here are members of the happy Rossoneri celebrating after Super Mario's goal. Photo from ESPN FC website
At Amsterdam, Netherlands:
Thulani Serero (19') and Danny Hoesen (42') each scored a goal in the first half as Ajax Amsterdam held off visiting Barcelona 2-1 to stay alive in the race for a berth in the Champions League's knockout stage.
Two Tuesday Group G contests from the UEFA Champions League were played.
At Saint Petersburg, Russia: Toby Alderweireld's own goal in the 74th minute enabled Zenit Saint Petersburg to salvage a 1-1 home draw with Atletico Madrid. Adrian Lopez Alvarez scored in the 53rd minute for the Mattress Makers, who had already clinched first place in Group G and a berth in the knockout stage of the Champions League. That's Zenit goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, whose boo-boo made the equalizing own goal possible, pictured here.
At Porto, Portugal:
Jackson Martinez (that's him celebrating) delivered the equalizer in the 48th minute as FC Porto settled for a 1-1 home draw with Austria Vienna. Roman Kienast scored in the 11th minute for the Violets, who have been eliminated from European competition while the Dragons blew a chance to move past Zenit Saint Petersburg into second place in Group G. Reuters photos
GROUP G STANDINGS:
1. xy-Atletico Madrid (GP: 5; GD: +10; PTS: 13) 2. Zenit Saint Petersburg (GP: 5; GD: -1; PTS: 6) 3. FC Porto (GP: 5; GD: -1; PTS: 5) 4. z-Austria Vienna (GP: 5; GD: -8; PTS: 2)
xy-Won Group G and clinched a berth in the knockout stage of the Champions League
Two games from Group F of the UEFA Champions League were played on Tuesday.
At London: Jack Wilshire scored twice (1', 65', here's Jack scoring his second goal) as Arsenal blanked visiting Marseille 2-0, eliminating the French club from European competition while keeping themselves atop the Group F standings with one game remaining.
Photo from ESPN FC website
At Dortmund, Germany:
Jakub Blaszczkowski scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 60th minute as Borussia Dortmund defeted visiting Napoli 3-1.
Eight games were played on Tuesday as group-stage action in the UEFA Champions League resumed. Two of the contests took place in Group E.
At Bucharest, Romania: Schalke remained alive for a Round of 16 Champions League berth by holding Steaua Bucharest to a 0-0 draw in the Romanian capital, eliminating the hosts from European competition. The Royal Blues still blew a shot at staying in second place in Group E as the reaction from Benedikt Howedes indicates.
Reuters photo
At Basel, Switzerland: Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the match in the 87th minute (shown here as he beats goalkeeper Petr Cech) as FC Basel moved into second place in Group E with a 1-0 home win over Chelsea, who despite the defeat, will be playing in the Champions League's knockout stage.
At Portland, Oregon: Robbie Findley scored the only goal of the match in the 29th minute on Sunday as Real Salt Lake won game two of their Major League Soccer Western Conference Final 1-0 over the Portland Timbers on the road and took the series 5-2 on aggregate. RSL, who won the league title in their previous MLS Cup Final appearance in 2009, will take on Sporting Kansas City in the MLS Cup Final on Saturday, December 7 at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas (1:00 PM Pacific Time, ESPN).
At Kansas City, Kansas: Goals from C.J. Sapong (14') and Dom Dwyer (63') enabled Sporting Kansas City to overcome an early deficit and defeat the visiting Houston Dynamo 2-1 in game two of their Major League Soccer Eastern Conference final series, which the hosts won 2-1 on aggregate. SKC will host the MLS Cup Final (their first appearance in the MLS title game since 2004) on Saturday December 7 against the winner of the Portland-Real Salt Lake Western Conference final series (which RSL leads 4-2 on aggregate).
At Montevideo, Uruguay: Despite being held to a 0-0 home stalemate by Jordan, Uruguay easily won their two-match intercontinental playoff series 5-0 on aggregate and locked up the final available berth in next year's World Cup (their 12th appearance).
A natural first-half hat trick from Oribe Peralta (14', 29', 33') enabled Mexico to double up hosts New Zealand 4-2 in Wednesday's second match of their two-game intercontinental playoff, which El Tri handily won 9-3 on aggregate. Mexico thus qualified for their sixth consecutive World Cup, their 15th overall.
2015 will mark the return of Major League Soccer to the Sunshine State as the league on Tuesday announced that Orlando City, which has played in the third-division USL Pro League (and won the league's playoff title this years) is joining the big time as MLS's 21st team.
The four two-game European playoff series for berths in next year's World Cup all concluded on Tuesday. At Solna, Sweden: Cristiano Ronaldo's second-half hat trick (50', 77', 79') enabled Portugal to outlast Sweden 3-2 on the road in the second match of their two-game playoff and won their series 4-2 on aggregate. For the Portuguese, this will be their fourth consecutive World Cup appearance, their fifth overall. At Saint-Denis, France: France, thanks to goals from Mamadou Sakho (22'), Karim Benzima (34'), and Oleh Husyev (OG-72'), reversed their 2-0 road defeat from last week and blanked visiting ten-man Ukraine 3-0 to win their two-game series 3-2 on aggregate and booked their ticket for Brazil. It will be Les Blues' fourteenth World Cup appearance, their fifth in a row. At Bucharest, Romania: Konstantinos Mitroglou's goal in the 23rd minute proved more than enough as Greece gained a 1-1 road draw with Romania and won their two-game series 4-2 on aggregate and advanced to their second straight World Cup, their third overall. At Zagreb, Croatia: Mario Mandzukic (27') and Darijo Srna (48') provided the scoring as Croatia ruined Iceland's hopes of becoming the smallest nation (based on population) to ever qualify for the World Cup by winning game two 2-0 and the series 2-0 on aggregate. It will be the Blazers' fourth World Cup appearance.
The African two-game playoffs for berths in next year's World Cup concluded with two games played on Tuesday At Cairo:
Despite dropping a 2-1 game-two decision on the road, Ghana won their two-game playoff series with Egypt 7-3 on aggregate and qualified for their third straight World Cup. At Blida, Algeria: Madjid Bougherra scored the only goal of the match in the 49th minute as Algeria defeated visiting Burkina Faso 1-0 in game two, and with the aggregate score at 3-3, won their series on away goals and advanced to their second straight World Cup (their fourth overall), ruining the visitors' hopes of making their World Cup debut.
At Yaounde, Cameroon: Jean Makoun scored twice (65', 86') as Cameroon dominated visiting Tunisia 4-1 in Sunday's second match of a two-game African continental playoff series which the Indomitable Lions won 4-1 on aggregate and qualified for next year's World Cup. It will be Cameroon's seventh World Cup finals appearance.
Two games were played in the African continental playoffs for berths in next year's World Cup. At Calabar, Nigeria: Victor Moses (PK-20') and Victor Obinna (82') each scored a goal as Nigeria defeated visiting Ethiopia 2-0 in game two of their two-match playoff series and advanced to next year's World Cup tournament in Brazil (their fifth such appearance) 4-1 on aggregate. At Casablanca, Morocco: Solomon Kalou scored in second-half stoppage time (90'+4) as Ivory Coast gained a 1-1 game-two draw with Senegal, enough for the Ivorians to win their series 4-2 on aggregate and clinch a spot in their third straight World Cup. The match was played in Morocco since the Senegalese were barred from hosting any matches by the Confederation for African Football following rioting during their 2013 African Nations Cup qualifying match against Ivory Coast.
The four two-game European playoff series for placed in next year's World Cup commenced on Friday. At Lisbon: Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match in the 82nd minute as Portugal defeated visiting Sweden 1-0 in the opening match of their two-game playoff series. At Kiev, Ukraine: Roman Zozulya (61') and Andriy Yarmolenko (PK-82') provided the scoring that stakes Ukraine to a 2-0 series-opening home win over France. At Piraeus, Greece: Konstantinos Mitroglou scored twice (14', 66') as Greece downed visiting Romania 3-1 in game one of their two-match series. At Reykjavik, Iceland: The opening match between ten-man Iceland and visiting Croatia ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
At Mexico City: Oribe Peralta Morones (48', 80') scored twice in the second half as Mexico smothered visiting New Zealand 5-1 in Wednesday's opening match of a two-game intercontinental playoff series for a berth in next year's World Cup.
