Spurs break Irish hearts, Stoke joy

Published on September 29, 2011 by mod1 · No Comments

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored his first goal of the season to break Irish hearts and spark a second-half Tottenham recovery in the Europa League Group A match at White Hart Lane, as Spurs eventually ran out 3-1 winners against Shamrock Rovers.

Tottenham looked in danger of succumbing to a European giant-killing act when Stephen Rice put the Irish champions ahead after 50 minutes of average work by the Premier League side. But Pavlyuchenko’s towering header opened the way for goals from Jermain Defoe and Giovani dos Santos in five frantic minutes as Tottenham made their superior class pay to eventually run out comfortable winners.

Elsewhere in Group A, a goal ten minutes from time by Giorgos Fotakis saw PAOK Salonika claim a 2-2 draw at Rubin Kazan . The Greek side had taken the lead midway through the first half through Stefanos Athanasiadis before two second-half goals by Nelson Haedo Valdez and Vladimir Dyadyun appeared to have put the Russians on course for victory. However, Fotakis’ late intervention means PAOK claimed their second successive draw.

Stoke came from behind to claim all three points against Besiktas thanks to Jon Walters’ penalty in their 2-1 Group E victory at the Britannia Stadium.

The Turkish visitors went ahead in the 14th minute when Roberto Hilbert struck into the far corner having latched on to Ricardo Quaresma’s pass, but their lead lasted only a minute, goalkeeper Rustu Recber unable to claim Dean Whitehead’s corner and Peter Crouch on hand to bundle the ball over the line.

The two teams, roared on by their equally-vociferous sets of fans, played out an entertaining contest from there, with both hitting the woodwork in the second half.

Walters then settled things in the 78th minute, hammering his spot-kick past Rustu after Crouch had been brought down by Tomas Sivok.

Dor Micha struck in the 44th minute to maintain Maccabi Tel Aviv’s long unbeaten record in continental competition at the Bloomfield Stadium with a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Kiev.

Unbeaten at home in Europe since 2005, the Israelis’ reign was tested by Dynamo – unbeaten in their opening 11 games of the Ukrainian Premier League season – when Ideye Brown fired them into a ninth minute lead, but Micha struck to salvage a point.

Almen Abdi’s late penalty salvaged a point for under-strength Udinese in their enthralling 1-1 draw with Celtic at Parkhead.

The Hoops got off to a perfect start when midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng scored from the spot in the third minute after striker Gary Hooper had been fouled by Joel Ekstrand. The game ebbed and flowed, especially in the second half, and it looked like Neil Lennon’s men would see the game out.

However, in the 86th minute Hooper, back defending, gave away a penalty when he clipped Neuton in the box and Abdi sent Lukasz Zaluska the wrong way from the spot. It was hard luck for Celtic who have one point from two games following defeat in their opening game.

In the other Group I clash, a late equaliser from substitute Juanfran earned Atletico Madrid a 1-1 draw in a hard-fought clash against Stade Rennes at the Route de Lorient stadium. The winger levelled the scores in the 87th minute to earn a point for the 2010 Europa League winners after Victor Montano’s second-half strike looked to have given Ligue 1 side Rennes the win.

Schalke defender Christian Fuchs scored a goal in each half to help condemn Maccabi Haifa to their fifth straight defeat against German opposition in Europe as they lost 3-1.

Fuchs opened the scoring for the home side in the seventh minute when he drilled the ball into the bottom right hand corner. Idan Vered equalised for Maccabi 10 minutes before the break with a shot from close range before Fuchs put Schalke back in control in the 65th minute from a well taken free-kick. Jose Jurado added a third for Schalke with 10 minutes left to put the game out of reach and the Germans top of Group J.

In the group’s other game, AEK Larnaca picked up their first point but might feel they should have been celebrating a victory following a 1-1 draw against 10-man Steaua Bucharest. AEK took a 59th-minute lead through Miljan Mrdakovic before Steaua equalised through Mihai Costea, but they could nopt make their man advantage count after Pablo Brandan was red carded.

Wade Elliott spared Birmingham goalkeeper Colin Doyle’s blushes as his winner earned the English Championship side a 2-1 victory after his team-mate’s blunder threatened to hand NK Maribor all three points.

Doyle had gifted the hosts a half-time lead in their Group H clash when he swung at and missed Jonathan Spector’s backpass to allow Dalibor Volas to score a comical opener. But Scotland winger Chris Burke levelled and then Elliott, a recent signing from Burnley, earned Chris Hughton’s side a memorable victory.

Ryan Donk’s 90th-minute header gave Club Brugge a smash-and-grab 2-1 victory at Braga.

The Portuguese side were utterly dominant in the first half and deservedly took the lead eight minutes after the break through Helder Barbosa. But Joseph Akpala, a first-half substitute, levelled after 71 minutes before Donk’s late contribution sealed the game in the visitors’ favour, leaving Brugge top of Group H.

Athletic Bilbao continued to enjoy life away from the Primera Division as they downed big-spending Paris St Germain 2-0 at San Mames to move three points clear at the top of Europa League Group F.

Athletic have picked up just two points from their opening five league games under new coach Marcelo Bielsa but they defeated Slovan Bratislava in their Europa League group opener and claimed the prized scalp of in-form PSG.

Salzburg struck three second-half goals to pick up their first three-point haul in Europa League Group F courtesy of a 3-0 win over Slovan Bratislava. After the first hour had failed to produce a goal, Salzburg broke the deadlock through Leonardo before Eulogio Zarate and Dusan Svento added further strikes in the final 14 minutes to seal the home side’s victory.

Red-hot Mathias Suarez helped Anderlecht maintain their 100% start as they emerged from a battering with an impressive 2-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow.

Having scored a hat-trick in the opening-round 4-1 win over AEK Athens, Suarez was on target again early on, before goalkeeper Silvio Proto took over to produce a string of stunning saves that kept wave after wave of Lokomotiv attacks out. Then, just when it looked as though the home side were primed to make the breakthrough, substitute Dieudonne Mbokani added a clinching second for Anderlecht.

Andrew Johnson’s brace helped Fulham end an eight-game winless run and secure three points courtesy of a 2-0 win over Odense. The 30-year-old broke the deadlock with a first-half strike that snuck under former Everton goalkeeper Stefan Wessels, before scoring with a neat curling effort with two minutes remaining to put the Cottagers up to second in Group K.

FC Twente rose to the group’s summit, though, after Marc Janko’s double helped heap more misery upon outclassed Poles Wisla Krakow as Co Adriaanse’s men eased to a 4-1 victory. Wisla, already beaten by Odense in their opening Group K clash, took a shock ninth-minute lead through David Biton, but Janko’s double and goals for Luuk de Jong and Willem Janssen eased Twente home.

Brazilian forward Taison’s second-half cracker was enough to ensure that Metalist Kharkiv and AZ Alkmaar both emerged from an absorbing contest with a point each and their unbeaten starts intact following a 1-1 draw. They remain first and second in Group G, though Austria Vienna climbed to within a point of them after securing a 2-1 victory over Malmo thanks to goals from Nacer Barazite and Alexander Grunwald.

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com