Sunday, 21 September 2014

Europa League Matchday One Summary

Alike the Champions League, the Europa League features a Spanish defending champion in the form of Sevilla who will look for back to back titles from group G.

A
Apollon made a good start to their campaign with a 3-2 win over FC Zurich with the hosts leading after only nine minutes with a strike from Papoulis and went into the interval 2-0 up after Gullon scored in the 40th minute. Zurich drew level with two goals in three minutes from Rikan (50) and Yapo (53) and were given an aid towards a win as Gullon was sent off in the 80th minute for the hosts. However, Koch hit into his own net to put Apollon ahead and Zurich's chances ended with the sending off of Chikhaoui in the 87th minute at 3-2.

Borussia Moenchengladbach and Villarreal shared the points in a 1-1 draw which saw the Germans edge ahead in the 21st minute via a strike from Hermann only for the Spanish side to draw level when Uche struck in the 68th minute to salvage a draw.

B
Club Brugge and Torino shared the points in a 0-0 draw while FC Copenhagen got off to a good start in the group with a 2-0 win after a brace from Jorgensen in the 68th and 81st minute to give the Danes an opening win and put them top of the group.


C
Partizan Belgrade and Tottenham shared the points in a 0-0 draw while Besiktas and Asteras also began the group stage with a point each after a 1-1 draw which saw the Turks go ahead thanks to a Tore strike in the 33rd minute but they were denied all three points late on as Parra equalised in the 88th minute to salvage a draw.




D
Red Bull Salzburg and Celtic shared the points in a four goal thriller which saw the Scottish champions take a 14th minute lead with a strike from Wakaso before the Austrians drew level with a Carvalho goal in the 36th minute. Celtic regained the lead on the hour mark as Brown struck but again the hosts came back as Soriano levelled in the 78th minute to ensure a point each.

Dinamo Zagreb made a stunning start to their campaign with a 5-1 victory over Astra with a first half hat-trick from Soudani in the 17th, 24th and 45th minutes putting the Croatians in control at 3-0 before Iturra made it 4-0 in the 70th minute. Chitu reduced the deficit for Astra in the 82nd minute before Coric completed the rout for 5-1 in the 90th minute.

E
Dinamo Moscow made a good start to their campaign with a 2-1 win away to Panathinaikos with two goals in nine minutes either side of half-time putting them 2-0 ahead as Kokorin (40) and Ionov (49) struck before Dinas reduced the deficit for the Greeks in the 63rd minute but the Russians were able to hold on for the win.

PSV Eindhoven also made a good star to the group stage with a 1-0 win over Estoril with De Jong's 26th minute strike enough to secure all three points for the Dutch side.  


F
Inter Milan started the group stage with a 1-0 win away to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk with the Ukranian's going down to ten men in the 67th minute as Rotan was dismissed and the Italians took advantage of having the extra man to go in front in the 71st minute with what proved to be the winning goal from D'Ambrosio.

FC Qarabag and St Etienne both began the group stage with a point a piece as they drew 0-0.

G
Sevilla began the defence of their title with a 2-0 win at home to Feyernoord with Krychowiak putting the defending champions ahead after only eight minutes with Mbia adding a second goal in the 31st minute which proved to be enough for the hosts to secure all three points.

Standard Liege also began the group stage with a 2-0 win as they played host to Rijeka but the Belgians left it late to secure all three points with Ciman putting them in front in the 74th minute before Araujo secured all three points in the 87th minute.

H
Everton made a stunning start to their campaign with a 4-1 win at home to Wolfsburg who put the English side in front with an own goal from Rodriguez before a Seamus Coleman strike on half-time was followed by a Leighton Baines penalty in the 47th minutes to put the Blues 3-0 ahead. Kevin Mirallas made it 4-0 with a minute to go but the Germans had the last say as Rodriguez redeemed himself with a 90th minute strike.

Lille and Krasnodar shared the points in a 1-1 draw which saw the visitors go ahead with a Laborde strike in the 35th minute before the French side levelled in the 63rd minute via a Kjaer strike to salvage a draw.


I
Young Boys cruised past Slovan Bratislava with a 5-0 win that saw them go in front inside four minutes as Lecjaks struck before Steffen added a second in the 29th minute. Nuzzolo made it 3-0 to the Swiss side in the 63rd minute before two goals in the 80th and 90th minutes from Nikci and Hoarau completed the rout.

Napoli also started with a win as they secured a 3-1 victory over Sparta Prague but it was the visitors who went in front as Husbauer struck in the 14th minute but a penalty from Higuain in the 23rd minute brought the Italians level. Mertens put the hists in front in the 51st minute before his secured all three points with a second goal in the 81st minute.  

J
Dynamo Kyiv made a good start to the group stage with a 3-0 win away to Rio Ave with two goals in the space of five minutes from Yarmolenko and Belhanda in the 20th and 25th minutes put the Ukranians in control before Kravets sealed all three points in the 70th minute.

Steaua Bucharest also started with a win as they cruised to a 6-0 thrashing of Aalborg but despite the huge score it was 0-0 at half time before Sanmartean opened the scoring in the 51st minute, Aalborg went down to ten men in the 57th minute when Larsen was dismissed and Rusescu converted a 59th minute penalty for 2-0. Keseru stunned the Danes with an 11th minute hat-trick in the 61st, 65th and 72nd minutes before Rusescu completed the rout with his second strike in the 73rd minute.  

K
Fiorentina secured a 3-0 win over Guingamp with Vargas opening the scoring in the 34th minute before Diallo was dismissed for the visitors in the 38th minute. Cuadrado made it 2-0 in the 67th minute before Bernardeschi secured all three points in the 88th minute.

PAOK also started with a win as they cruised to a 6-1 win over Dinamo Minsk with a Nikolic own goal putting them ahead inside three minutes before a 17 minute hat-trick from Athanasiadis in the 11th, 16th and 28th minutes put the hosts 4-0 ahead at half-time. Papadopoulos made it 5-0 in the 50th minute before the visitors went down to ten in the 64th minute with the dismissal of Simovic and even reduced the deficit in the 80th minute with Nikolic redeeming himself for his error early on before Tzandaris completed the rout in the 90th minute.

L
Legia Warsaw began their campaign with a win with a 58th minute strike from Radovic proving to be enough to secure all three points while Metalist fell to a 2-1 defeat to Trabzonspor with the Turks going ahead via a Constant strike in the 25th minute before the Ukranians levelled in the 61st minute with a Gomenyuk strike but the visitors secured all three points in the the 90th minute as Papadopoulos struck.




 

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