Europa League Review: Matchday Two - Groups F to I
It was another exciting night of continental football as we saw some great entertaining football by some of the game’s greatest teams.
Here is a group by group review of the results on match day two:
Group F
CSKA Moscow 3-0
Sparta Prague
An early kick-off awaited Sparta Prague in Moscow, as is the norm when teams play in Russia. Seydou Doumbia broke the deadlock for the home side in the 73rd minute as he headed in from a Mark Gonzalez corner and the
goal seemed to have opened the floodgates. After a scoreless 72 minutes CSKA scored 3 in the last 18 to move to the top of their group. Mark Gonzalez scored a goal of his own from the penalty spot and Doumbia scored his second in the 86th minute
to give his side a comfortable win in the group.
Group G
Hajduk Split 1-0 Anderlecht
Hajduk left their win very late against the Belgian Champions as they secured all three points with a goal in the dying seconds of the match. Ante Vukusic beautifully beat the offside trap and coolly slotted past Silvio Proto to
give his side a memorable and shock win over the Belgian giants. It was redemption for Ante as he made amends for his earlier miss when he fluffed an easy chance in the 18th minute of the game.
Zenit 4-2 AEK Athens
It was a high scoring game in St. Petersburg as Zenit took less than a minute to take the lead against AEK Athens through Vladimir Bystrov. Bruno Alves then doubled the host’s advantage in the 13thminute when he headed
in a cross from Danko Lazovic. The visitors pulled a goal back through Nikos Liberopoulos in the 37th minute from the spot and the teams went in for a breather with score delicately poised at 2-1. Lazovic soon scored his second of the night from
the penalty spot and then scored his third on 57thminute with a cheeky back heel. Athens only managed to reduce the arrears 4 minutes before time as captain Pantelis Kafes scored a consolation for the visitors.
Group H
Odense 1-2 Stuttgart
Schalke went into the match on the back of their worst start in the Bundesliga and were languishing at the bottom of the table, but their league form did not have to do anything in the match as the saw off Danish outfit Odense 2-1 on the night.
Zdravko Kuzmanovic scored the opening goal of the night in the 71st minute with a clinical header but the hosts equalized six minutes later when Andres Johansson finished from close range. Marek Hamsik then grabbed the
headlines as he scored a winner with just four minutes left in the match when he converted Arthur Boka’s pinpoint cross.
Young Boys 2-0 Getafe
After heartbreak in the Champions League qualifier at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, Young Boys had to be content with playing in the Europa League and would be delighted with their result in Spain as they beat Getafe 2-0. English
full back Scott Sutter masterfully found David Degen in the box with a cross and the forward did not disappoint as he finished with ease. On 72 minutes, the pair combined again as Sutter provided the assist from the wing and the Swedish forward did the rest.
Group I
Sampdoria 1-0 Debrecen
It was progress for the Hungarian champions, since after losing 5-0 on the opening night to Metalist Kharkiv, Debrecen only lost by a solitary goal to Sampdoria. The goal scored in the 18th minute by Giampaolo Pazzini
proved to be the winner as both the sides failed to score after that.
Metalist Kharkiv 0-2 PSV
After a shock 5-0 win against Debrecen on the opening night, the Ukrainians were brought down to earth as PSV Eindhoven drubbed them by 2 goals to nil. Ola Taivonnen and Balazas Dzusdzsak got the goals on the night for the visitors.
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