The story appears on

Page B13

November 7, 2009

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeSportsSoccer

Shakhtar on course in Europa


SHAKHTAR Donetsk kept up its excellent Europa League title defence when a 2-0 win in Toulouse on Thursday clinched a place in the first knockout round.

Turkey's Galatasaray also advanced with two matches to spare, winning 3-0 at Dinamo Bucharest in Group F, while Salzburg is on the verge of progressing after beating Group G rival Levski Sofia 1-0 with a stoppage-time goal by Franz Schiemer.

Werder Bremen left it late to beat Austria Vienna 2-0 in Group L, Tim Borowski and Hugo Almeida on target as the Germans moved into the last 32.

Second-half goals by Luiz Adriano and Olexiy Gai in southern France gave Ukrainians Shakhtar a maximum 12 points from four games in Group J.

Group E is turning into a real dogfight. Former Liverpool full back John Arne Riise scored for Roma in a 2-1 triumph over England's Fulham in the Olympic Stadium after the Serie A club had gone behind.

Stefano Okaka Chukka grabbed the winner after Erik Nevland was sent off for visiting Fulham, who ended with nine men when Paul Konchesky was red-carded in stoppage time.

The win lifted Roma into second place, two points behind Basel who beat CSKA Sofia 3-1.

"With these types of refereeing decisions it's very hard to get a result," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson told ITV after his side slipped to third. "We hope the referees will be a bit kinder to us in the Premier League than in this league."

England's other side Everton also lost, going down 0-2 at home to Benfica after its heavy defeat in Portugal two weeks ago. Benfica tops Group I with nine points, three more than Everton.

Ajax Amsterdam overcame Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in Group A and is favorite to go through with Anderlecht, which scored its 500th goal in European competition in a 1-3 defeat of FC Timisoara.

Valencia still has work to do in Group B after a 2-2 draw with 10-man Slavia Prague.

Another Spanish side, Villarreal, was involved in an incident-packed match against Lazio, winning 4-1 in a Group G clash that featured two red cards and eight bookings.

Two goals from Robert Pires inspired second-placed Villarreal. Lazio had Roberto Baronio sent off while Villarreal's Gonzalo was also dismissed.

 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend