Europa League Results: Groups G-L - Hannover complete Helsingborg turnaround, Lazio gift Panathinaikos injury-time point

Oct 26, 2012 1:00:00 AM

Elsewhere on the continent, Sporting's fortunes failed to improve despite the appointment of Franky Vercauteren, while Levante again impressed after easing to victory over Twente

Europa League: Matchday Three

Groups G-L

Fixtures/Results

GROUP G
VIDEOTON	2	1	BASEL	GENK	2	1	SPORTING
Videoton made it two wins on the bounce in the Europa League on Thursday, as they held onto a 2-1 success over Basel. The Hungarians made a dream start as Fabian Schar misjudged Alvaro Brachi's low cross at the near post and put the ball in his own net before Adam Gyurcso squared the ball for Marco Caneira to double their lead. And despite Schar's header with only minutes to spare, it was scant consolation as the Swiss champions were defeated. Meanwhile in Group G's other game, Genk performed a rescue mission of their own, coming back from behind to beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1. The Portuguese side may have crashed and burned at Videoton a fortnight ago but Stijn Schaars' deflected volley gave them the lead. Yet soon after, Benjamin de Ceulaer nodded home Nadson's flick-on to draw the hosts level. Khalid Boulahrouz's red card for a second bookable offence proved the precursor to Sporting's downfall, as Elyanib Barda came in from the near post to head the winner for the Belgians.


GROUP H
RUBIN KAZAN	1	0	NEFTCHI	INTER	1	0	PARTIZAN
Inter required a Rodrigo Palacio header two minutes from time to inflict a 1-0 loss on Partizan Belgrade (see full report here). Earlier in the evening, Rubin Kazan had Alan Kasaev to thank, as he scored the only goal of the match to hand his side a narrow 1-0 win over Neftchi Baku. Karadeniz Gokdeniz capitalised on a loose ball in the Azeris half to pick out the midfielder, who struck a low finish after coming in from the right-hand side.

GROUP I
SPARTA PRAGUE	3	1	KIRYAT SHMONA	LYON	2	1	ATHLETIC BILBAO
Sparta Prague continued their positive start to their campaign in Europe with a comfortable 3-1 win over Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Despite their shock point against Athletic Bilbao and their involvement in a seven-goal thriller with Lyon a fortnight ago, Ladislav Krejci's volley to wrap up Tomas Zapotocny's cross signalled the start of a tough night for the Israelis. Vaclav Kadlec then drilled home his side's second of the night, before Ondrej Svejdik headed in Marek Matejovsky's free kick from deep to infiltrate Daniel Amos' goal for a third and final time. Kiryat Shmona may have pulled one back via a delicate chip from Shimon Abuhazira, but it was too little too late. Iin the pool's alternate fixture, Lyon piled further misery on Athletic Bilbao with a 2-1 victory at Stade Gerland (see full report here).


GROUP J
PANATHINAIKOS	1	1	LAZIO	MARIBOR	1	1	TOTTENHAM
Panathinaikos netted an injury-time equaliser to break Lazio hearts, as Thursday's clash in Greece ended 1-1. Yourkas Seitaridis put the Biancocelesti in the driving seat via an own goal, having sold his goalkeeper Orestis Kamezis short with a backpass. However, Vitolo's cross from the right was bundled home by Toche with just seconds to spare to allocate a share of the spoils for both sides to claim. In the other game of the section, Tottenham rescued a point at Maribor, with the scores also ending one apiece (see full report here).

GROUP K
ROSENBORG	1	2	METALIST	RAPID VIENNA	0	4	LEVERKUSEN
Metalist Kharkiv were forced to make up a one-goal handicap to eventually overcome hosts Rosenborg 2-1 in Norway. John Chibulke ability to sucker the Ukrainian side's defenders allowed him to thread through a pass for Tarik Elyounoussi, who lifted the ball over Olexandr Goryalnov. However, Marlos' marauding run ended with his side's leveller. The victory was sealed in spectacular style thanks to Cleiton Xavier's vicious free kick from 25 yards out, leaving Daniel Orlund to pick up the piecess. Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen found life much easier in the Austrian capital as they cruised to a 4-0 success against Rapid Vienna. Gonzalo Castro's cross was turned in unopposed by Philipp Wollscheid, before Castro became goalscorer soon after following a metronomic one-two with Lars Bender to evade Lukas Konigshofer's flailing arm. It was then 3-0 as Stefan Kiessling's pass found the powerful boot of Karim Bellarabi and the emphatic nature of the Germans' victory was confirmed by Castro with moments of normal time to spare.


GROUP L
HELSINGBORG	1	2	HANNOVER	LEVANTE	3	0	TWENTE
Hannover crowned a night of drama to beat Helsingborg 2-1 at the death and maintain their reign atop of Group L. Szabolcs Huszti's productive start to the season saw him curl in the cross for Mame Diouf to head home for the deadlock to be broken early on. However, it appeared the Swedes had stolen a point in injury time as Alvaro's rounding-off of Ron-Robert Zieler appeared to be enough - yet Didier Ya Konan won Hannover the points with a poked finish not long after. And to cap off matchday three, Levante bounced back from their defeat to Mirko Slomka's side with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Twente. Michel opened the scoring for the Spaniards from the penalty spot, before Pedro Rios' right-footed strike doubled their lead. Rios then made sure of the win with two minutes left on the clock.

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