Teenager Toni Kroos scored in injury time to give Bayern Munich a 3-2 win over Red Star Belgrade on Thursday, the opening night of the UEFA Cup group stage.
Kroos, a 17-year-old midfielder, scored with a free kick after Miroslav Klose twice had equalized for Bayern Munich.
"You always have to believe that you can turn the game around," Klose said.
Bayern are one of the favorites to win the UEFA Cup, which they claimed in 1996. But after that trophy, the four-time European champions played in the European Champions League for 10 straight seasons and only dropped into Europe's No. 2 competition because they finished fourth in the German league last season.
Also winning on Thursday were Panathinaikos, Everton, Anderlecht, Bordeaux, FC Zurich, Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Basel and Everton. Atletico Madrid drew 3-3 at Lokomotiv Moscow and Villareal drew 1-1 with Fiorentina. Tottenham Hotspur lost at home to Getafe 2-1.
Red Star Belgrade led Bayern Munich in the 16th minute with a low shot from Ognjen Koroman, and Nenad Milijas put the Serbian side ahead 2-1 in the 74th minute with a long-range half-volley. Klose equalized in the 84th minute with a header and also scored in the 20th minute from a rebound.
Red Star defender Milos Bajalica was red-carded in injury time and Kroos scored from the resulting free kick.
Bayern, playing without Martin Demichelis, Franck Ribery, Luca Toni and Daniel van Buyten, had difficulty controlling the game on the slippery and difficult pitch at the Red Star stadium.
"It was a hard fight. We would have been happy even with one point," Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said. "The pitch was really bad and we were considering whether to ask for the game to be called off, but then we decided against it."
In the other Group F game, Bolton Wanderers drew with Braga in front of new manager Gary Megson, who was installed as the successor to Sammy Lee earlier on Thursday. Jailson scored the equalizer in the 87th minute after El Hadji Diouf had headed Bolton in front in the 66th minute.
Getafe, makings their UEFA Cup debut, won their Group G game against Tottenham Hotspur with goals from Ruben de la Red and Braulio Nobrega. Jermain Defoe scored for Spurs, two-times UEFA Cup champions.
Nicolas Frutos scored in the 36th and 70th minutes for Anderlecht in a 2-0 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv in the other Group G game.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Toulouse 1-0 in Group E. Stefan Kiessling scored his fourth goal in three UEFA Cup matches in the 35th minute, chipping over goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez. FC Zurich also won in Group E with a 2-1 victory over Sparta Prague.
Tim Cahill marked his return from long-term injury with a goal in Everton's 3-1 win over Larissa in Group A. Leon Osman and Victor Anichebe added the others for Everton.
Silva Cleyton scored for Larissa in the 65th minute, stealing the ball from Everton defender Joleon Lescott after he received a pass from goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Also in Group A, Zenit St Petersburg earned a 1-1 draw with visiting AZ Alkmaar. AZ striker Ari scored in the 20th minute but was sent off in the 39th minute. Four minutes later, Anatoliy Tymoschuk equalized from the penalty spot.
Villarreal earned a draw in Group C with an 88th-minute header from Joan Capdevila. Fiorentina, the only Italian team in this season's UEFA Cup, took a 48th-minute lead from a goal by Christian Vieiri.
Also in Group C, Ismael Blanco scored in the 29th minute to give AEK Athens a 1-1 draw at Elfsborg. Daniel Mobaek scored for the Swedish side.
Helsingborg needed a late equalizer from Henrik Larsson to salvage a 1-1 draw with visiting Panionios. He scored in the 83rd minute to cancel out Fanouris Goundoulakis' 45th-minute opener.
Bordeaux beat 2000 champions Galatasaray 2-1 with goals from Marouane Chamakh and Fernando Cavenaghi in the other Group H match.
Sergio Aguero scored a goal in each half to help Atletico Madrid to a 3-3 draw at Lokomotiv Moscow.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov replied to Aguero's first goal in the 27th minute, before Diego Forlan put Atletico back in the lead in the 47th minute. Peter Odemwingie scored twice in three minutes to put Lokomotiv ahead 3-2 by the 64th minute, setting up Aguero for his dramatic equalizer in the 85th minute.
Panathinaikos had goals from Giannis Goumas, Dimitris Papadopoulos and Dimitris Salpingidis in their 3-0 win over visiting Aberdeen in the other Group B match.
Vincent Kompany scored in the 62nd minute to give Hamburg a 1-0 win over SK Brann, while in the other Group D game, Marco Streller headed in a corner from Ivan Ergic to give FC Basel a 1-0 win over Rennes.
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
FLOP TO CONQUEROR: It was sweet vindication for Sam Darnold, who played for four NFL teams before his debut season in Seattle ended in the ultimate win The Seattle Seahawks on Sunday coasted to Super Bowl glory, routing the New England Patriots 29-13 as Sam Darnold sealed his journey from flop quarterback to conqueror of the NFL’s biggest prize. Brushing off a reputation for wilting in big games, journeyman quarterback Darnold threw for a touchdown and 200 yards on the grandest stage of all to give the Seahawks their second-ever Lombardi Trophy. “It’s unbelievable. Everything that has happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Darnold said. The victory was buoyed by a dominant defensive display and kicker Jason Myers’
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Donyell Malen on Monday scored in each half as AS Roma beat Cagliari 2-0 to stay in touch with the chasing pack at the top of Serie A. Leaders Inter are eight points clear of city rivals AC Milan and nine ahead of reigning champions SSC Napoli. Roma are three points further back along with Juventus. Dutch centerforward Malen had scored only once in four appearances since joining on loan from Aston Villa last month, but he proved his worth on Monday with two excellent finishes. He ran on to a clever through-ball from Gianluca Mancini and his deft chip over the goalkeeper