A young Tottenham Hotspur side held PAOK Salonika to a scoreless draw on Thursday as fellow British sides struggled to make a significant impact on the first night of Europa League group action.
While Fulham drew 1-1 with Dutch side Twente and Stoke City came seconds away from pulling off the shock of the night in a 1-1 draw away to Dynamo Kiev, Scottish side Celtic fell to a 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid.
Spurs, who play Liverpool on Sunday in the English Premier League, made 10 changes to their side and that decision looked questionable as the Greeks piled on the pressure in a lively second half in Group A.
Photo: EPA
PAOK could have gone 1-0 up just after the half-hour mark after Carlo Cudicini tripped Stefanos Athanasiadis inside the Spurs box, but after Lino converted the spot-kick, the Brazilian defender was forced to retake it. Luckily for Spurs, Lino dragged his second attempt wide.
Roman Pavlyuchenko’s fierce drive, which brushed the top netting of Dario Kresic’s goal, was Spurs’ best chance of the half.
Athanasiadis then failed to convert a superb chance after slipping past Sebastien Bassong and Vedran Corluka on 67 minutes.
Spurs escaped 10 minutes later when Cudicini had to scramble across goal to tip Pablo Garcia’s low drive wide. In a tense finish, Athanasiadis saw his shot parried by Cudicini and the Italian did brilliantly to block down low to deny the forward a winner thanks to an acrobatic volley.
Fulham have been unbeaten in 20 European home games, stretching back to their European debut — a 0-0 UEFA Intertoto Cup draw against Finland’s Haka in 2002.
They took a 19th-minute lead at Craven Cottage in Group K thanks to Andrew Johnson, but in a lively encounter the Premier League side were pegged back by a 41st-minute equalizer courtesy of striker Luuk de Jong.
“In the first half we should have been two or three up. Of course, they’re a good team, but when you put them under that sort of pressure you should be winning,” Fulham manager Martin Jol said. “We still wanted to play with four forward players, but if you don’t put the goals away, you get frustrated and put pressure on yourself. The only thing now is that we have to put the chances away.”
Celtic’s entry to this year’s competition, only confirmed on Wednesday when Swiss club Sion’s UEFA ban for using ineligible players was confirmed, started disastrously in Group I.
In the second minute, Diego’s cross was met by Colombian striker Radamel Falcao and he bulleted his header past Hoops goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
After spending much of the first period in their own half, Celtic made attempts to take the game to the Spaniards after the interval. Charlie Mulgrew’s free-kick from 20m out on 66 minutes was the closest they got to a goal.
Two minutes later, Celtic were punished for slack marking in the area when Diego coolly first-timed a cut-back to beat Forster with ease.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis sent out a defense-minded 5-3-2 formation in a bid to catch Dynamo on the counterattack in Group E and those tactics paid off when Cameron Jerome, on his debut, scored against the run of play in the 55th minute.
Stoke defended well throughout the second half and looked to be heading for a shock win, but their hearts were broken when Ognjen Vukojevic tapped home in stoppage-time.
Birmingham City went down 3-1 at home to last season’s runners-up Braga in Group H, while Irish minnows Shamrock Rovers slumped 3-0 at the hands of Russia’s Rubin Kazan in Group A.
Thursday’s other results:
Group B
‧ Copenhagen 1, Vorskla 0
‧ Hannover 96 0,
Standard Liege 0
Group C
‧ Hapoel Tel-Aviv 0,
Rapid Bucharest 1
‧ PSV Eindhoven 1,
Legia Warsaw 0
Group D
‧ Zurich 0, Sporting (Portugal) 2
‧ SS Lazio 2, Vaslui 2
Group E
‧ Besiktas 5, Maccabi Tel Aviv 1
Group F
‧ Paris Saint-Germain 3,
Red Bull Salzburg 1
‧ Slovan Bratislava 1,
Athletic Bilbao 2
Group G
‧ AZ (Netherlands) 4, Malmo 1
‧ Austria Vienna 1,
Metalist Kharkiv 2
Group H
‧ Club Brugge 2, Maribor 0
Group I
‧ Udinese 2, Stade Rennais 1
Group J
‧ Maccabi Haifa 1, AEK Larnaca 0
‧ Steaua Bucharest 0, Schalke 04 0
Group K
‧ Wisla Krakow 1, Odense BK 3
Group L
‧ Anderlecht 4, AEK (Greece) 1
‧ Sturm Graz 1,
Lokomotiv Moscow 2
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just