A Jamie Carragher error ultimately proved costly as
Liverpool were edged out of the
Europa League despite a fine
comeback against Zenit St Petersburg.
The veteran defender, making his
150th - and now last - European
appearance, gifted Zenit's star
forward Hulk a goal that gave the Russians a 3-0 aggregate lead early in the second leg of the last-32 tie. Liverpool responded as top scorer Luis Suarez fired in two
free-kicks and Joe Allen struck from close range but Hulk's vital away goal prevented another
memorable Anfield fightback.
Tottenham's difficult week in Lyon
ended on a dramatic high after
Mousa Dembele fired his team in
to the last 16 of the Europa League with a stunning last-
minute strike to grab a 1-1 draw. Maxime Gonalons, the Lyon
captain, looked to have fired
Lyon to the 1-0 win they
required to advance with his
first-half goal. However, Dembele popped up in
the 90th minute, hammering a
blistering 25-yard strike past
Remy Vercoutre to set up a
mouth-watering third round tie
against Inter Milan. Shola Ameobi fired Newcastle into
the last 16 of the Europa League
from the penalty spot as the
Magpies kept their cool to beat
Metalist Kharkiv 1-0 in icy
Ukraine. Ameobi's 15th European goal -
only Alan Shearer has scored
more for the club - came after
midfielder Moussa Sissoko had
been tripped by goalkeeper
Olexandr Goryainov. The striker calmly converted from 12 yards
to silence a packed house at the
Metalist Stadium. Holders Atletico Madrid were
knocked out of the Europa
League at the last-32 stage
despite defeating Rubin Kazan 1-0
at the Luzhniki Stadium in
Moscow. A goal by Radamel Falcao in the
84th minute gave the visitors
hope of overturning the two-goal
deficit from the first leg at the
Vicente Calderon last week. However, despite playing with a
man extra in the final minutes of
the game after Rubin Kazan
captain Cesar Navas was sent off,
they were unable to score again. Inter Milan eased the pressure on
under-fire coach Andrea
Stramaccioni as Colombian
midfielder Fredy Guarin scored
twice to see off Romanian side
Cluj 3-0 in the last 32 of the Europa League. Stramaccioni's position had come
under increased scrutiny after a
4-1 defeat to Fiorentina on
Sunday had left Inter with just
one win in five Serie A games. But Guarin netted twice and
Marco Benassi scored a late third
as Cluj were forced to play the
final 10 minutes with 10 men
following the sending off of Mario
Camora. Lazio comfortably progressed to
the last 16 of the Europa League
after first-half goals from Antonio
Candreva and Alvaro Gonzalez
downed Borussia
Monchengladbach 2-0. The two sides drew 3-3 in last
week's barnstorming first leg, in
which the German side were
awarded three penalties and
Lazio grabbed a stoppage-time
equaliser. It looked as though another
evening of excitement was in
prospect when Candreva
sidefooted the hosts in front
inside 10 minutes after
dispossessing defender Alvaro Dominguez. But Gonzalez's goal
shortly after the half-hour was
enough to seal a routine win on
the night and a 5-3 aggregate
scoreline to set up a tie against
another Bundesliga side, Stuttgart. Stuttgart put their dismal
domestic form to one side and
eased into the last 16 of the
Europa League with a 2-0 victory
over Genk. Goals from Arthur Boka and
Christian Gentner made it all seem
fairly straightforward for the
Bundesliga side, who arrived with
question marks hovering over
them after only ending a run of five straight league defeats by
beating Hoffenheim 1-0 at the
weekend, while a 1-1 draw in the
first leg left this tie delicately
poised. Basel progressed through to the
last 16 of the Europa League
after holding Dnipro to a 1-1
draw in a match which saw both
teams net late penalties and
finish with 10 men. A solitary goal by Cheick Diabate
shortly before half-time was
enough to guide Bordeaux to a
1-0 win against Dynamo Kiev.
Diabate struck home a low shot in
the 41st minute to give the Ligue 1 side a 2-1 aggregate victory. Cristian Baroni's first-half penalty
was enough to give Fenerbahce a
1-0 victory over 10-man BATE
Borisov where they will meet
Viktoria Plzen.