David Moyes saw his Everton side chalk up a much-needed victory against AEK Athens after securing the signature of former West Ham fullback Lucas Neill shortly before the match. With three defeats in their opening Barclays Premier League campaign, Everton were looking for boost outside of domestic competition and got it with a 4-0 over the Greek outfit. Joseph Yobo, Sylvain Distin and Steven Pienaar all scored before half time. Jo added a fourth in the second half. However, the night ended on a sour note with substitute Louis Saha sent off in stoppage time for lashing out at Juanfran. Russian midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov marked his first start by having a hand in the first three and was given a rousing reception when he came off in the second half.
The Fulham manager Roy Hodgson claimed his side's 1-1 draw with CSKA Sofia has convinced him to continue resting his big names for Fulham's Europa League campaign. Diomansy Kamara struck in the 66th minute to secure a creditable share of the spoils after Michel Platini gave CSKA the lead at the Vasil Levski National Stadium. Only John Pantsil and Simon Davies of the side that played against the Bulgarian league leaders can claim to be first-team regulars, a team selection that earned Hodgson some criticism. Hodgson said: "The decision to pick the team we did was made with very careful thought and was backed up by the powers that be within the club. "We made our mind up early on that if we are to do anything in this competition we'll have to use as many players as UEFA allow us to I think that now I can continue with this policy in the future."
Celtic keeper Artur Boruc has apologised to Hoops fans who travelled to see their heroes throw away the lead and lose their opener 2-1 against Hapoel Tel Aviv. Georgios Samaras gave the visitors a 25th-minute advantage at Bloomfield stadium and Tony Mowbray's men looked comfortable as the second half unfolded. However, the visitors slowly wilted in the heat and humidity, allowing Nemanja Vucicevic to equalise in the 75th minute before substitute Maaran Lala grabbed the winner with a couple of minutes remaining. Afterwards Boruc said: "I feel sorry for the supporters. They have travelled to the end of the world to support the team and watch the game. "I do feel sorry for them because the performance was bad. The second half was really, really bad." *PA Sport
Group A
Ajax (Netherlands) 0, Timisoara (Romania) 0
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 0, Anderlecht (Belgium) 2
GROUP B
Genoa (Italy) 2 Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) 0
Lille (France) 1 Valencia (Spain) 1
GROUP C
Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel) 2 Celtic (Scotland) 1
Rapid Vienna (Austria) 3 Hamburg SV (Germany) 0
GROUP D
Hertha Berlin (Germany) 1 FK Ventspils (Latvia) 1
Heerenveen (Netherlands) 2 Sporting (Portugal) 3
GROUP E
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) 1 Fulham (England) 1
Basel (Switzerland) 2 AS Roma (Italy) 0
GROUP F
Panathinaikos (Greece) 1 Galatasaray (Turkey) 3
Sturm Graz (Austria) 0 Dinamo Bucharest (Romania) 1