Bern, Switzerland – Jonjo Shelvey scored twice inside the final 14 minutes to help Liverpool get off to winning start in Group A of the Europa League as the Reds downed Swiss side Young Boys 5-3 at the Stade de Suisse on Thursday.
An own goal from Juhani Ojala gifted the visitors the lead in just the fourth minute. Raphael Nuzzolo leveled the score for Young Boys in the 38th minute, but Andre Wisdom headed home from a corner kick two minutes later to send the Reds into halftime with a one-goal advantage.
Ojala made amends for his own goal less than seven minutes after the restart, equalizing for Young Boys in the 52nd minute.
Eulogio Zarate provided a shocking twist in the tale 11 minutes later when he gave Young Boys the lead with a fine chip over Liverpool 'keeper Brad Jones.
But Liverpool responded within four minutes as a header from Sebastian Coates snuck inside the far post to help the Reds get on level terms.
The game-winner came in the 76th minute as Shelvey capped some fine combination play with an easy finish. The 20-year-old then put the win beyond any doubt two minutes from time with powerful effort to cap the eight-goal thriller.
The win puts Liverpool at the top of Group A after Udinese and Anzhi played to a 1-1 draw in Italy. Daniele Padelli conceded an own goal just before halftime to put the Russian club in the driver's seat, but a late strike from Antonio Di Natale deep into second-half stoppage time helped the Italian club avoid an embarrassing home defeat.
In Group B, Atletico Madrid rolled to a 3-0 victory at Hapoel Tel Aviv while Viktoria Plzen overturned a one-goal deficit to take a 3-1 home win over Academia.
In Group C, Mathieu Valbuena and Andre Ayew bagged a goal apiece inside the final seven minutes to see Marseille salvage a point in a 2-2 draw at Fenerbahce while Borussia Monchengladbach was left to a rue a penalty miss from Oscar Wendt in the eighth minute of stoppage time in a 0-0 draw at AEL Limassol.
In Group D, Bordeaux scored twice on either side of halftime in a 4-0 thumping of Club Brugge while Newcastle was held in a 0-0 at Maritimo.
In Group E, Andreas Cornelius helped Copenhagen claim a 2-1 win over Molde with a goal in the 74th minute while Stuttgart and Steaua Bucharest exchanged goals early and late in a 2-2 draw at the Mercedes Benz Arena.
In Group F, Eduardo Vargas notched a hat trick to see Napoli cruise to a 4-0 defeat of AIK and PSV Eindhoven conceded twice in the span of eight second- half minutes in a 2-0 loss at Dnipro.
In Group G, Basel played with a one-man advantage for much of the second half but was held to a 0-0 draw by Sporting Lisbon and Genk rolled to a 3-0 home win over Videoton.
In Group H, Yuto Nagatomo snagged a late equalizer to help Inter Milan save face in a 2-2 home draw with Rubin while Partizan Belgrade and Neftchi Baku played to a 0-0 draw in Serbia.
In Group I, Bafetimbi Gomis and Lisandro Lopez scored two minutes apart to see Lyon claim a 2-1 win over Sparta Prague and Markel Susaeta equalized for Athletic Bilbao five minutes before halftime a 1-1 draw with Ironi Kiryat.
In Group J, Maribor thumped Greek club Panathinaikos 3-0 in Slovenia while Tottenham had two goals disallowed in a 0-0 draw with Lazio.
In Group K, Deni Alar missed a second-half penalty for a chance to level the score in a 2-1 loss to Rosenberg and Bayern Leverkusen was held to a 0-0 draw by Metalist Kharkiv.
In Group L, Garcia Juanfran scored the lone goal for Levante in a 1-0 defeat of Helsingborg and Hannover rallied from two-nil down to earn a point in a 2-2 draw with Twente.
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