Liverpool edges Anzhi in Europa League

Liverpool, England – Stewart Downing scored as Liverpool beat Anzhi, 1-0, on Thursday at Anfield to move into first place in Group A in the Europa League.

Downing scored the lone goal when he cut in from the left and unleashed a shot from 25 yards to the right post, leaving Anzhi goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov no chance to make a save.

Liverpool lost to Udinese, 3-2, in its previous Europa match at Anfield, but a second setback was avoided as the Reds won for the second time in their group. With six points from three games, Liverpool is first on six points.

Anzhi and Udinese, which lost 3-1 to Young Boys, are both level on four points for second. Young Boys lost its first two matches, but Raul Bobadilla scored a hat trick to carry his side to the crucial victory.

In Group B, Costa Diego and Belozoglu Emre scored as defending Europa League winner Atletico Madrid remained perfect with a 2-1 victory over Academica, and Frantisek Rajtoral had the winner as Viktoria Plzen beat Hapoel Tel Aviv, 2-1.

In Group C, Filip Daems and Peniel Mlapa scored as Monchengladbach secured its first win of the stage, 2-0, over Marseille and Egeman Korkmaz sent Fenerbahce three points clear in first with a 1-0 win over AEL Limassol.

In Group D, Gabriel Obertan scored early in the second half as Newcastle edged Club Brugge, 1-0, to move three points clear atop the standings, and Bordeaux tied Maritimo, 1-1, to stay second.

In Group E, Vlad Chiriches and Raul Rusescu scored just one minute apart midway into the first half as Steaua Bucharest beat Molde, 2-0, to move three points clear atop the group, and Stuttgart tied Copenhagen, 0-0.

In Group F, Artem Fedetskiy, Matheus and Victor Giuliano scored as Dnipro beat Napoli, 3-1, to remain perfect, and Jeremain Lens scored in the 79th minute as PSV Eindhoven tied AIK, 1-1.

In Group G, Elyaniv Barda scored with three minutes remaining as Genk defeated 10-man Sporting Lisbon, 2-1, and Videoton edged Basel, 2-1. Genk sits atop the group with seven points, followed by Videoton with six.

In Group H, Rodrigo Palacio scored two minutes from time as Inter Milan downed Partizan, 1-0, and Alan Kasaev scored as Rubin edged Neftchi Baku, 1-0. Inter and Rubin both have seven points.

In Group I, Jimmy Briand scored with four minutes left as Lyon stayed perfect and kept Athletic Bilbao winless with a 2-1 victory and three first-half goals lifted Sparta Prague to a 3-1 win over Ironi Kiryat Shmona.

In Group J, Jose Toche scored two minutes into stoppage time as Panathinaikos tied Lazio, 1-1, and Gylfi Sigurdsson scored in the second half as Tottenham tied Maribor, 1-1. Lazio leads with five points, followed by Maribor on four.

In Group K, Gonzalo Castro scored twice as Bayer Leverkusen beat Rapid Vienna, 4-0, and Cleiton Xavier scored one minute from time as Metalist Kharkiv downed Rosenborg, 2-1. Bayer and Metalist both have seven points.

In Group L, Didier Ya Konan scored three minutes into stoppage time, just two minutes after Helsingborg tied the match, to escape with a 2-1 win to stay at the top of the table, and Levante beat Twente, 3-0, to remain one point back.