Liverpool edges Anzhi in Europa League
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.