Lisbon, Portugal – Sporting Lisbon narrowly defeated Lazio 1 on Thursday for its second Europa League win of the season, bringing the Portuguese club to the top of Group D.
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel opened the scoring for Sporting in the 21st minute, getting on the end of a cross and flicking a the ball behind his leg and into the back of the net.
Miroslav Klose equalized for Lazio in the 40th minute following a set piece, but Sporting claimed the win thanks to Emiliano Insua's brilliantly-struck volley from outside the box just before halftime.
Insua was sent off in the 50th minute after receiving his second yellow card, but Lazio could not capitalize on the man-advantage, failing to score another goal.
Sporting has won both of its Europa League matches in 2011, topping Group D with six points. FC Vaslui takes second place with two points, while Lazio and Zurich sit bottom with one point each.
In Group A, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Jermain Defoe, and Giovanni dos Santos each scored for Tottenham as Spurs topped Shamrock Rovers 3-1, and Giorgos Fotakis provided an equalizer in the 80th minute to help PAOK draw with Rubin Kazan.
In Group B, Manuel Seijas, Felipe, and Kanu each scored to help Standard Liege top Copenhagen 3-0, and Mohammed Abdellaoue and Christian Pander provided goals in Hannover's 2-1 win over Vorskla Poltava.
In Group C, Miroslav Radovic scored an 89th-minute winner to lead Legia Warsaw past Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-2, and PSV Eindhoven received late goals from Ola Toivonen and Tim Matavz to earn a 3-1 win over Rapid Bucharest.
In Group D, Mike Temwanjera gave FC Vaslui the lead in the 77th minute, but it was quickly canceled out a minute later by Admir Mehmedi, as FC Vaslui and Zurich played to a 2-2 draw.
In Group E, Jonathan Walters converted a penalty in the 78th minute to give Stoke City a 2-1 home win over Besiktas, and Brown Ideye and Dor Micha traded first-half goals as Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dinamo Kiev played to a 1-1 draw.
In Group F, second-half strikes from Leonardo, Gonzalo Eulogio Zarate, and Dusan Svento handed Red Bull Salzburg a 3-0 win over Slovan Bratislava, and Athletic Bilbao earned a 2-0 win over PSG with goals from Igor Gabilondo and Markel Susaeta.
In Group G, first-half goals from Nacer Barazite and Alexander Grunwald handed Austria Vienna a 2-1 win over Malmo, and Jozy Altidore and Taison traded goals as AZ Alkmaar and Metalist Kharkov played to a 1-1 draw.
In Group H, Chris Burke and Wade Elliott scored for Birmingham as the English side defeated Maribor 2-1, and Ryan Donk scored a late winner in Club Brugge's 2-1 win over Braga.
In Group I, Almen Abdi converted a late penalty for Udinese to earn a 1-1 draw with Celtic, and Juanfran scored in the 87th minute to help Atletico Madrid split the points with Rennes in a 1-1 draw..
In Group J, Christian Fuchs scored twice to help Schalke beat Maccabi Haifa 3-1, and Miljan Mrdakovic and Mihai Costea traded goals to see AEK Larnaca and Steaua Bucharest draw 1-1.
In Group K, a brace from Andrew Johnson earned Fulham a 2-0 win over Odense, and Marc Janko scored twice to lead Twente past Wisla Krakow by a score of 4-1.
In Group L, Matias Suarez and Dieumerci Mbokani tallied goals for Anderlecht in a 2-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow, and Mario Haas scored the game-winner in stoppage time as Sturm Graz defeated AEK Athens 2-1.
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