AC Milan won 3-1 in the Netherlands in their first UEFA Cup group match, while Sevilla, Hamburg, Udinese, CSKA Moscow and Schalke also opened the round with victories on Thursday.
Milan, who failed to qualify for the more prestigious Champions League when they slumped to fifth place in Italy’s Serie A, took an early lead against Heerenveen through an own goal and added goals by Genaro Gattuso and Filippo Inzaghi.
Bundesliga leaders Hamburg scored twice in the first half for a crucial 2-1 away win at MSK Zilina, Udinese beat Tottenham 2-0, CSKA routed Deportivo La Coruna 3-0, and Schalke downed Paris Saint-Germain 3-1.
PHOTO: AP
Aston Villa won 2-1, while Galatasaray and Sampdoria also racked up victories in the day’s 16 matches.
Milan scored twice in four first-half minutes through an own goal by Heerenveen defender Calvin Jong-a-Ping and then a close-range shot by Gennaro Gatusso — the Italy midfielder’s first goal since January.
Inzaghi stretched the lead in the 69th — a margin that was trimmed only four minutes before the end when Danijel Pranjic nailed a penalty.
Milan lead Group E on goal difference from Braga, which beat visiting Portsmouth 3-0.
Sevilla eased to a 2-0 win over Stuttgart after Ndri Romaric and Renato scored within a minute of each other in the first half.
Romaric hit a free kick into the top corner in the 15th and Renato converted a header to put Sevilla top in Group C, which also featured Sampdoria’s 2-1 win at Partizan Belgrade.
Hamburg, who have lost just one of its eight matches in the German league, took the lead in Slovakia through Mladen Petric. The Croatia forward headed Thimothee Atouba’s cross from the left past Zilina goalkeeper Dusan Pernis for a 16th-minute opener.
Another Croatia forward, Ivica Olic, extended the visitors’ lead in injury time with a low shot into the bottom corner and Hamburg held onto the win despite a 69th-minute goal from Zilina substitute Emil Rilke.
Aston Villa also won 2-1 in Group F after goals by Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry beat Ajax. Villa’s good night was spoiled, though, by a knee injury to striker Gabriel Agbonlahor in injury time.
“It was very important to start with a win, especially at home, and also to get Ajax out of the way,” Barry said.
While Hamburg continued their great start to the season under Martin Jol, Tottenham’s problems without the manager it fired a year ago continued in Italy.
Spurs began well despite being in the midst of their worst ever start to an English season, with captain Ledley King helping marshal a defense that mostly contained Serie A’s second-place side until goalkeeper Huerelho Gomes gave away a 24th-minute penalty.
Gomes’ poor touch from a back pass gave the ball to Aleksandar Lukovic and the goalkeeper pushed over the Udinese player as he tried to shepherd him away from goal. Antonio Di Natale struck the resulting spot kick low to Gomes’ right.
While Gomes compensated for his error with two saves to prevent certain goals — the best being a one-handed, midair scoop off the line from Fabio Quagliarella’s lob — Tottenham played the last 33 minutes with 10 men after midfielder Jamie O’Hara received two yellows in 52 seconds.
Darren Bent almost equalized for Tottenham with a header before Simone Pepe made it 2-0 with a shot off the post.
Also in Group D, Dinamo Zagreb beat NEC Nijmegen 3-2.
CSKA and Nancy top Group H together after both recorded 3-0 victories. CSKA, trying to earn Russia a second straight UEFA Cup title following Zenit St Petersburg’s win last season, went 2-0 up inside 12 minutes through two goals by Alan Dzagoev, and completed the scoring in the 61st through Vagner Love.
UEFA Cup results on Thursday
Group A
FC Twente 1, Racing Santander 0
Schalke 3, Paris Saint-Germain 1
Group B
Hertha Berlin 1, Benfica 1
Galatasaray 1, Olympiakos 0
Group C
Sevilla 2, VfB Stuttgart 0
Partizan Belgrade 1, Sampdoria 2
Group D
Udinese 2, Tottenham 0
Dinamo Zagreb 3, NEC Nijmegen 2
Group E
SC Heerenveen 1, AC Milan 3
Braga 3, Portsmouth 0
Group F
Aston Villa 2, Ajax 1
MSK Zilina 1, Hamburg 2
Group G
FC Copenhagen 1, Saint-Etienne 3
Rosenborg 0, FC Brugge 0
Group H
Nancy 3, Feyenoord 0
CSKA 3, Deportivo La Coruna 0
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