All teams endeavored in the Europa League Round of 16 first leg, with Zenit St Petersburg, Club Brugge, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, VfL Wolfsburg, Everton, Napoli and Sevilla all emerging victorious.
Let us take a look at how all the matches panned out…
Zenit St Petersburg 2-0 Torino
Goals from Axel Witsel and Domenico Criscito were enough for Zenit to see off Italian side Torino. Andre Villas-Boas’s sides’ efforts were aided by Marco Benassi, who saw two yellows in the space of 15 minutes to get the marching orders just before the half hour mark. Igor Smolnikov’s effort on goal was parried by Daniele Padelli, with the ensuing rebound slotted home by Witsel. Criscito too scored a similar goal, benefiting from Hulk’s attempt off the post.
Club Brugge 2-1 Beşiktaş
Belgian outfit Club Brugge came from behind to record a 2-1 victory over Beşiktaş. The side from Turkey initially led through a Gökhan Töre opener, but Tom de Sutter restored parity just after the hour, with Lior Refaelov converting a spot-kick 10 minutes from time to complete the comeback.
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1-0 Ajax
Dnipro downed Ajax by a goal in Ukraine thanks to Roman Zozulya’s first half goal. Myron Markevych’s charges will take a slender lead to Netherlands, though a clean sheet in the first leg will give the Ukrainians an upper hand. In a game that presented both sides with opportunities aplenty, it was Zozulya who made most of Yevhen Konoplyanka’s good work down the wing, firing home from the resulting cutback.
VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 Inter
It was advantage Wolfsburg as they recorded a huge 3-1 win over Inter Milan, thanks to a virtuoso Kevin de Bruyne performance. Although the Nerazzurri led early in the 5th minute through Rodrigo Palacio, the German’s stormed back, netting 3 goals, of which de Bruyne scored two, and set the other for Naldo. Inter custodian Juan Pablo Carrizo had a nightmare, as the second choice Argentine fluffed his lines for all of The Wolves’s three goals. Roberto Mancini will have a mountainous task of overcoming the two goal deficit when the Italians host the second leg at the Giuseppe Meazza.
Everton 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv
Tournament’s only English representatives Everton registered a 2-1 win over Ukrainian league leaders Dynamo Kyiv. The struggling Toffees were pegged behind in the tie courtesy of a Oleh Husyev near post finish. Romelu Lukaku then took matters in his hands, powering through three defenders to tee-up Steven Naismith, who curled expertly past Oleksandr Shovkovskiy. The sublime Lukaku had the final say in the game, as his late penalty completed the turnaround for Roberto Martinez’s side.
Fiorentina 1-1 AS Roma
It ended 1-1 in this all Italy tie, as Roma managed to snatch a late crucial away goal for his side. Josip Iličić had put Fiorentina ahead in the 17th minute, with Mohamed Salah intercepting Daniele De Rossi’s attempted pass and releasing the Slovenian. Roma were presented with a golden opportunity after Neto was found guilty of bringing down Juan Manuel Iturbe, but the resulting spot-kick from from former Viola star Adem Ljajić was poor, as the Giallorossi’s struggle for goals continued. They finally got their goal, though, as Alessandro Florenzi’s 77th minute header was powered home by Seydou Keita to make-up for Ljajić’s farce.
Napoli 3-1 Dynamo Moscow
An awe-inspiring Gonzalo Higuaín hat-trick aided Napoli trounce Dynamo Moscow by three goals to one. Veteran Kevin Kurányi had gifted the Russians with an early opener, but Higuaín had other plans as he netted his first European treble. Dynamo were made to do all the hard work after Roman Zobnin was sent-off, and simply could not contain the on-song Argentine.
Villarreal 1-3 Sevilla
Sevilla all but booked their place in the quarter finals with a convincing 1-3 away win over their Spanish counterparts Villarreal. Vitolo opened the scoring with a record breaking 14th second goal. Stéphane Mbia doubled the Rojiblancos’ lead, prodding home from a Benoît Trémoulinas cross. The Yellow Submarine’s only silver lining in Luciano Vietto reduced his sides deficit, netting his 8th in the competition. Kévin Gameiro piled more misery on Marcelino and co. with a third, taking the tie beyond his opponents’ reach.
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