Emmanuele Adebayor waited a long time for his first goal of the season, and he followed that by two more to complete his hat-trick against Lech Poznan in the Europa League. Not only was it Adebayor’s first goal of the season, it was also the first hat-trick a Manchester City player has ever scored in Europe; one that keeps them three points clear in Group A.
It took thirteen minutes to open his account when his masterful turn and shot beat the Lech keeper Jasmin Burić. He then doubled his tally ten minutes later when he headed in David Silva’s cross to leave City in control of the game. The lively Lech Poznan fans didn’t go home empty handed however and Joel Tshimbamba gave City a scare just after half-time when he pounced on Pablo Zabaleta’s poor clearance to make it 2-1. Lech pushed for an equaliser but couldn’t prevail, leaving Adebayor to seal his historic hat-trick fifteen minutes before full-time after combining with Silva again to coolly score his third.
LIVERPOOL YOUNGSTERS PULL THROUGH
Roy Hodgson was most certainly looking towards Sunday’s game against Blackburn when handing in his team sheet for Liverpool’s match with Napoli. With Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres not making the trip and Joe Cole starting on the bench, it was up to Jamie Carragher to take lead of a young Liverpool side. Hodgson handed starts to youngsters Martin Kelly, Jay Spearing and Jonjo Shelvey and each put in a strong performance in a scrappy and slow encounter with Napoli.
Both teams struggled to retain possession and neither had a clear-cut chance until the stroke of half time when Paul Konchesky cleared Marek Hamsik’s shot off the line. It was a major decision for the goal line officials and one they got correct after replay’s showed the ball did not cross the line.
The game opened up after half time with David Ngog and Ryan Babel spurning chances for The Reds, with Babel only needing to shoot past the keeper after setting himself up with a one on one. Edison Cavani had the best chance for Napoli; Konchesky managed to block his goal bound shot before being saved by Pepe Reina. Liverpool survived a late onslaught from Napoli and managed to see out the draw, a result that leaves them unbeaten in Europe and top of a very tight Group.
RUSSIAN PERFECTION
The two Russian representatives in the Europa League continued their impressive form, and both overcame tough opposition to maintain their 100% records in the Europa League. CSKA Moscow had a tricky away tie to Palermo and they triumphed even after Vagner Love missed a first half penalty. Seydou Doumbia scored twice for CSKA and Tomáš Necid added a third after Javier Pastore’s sending off for the home side to secure victory.
Zenit St.Petersburg are now unbeaten in eight consecutive home European matches after seeing off a tenacious Hajduk Split. Goals from Aleksandr Bukharov and Danny secured the win and keeps Zenit on a deadly run of form and almost certain to qualify from Group G.
EUROPA LEAGUE MATCHDAY THREE RESULTS:
GROUP A
Man City 3-1 Lech Poznan
Salzburg 1-1 Juventus
GROUP B
Atlético Madrid 3-0 Rosenborg
Aris 0-0 Leverkusen
GROUP C
Sporting Lisbon 5-1 Gent
Lille 1-0 Levski
GROUP D
Villarreal 1-0 PAOK
Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Club Brugge
GROUP E
Sheriff 0-1 BATE
AZ 1-2 Dynamo Kiev
GROUP F
Palermo 0-3 CSKA Moscow
Sparta Prague 3-3 Lausanne
GROUP G
Zenit 2-0 Hajduk Split
Anderlecht 3-0 AEK
GROUP H
Young Boys 4-2 OB
Stuttgart 1-0 Getafe
GROUP I
Metalist 2-1 Sampdoria
Debrecen 1-2 PSV
GROUP J
Dortmund 1-1 PSG
Karpaty 0-1 Sevilla
GROUP K
Utrecht 1-1 Steaua
Napoli 0-0 Liverpool
GROUP L
CSKA Sofia 0-2 Rapid Vienna
Beşiktaş 1-3 Porto