© EuroFootball.com
On Thursday, the second round of matches in the UEFA Cup group stage took place. The defending champions Moscow "CSKA" lost two more points, French "Rennes" suffered another setback, "Shakhtar" unexpectedly won away against "Stuttgart", while all other favorites, including twice winners "Hamburg", "Strasbourg" and "Middlesbrough" clubs, secured victories.
Together with D.Šemberas, "CSKA" failed to break the resistance of "Heerenveen" and played to a goalless draw, earning only one point. In Group F, leaders are "Marseille" and Sofia's "Levski", with the latter clinching a victory with a late goal against Bucharest's "Dinamo".
"Hamburg" continued their success with convincing victories over Stavanger "Viking", thanks to goals from R. van der Vaart and B. Lauth. In another Group A match, Prague's "Slavia" defeated Sofia's "CSKA" in a competitive game, earning their first three points in the competition.
In Group B, A. Skarbalius' "Brondby" started with a 2-0 victory over Petach Tikva's "Maccabi", while Moscow's "Lokomotiv" managed to hold "Palermo" to a goalless draw. In Group C, "Lens" recovered impressively with a 5-0 victory over "Halmstad", while T. Žvirgždauskas played the full match.
In Group D, "Middlesbrough" crushed Ukraine's "Dnipro" 3-0, while one of the Bulgarian clubs, Lovech's "Litex", won against Zurich's "Grasshoppers". In a dramatic match in Group E, Swiss side "Basel" snatched a victory from Belgrade's "Crvena Zvezda", while "Strasbourg" defeated "Tromso".
"Rapid" Vienna beat "Rennes" 2-0 in Group G, while Donetsk's "Shakhtar" won 2-0 against "Stuttgart". In Group H, there were no surprises as "Bolton" won against St. Petersburg's "Zenit", and "Sevilla" defeated Istanbul's "Besiktas" 3-0.
Thursday's results:
Group A
"Hamburg" 2 - 0 Stavanger "Viking"
21` [1 - 0] Rafael van der Vaart
66` [2 - 0] Benjamin Lauth
Prahos "Slavia" 4 - 2 Sofijos "CSKA"
5` [1 - 0] Pavel Fort
10` [1 - 1] Emil Gargorov
36` [2 - 1] Stanislav Vlcek
56` [3 - 1] Karel Pitak
58` [3 - 2] Stoiko Sakaliev
75` [4 - 2] Pavel Fort
Group B
"Brondby" 2 - 0 Petach Tikvos "Maccabi"
67` [1 - 0] Marcus Lantz
83` [2 - 0] Johan Absalonsen
"Palermo" 0 - 0 Maskvos "Lokomotiv"
Group C
"Lens" 5 - 0 "Halmstad"
16` [1 - 0] Daniel Cousin
23` [2 - 0] Daniel Cousin
47` [3 - 0] Daniel Cousin
73` [4 - 0] Issam Jemaa
90` [5 - 0] Yoann Lachor
Genujos "Sampdoria" 0 - 0 Bukarešto "Steaua"
Group D
Lovecho "Litex" 2 - 1 Ciuricho "Grasshoppers"
13` [1 - 0] Milan Novakovic
81` [2 - 0] Sandrinho
90` [2 - 1] Antonio Dos Santos
"Middlesbrough" 3 - 0 Dnipropetrovsko "Dnipro"
36` [1 - 0] Yakubu Ayegbeni
50` [2 - 0] Mark Viduka
56` [3 - 0] Mark Viduka
Group E
Belgrado "Crvena Zvezda" 1 - 2 "Basel"
25` [1 - 0] Milan Purovic
30` [1 - 1] Matias Emilio Delgado (pen.)
88` [1 - 2] Julio Hernan Rossi
"Strasbourg" 2 - 0 "Tromso"
38` [1 - 0] Mickael Pagis
66` [2 - 0] Salim Arrache
Group F
Sofijos "Levski" 1 - 0 Bukarešto "Dinamo"
90` [1 - 0] Emil Angelov
"Heerenveen" 0 - 0 Maskvos "CSKA"
Group G
Vienos "Rapid" 2 - 0 "Rennes"
42` [1 - 0] Daniel Gheorghe Niculae
68` [2 - 0] Mugurel Mihai Buga
"Stuttgart" 0 - 2 Donecko "Shakhtar"
31` [0 - 1] Fernandinho
88` [0 - 2] Ciprian Marica
Group H
"Bolton" 1 - 0 Sankt Peterburgo "Zenit"
24` [1 - 0] Kevin Nolan
"Sevilla" 3 - 0 Stambulo "Besiktas"
64` [1 - 0] Javier Pedro Saviola
65` [2 - 0] Frederic Kanoute
89` [3 - 0] Frederic Kanoute
