Group Stage: Match Day 3

By: Dan | October 22nd, 2009

It’s certainly been a fun week for European football; the Europa League did its part to keep things going. So, let’s get into what happened on match day 3.

There were a couple of notable thrashings in matches that we probably thought would have been closer affairs. Benfica, led by Javier Saviola and Oscar Cardazo tore Everton apart in the second half, for a 5-0 victory. Meanwhile, in the Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk showed their title winning form with a 4-0 win over Toulouse. Shakhtar’s victory was especially helpful for group mates Club Brugge, who are now very much in the race for second, after they dispatched Partizan Belgrade.

Villarreal appeared to have gained a momentary respite from their season long misery, but Tommaso Rochhi’s injury time winner, which after their first match day loss against Salzburg will be more welcome to Lazio fans than usual, has almost certainly jeopardized Ernesto Valverde’s employment. Red Bull Salzburg continued their perfect group stage form with a 1-0 win over Levski Sofia.

Group H continues to be rather unpredictable. Sheriff surprised Twente with a 2-0 win that actually put them ahead of the Dutch league leaders in second place. Steaua Bucharest continue to underwhelm in this group. A 1-0 loss to Fenerbahce, who now top the group, leaves Steaua bottom, with no goals scored.

Things in groups L and K pretty much stayed the same. Sparta Prague’s victory over CFR Cluj moved them into second place for now. PSV maintained the top spot with a win over Copenhagen.

Roma’s match at Fulham was televised by GolTV, but the first 45 minutes might have left their fans wishing that they were spared the ‘pleasure’. Tepid and unimaginative will suffice to describe a Roma side who were always on the back foot in the first half. A couple of close offside decisions spared Roma further damage. Roma started out brightly in the second half with the introduction of Pizarro and Perotta, and went on to dominate the second half. It looked like they would not be able to find a way past Fulham, even after they were awarded a penalty for a sloppy foul against John Arne Riise. Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer must have employed the guessing technique, as Jeremy Menez’s penalty was well struck towards the bottom left hand corner, but comfortably saved. Roma eventually grabbed a deserved equalizer at the last possible moment from a corner. This result, along with Basel’s win in Bulgaria, puts the Swiss club on top of the group, while Roma remains in third place.

Rapid Vienna’s bright start came to a screeching halt in Israel, where they were soundly beaten, 5-1, by Hapoel Tel Aviv. Rapid must regret not holding on to their lead against a less than imposing Celtic on match day 2, as they now drop to third in the group behind Hapoel and Hamburg, who won 1-0 at Celtic Park.

Hertha Berlin continued their odd campaign to introduce novel forms of suffering to the Hertha fan experience. A single Heerenveen goal was enough for the Eredivisie strugglers to take all three points home from Berlin with them. For their part, Sporting continue to effortlessly waltz through this group.

Lille continued their very impressive campaign with a 3-0 win against Genoa. This win puts Lille in command of the group, as Valencia could only manage a draw at home against bottom club Slavia Prague.

Ajax, who despite playing well in the group, had not won yet, finally made their performance count; they beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1, which puts them on top of the group, ahead of Anderlecht on goal difference. Timisoara leave me wondering how they managed to knock Shakhtar out of the Champions League. Like their countrymen Steaua, they have not yet scored a goal; today they were fortunate to draw 0-0 with Anderlecht.

Finally, in Group F, any lingering hopes that Sturm Graz had were extinguished in a close match against Panathinaikos, while Galatasaray won comfortably against Dinamo Bucharest. Dinamo remain in contention, but they will have some work to do to progress from this group. They’re now a full three points behind second place Panathinaikos.

Group A
Timisoara 0 – Anderlecht 0
Ajax 2 - Dinamo Zagreb 1

Group B
Valencia 1 – Slavia Prague 1
Lille OSC 3 - Genoa 0

Group C
Celtic 0 – Hamburg SV 1
Hapoel Tel Aviv 5 - Rapid Vienna 1

Group D
Ventsplis 1 – Sporting CP 2
Hertha Berlin 0 – Heerenveen 1

Group E
Fulham 1 – AS Roma 1
CSKA Sofia 0 – FC Basel 2

Group F
Galatasaray 4 – Dinamo Bucharest 1
Panathinaikos 1 – Sturm Graz 0

Group G
Red Bull Salzburg 1 – Levski Sofia 0
SS Lazio 2 – Villarreal 1

Group H
Sheriff 2 – Twente 0
Steaua Bucharest 0 – Fenerbahce 1

Group I
BATE 2 – AEK Athens 1
Benfica 5 - Everton 0

Group J
Shakhtar Donetsk 4 – Toulouse 0
Club Brugge 2 – Partizan Belgrade 0

Group K
PSV Eindhoven 1 – FC Copenhagen 0
Sparta Prague 2 – CFR Cluj 0

Group L
Austria Vienna 2 – Werder Bremen 2
Athletic Bilabo 2 – CD Nacional 1