Tottenham, Sevilla continue perfect starts

Tottenham’s impressive start to their UEFA Europa League campaign continued with a 2-0 victory over Anzhi Makhachkala on Thursday.

First-half goals from Jermain Defoe and Nacer Chadli saw the visitors take all three points in Moscow to increase their advantage at the top of Group K to four points.

Andre Villas-Boas, who won the competition with Porto in 2011, has seen his side win both of their group games without conceding a goal.

Sevilla and Rubin Kazan were two other sides who made it two victories from two matches, with the Russian Premier League side hammering Zulte-Waregem 4-0 at home.

The Liga team, meanwhile, relied on a penalty from Diego Perotti and Carlos Bacca’s injury-time strike to beat 10-man Freiburg 2-0, with Fallou Diagne seeing red for the visitors.

The points were shared in one of the games of the day in Turkey as Trabzonspor saw their Italian opponents Lazio come back from 2-0 behind to seal a 3-3 draw in the final 10 minutes, with Sergio Floccari netting a stunning brace.

Belgian outfit Genk moved three points clear at the top of Group G as goals from Julien Gorius and Jelle Vossen ensured that Josef Martinez’s stoppage-time effort was a mere consolation for FC Thun.

Victories for Valencia, Apollon Limassol and Slovan Liberec saw the teams pick up their first three points of the group stage as they overcame Kuban Krasnador, Legia Warsaw and Estoril Praia respectively.

And while the Liga outfit beat their Russian opponents 2-0, there was just a one-goal difference in the other two fixtures, with Apollon sealing a 1-0 win, while Slovan defeated their Portuguese visitors 2-1.

The matches between Tromso and Sheriff Tiraspol, AZ and PAOK, and HNK Rijeka and Real Betis all ended 1-1, as did the clash between Lyon and Vitoria Guimaraes, with visiting goalscorer Moussa Maazou later being given his marching orders.

Maccabi Haifa staged a second-half fightback to earn a 2-2 draw at Shakhter Karagandy, with goals from Hen Ezra and Alon Turgeman earning the Israeli side a point.

Rapid Vienna also battled back from two goals down to take a share of the spoils at home to Dynamo Kiev, with Christopher Trimmel’s last-gasp goal securing a 2-2 draw in the Austrian capital.

Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux squandered the lead given to them by Jussie Ferreira Vieira as late goals from Barak Itzhaki and Dor Micha condemned them to a 2-1 loss against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Fiorentina survived the dismissal of David Pizarro as they claimed a 2-1 victory at FC Dnipro, while Salzburg won by the same margin in Denmark against Esbjerg.

Victory was never in doubt for Eintracht Frankfurt and Ludogorets, who thrashed their respective opponents, Apoel Nicosia and Dinamo Zagreb, 3-0 to top their groups.

There was also an impressive performance from PSV, who saw their game against Chornomorets Odesa get off to a great start courtesy of a stunning effort from Memphis Depay, which was later followed up by a Florian Jozefzoon strike in their 2-0 win.

British sides Swansea City and Wigan Athletic also enjoyed success, with the latter claiming their first victory in Europe as teenager Nick Powell struck twice in a 3-1 victory over Maribor, while Wayne Routledge’s goal saw the Welsh side beat St Gallen 1-0.

Elsewhere, Elfsborg’s clash against Standard Liege, and Pandurii Targu-Jiu’s trip to Pacos de Ferreira both ended 1-1.