November 10, 2007	Saturday	Shawwal 28, 1428

LONDON, Nov 9: Struggling Bolton Wanderers held European soccer aristocrats Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw in UEFA Cup Group F on Thursday. Bolton, second from bottom in the English Premier League, shocked Bayern with an eighth minute opener in Munich, the first goal in five years for defender Ricardo Gardner.

Bayern, past winners of four European Cups, a Cup Winners’ Cup and a UEFA Cup, replied with goals from Germany striker Lukas Podolski Cup either side of halftime.

But Kevin Davies made it a night to savour for new coach Gary Megson with an 82nd minute strike against the run of play.

Bayern stay top of the group with four points from two games. Aris Salonika jumped to second after beating Red Star Belgrade 3-0 and Bolton are third a point behind.

It was a good night for English clubs playing away and new coaches. Juande Ramos, who steered Sevilla to successive victories in the UEFA Cup final in the last two seasons, saw his new Tottenham Hotspur team ease to a 2-0 victory at Hapoel Tel Aviv in Group G.

First half goals from Robbie Keane, who scored with a 26th minute volley, and Dimitar Berbatov, who struck with a 31st minute header, put Spurs in complete command. What little resistance Hapoel offered effectively ended with the 50th minute dismissal of midfielder Gal Shish for a second yellow card.

Spurs have three points from their opening two matches while Hapoel have lost both theirs. Anderlecht top the group a point clear of Spurs after a 1-1 draw at AaB Aalborg.

Everton also won 2-0 at Nuremburg in Group A, with late goals from Mikel Arteta and substitute Victor Anichebe. They top the group with six points, two ahead of Zenit St Petersburg who beat Larisa of Greece 3-2 away.

Spartak Moscow earned two second-half penalties, converted by Roman Pavlyuchenko and Mozart, on his 28th birthday, to down Bayer Leverkusen in Moscow and take three points in Group E.

Leverkusen, who lifted the trophy for the only time 20 years ago,are also on three points with Spartak, Sparta Prague, who beat Toulouse 3-2 away, and FC Zurich who were not in action.

Girondins Bordeaux top Group H after beating Austria Vienna 2-1 away. Helsingborg of Sweden are second after 36-year-old striker Henrik Larsson spearheaded them to a 3-2 victory over Galatasaray in Turkey. The Turks, yet to score a point, are bottom of the group.

Teams are in for the long haul if they want to go all the way. After four matches in the group stage, the group winners, runners-up and third-placed team advance to the knockout phase.

Five more rounds follow before the final in Manchester next May.

UEFA Cup results on Thursday:

Group A

Nuremberg 0 Everton 2

Larisa 2 Zenit St Petersburg 3

Group B

Aberdeen 1 Lokomotiv Moscow 1

FC Copenhagen 0 Panathinaikos 1

Group C

Fiorentina 6 Elfsborg Boras 1

Mlada Boleslav 1 Villarreal 2

Group D

Dynamo Zagreb 0 Basel 0

Stade Rennes 1 Brann Bergen 1

Group E

Toulouse 2 Sparta Prague 3

Spartak Moscow 2 Bayer Leverkusen 1

Group F

Aris Salonika 3 Red Star Belgrade 0

Bayern Munich 2 Bolton Wanderers 2

Group G

AaB Aalborg 1 Anderlecht 1

Hapoel Tel Aviv 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2

Group H

Austria Vienna 1 Girondins Bordeaux 2

Galatasaray 2 Helsingborg 3 —Reuters