LONDON, Aug 3: Inter Milan and Liverpool both made winning starts in first-leg ties of the Europa League third qualifying round on Thursday, but there was disappointment for another former European champions Marseille who were held 1-1 at Eskisehirspor in Turkey.
Stewart Downing ensured that Brendan Rodgers’ first match in charge of Liverpool ended in victory as he scored the only goal against Gomel in Belarus.
Downing’s 25-yard effort midway through the second half was enough to give the Reds the edge going into the second-leg match at Anfield next Thursday.
Gomel dominated most of the game and the Merseysiders were lucky to leave with the win after the hosts missed a string of chances.
Wesley Sneijder set Inter Milan on their way to a comfortable 3-0 win away at Hajduk Split, giving the Serie A side a successful start in their first competitive game of the season.
Dutchman Sneijder rifled Inter ahead after 18 minutes and Japan’s Yuto Nagatomo put them 2-0 up against the Croatian side just before the break. Brazilian Philippe Coutinho completed the scoring in the second-half.“It’s a good result but what I liked was the fact that we never stopped trying to play football and we gave very little away,” Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni said.
Elsewhere, Andre-Pierre Gignac Marseille ahead four minutes after the break when he picked up a Morgan Amalfitano cross, but Eskisehirspor pulled level after 62 minutes through Austrian striker Atdhe Nuhiu.
Nuhiu almost claimed a second ten minutes later but the injury-depleted visitors held on for a draw, with a home leg in their Velodrome stadium to look forward to next Thursday.“There are lessons to be learnt but everything remains to be played for,” said Marseille coach Elie Baup. “We have to get to work and refocus. This Turkish team has quality, they are very dangerous. We made too many mistakes for my liking.”
Meanwhile, Guus Hiddink’s big-spending Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala won 2-0 at home against Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem while Romanian side Rapid Bucharest have an uphill task in their home leg after falling 4-0 at Dutch club Heerenveen.
Dynamo Moscow were held 2-2 at Dundee United with the Scottish club denied a famous win by a deflected injury-time strike.
Last season’s losing finalists Athletic Bilbao are poised to advance after a comfortable 3-1 victory over Croatian club Slaven Koprivnica 3-1, but Irish side St Patrick’s are staring at Europa League elimination after suffering a 3-0 defeat at home in Dublin to Hannover.—Agencies