Tottenham Hotspur led
the way on a positive night for English clubs in the UEFA Europa League
play-offs, crushing Scottish rivals Hearts 5-0 to all but book their place in
the group phase with the Cheap soccer jersey. FA Cup finalists Stoke City won 1-0 at Swiss
league leaders FC Thun and Fulham overwhelmed Ukrainians Dnipropetrovsk 3-0,
but League Cup winners Birmingham City had to settle for a 0-0 draw at
Portugal's Nacional.
If it was largely plain
sailing for the English representatives in the competition, it was anything but
for some of the tournament's biggest names. UEFA Champions League
semi-finalists in May, Schalke fell 2-0 at Finnish minnows HJK Helsinki with the English
Premier League Soccer Jersey, while
Italian powerhouses Roma lost 1-0 at Slovan Bratislava and Sevilla, UEFA Cup
winners in 2006 and 2007, went down 2-1 at Hannover.There were also
disappointing results for the two other Scottish sides. A stoppage-time
back-heel by Etien Velikonja saw Scottish champions Rangers lose 2-1 at Maribor
of Slovenia, while Celtic were held to a 0-0 draw in the home leg of their
play-off tie with FC Sion.The second legs take place next Thursday.For all the
pre-match talk of a 'Battle of Britain' at Tynecastle, Spurs raced into a 3-0
half-time lead against Hearts through goals from Rafael van der Vaart,Jermain
Defoe and 21-year-old midfielder Jake Livermore. The hosts improved in the
second period, but Gareth Bale added to Spurs' lead before Aaron Lennon set the
seal on a one-sided victory by sweeping home Defoe's low cross in the 78th
minute."I just enjoyed watching us play," said Spurs coach Harry
Redknapp with the England
Soccer Jersey. "Niko Kranjcar and
Rafael van der Vaart, their link-up play was great. I expected a really tough
game up here, the crowd were great before the kick-off, and they deserve some
success." Stoke, competing in Europe for the first time since the 1974/75
UEFA Cup, secured a 1-0 victory at Thun thanks to an 18th-minute strike from
midfielder Danny Pugh. "The players responded really, really well,"
said Stoke coach Tony Pulis. "These European matches throw up different
problems and we have to think of different solutions."Stumble in Helsinki
Schalke were dreaming of a UEFA Champions League final place four months ago
but Raul and co may have to forego European competition altogether this season
after their shock defeat in the Finnish capital.
HJK boast 40-year-old
former Ajax, Barcelona and Liverpool playmaker Jari Litmanen in their ranks,
but it was 21-year-old forward Teemu Pukki who did the damage against the
Bundesliga heavyweights. The former Sevilla player opened the scoring in the
18th minute, cutting in from the right flank and unleashing a soaring drive
into the far corner with his left foot with the England
Soccer Shirt, before
completing his brace in the 54th minute.Contrary to the fortunes of their city
rivals Roma, Lazio can look forward to the second leg of their tie against
Macedonians Rabotnicki with no trepidation after romping to a 6-0 victory in
the home leg.Paris Saint-Germain were also handsome victors, winning 4-0 at
Differdange of Luxembourg in a match that saw Argentine playmaker Javier
Pastore make his PSG debut following his record €42 million move from Palermo.