Feyenoord and Paris Saint-Germain — two clubs whose last Uefa Cup matches were marred by violence — reached the round of 32 in Europe’s second-tier competition on Wednesday, and were joined by Ajax, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Celta Vigo and Fenerbahce.
Both Feyenoord and PSG claimed their first victories in the group stage. Feyenoord downed Wisla Krakow 3-1 in Group F and PSG beat Panathinaikos 4-0 at home in group G to ensure they finished in the top three of their group.
In other results, it was: Blackburn 1, Nancy 0 in group E; Espanyol 1, Austria Vienna 0 and Zulte-Waregem 0, Ajax 3 in group F; Hapoel Tel Aviv 1, Mlada Boleslav 1 in group G; and Fenerbahce 2, Eintracht Frankfurt 2 and Palermo 1, Celta Vigo 1 in group H.
Angelos Charisteas scored from a 67th-minute header to give Feyenoord the win in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
The Dutch side led on Nicky Hofs’s header in the 16th minute, with Wisla’s Pawel Brozek equalising in the 23rd. Canadian midfielder Jonathan de Guzman restored Feyenoord’s lead in the 40th minute by converting Joonas Kolkka’s cross.
Wisla Krakow finished with 10 men after Dariusz Dudka was dismissed in the 79th for a foul.
Earlier this month, Uefa fined Feyenoord €125 000 for crowd trouble during its November 30 Uefa Cup match at Nancy. The Dutch club’s fans rioted and smashed windows in the French town before ripping out and throwing seats during Nancy’s 3-0 victory. Police lobbed tear gas in Marcel-Picot Stadium, forcing the referee to halt the match temporarily.
Blackburn defender Lucas Neill scored in injury time for a 1-0 win over Nancy that meant the English club finished atop group E. Nancy were second and Feyenoord third.
Pauleta and Bonaventure Kalou each scored twice in PSG’s win over Panathinaikos. Kalou set up Pauleta for his opening goal in the 29th, and the Portuguese international tallied again in the 47th. Kalou scored in the 52nd and 54th minutes.
Paris Saint-Germain’s stadium was surrounded by about 2 000 police and 700 security staff in the first match played at Parc des Princes since a fan was shot to death by a plainclothes police officer outside the ground on November 23.
Despite the loss, Panathinaikos advanced as group G winners, with PSG second and Hapoel Tel Aviv third. The Israeli club drew 1-1 with Mlada Boleslav.
Dutch international Klaas Jan Huntelaar made sure there were no qualifying worries for Ajax, scoring twice as the former Dutch powerhouse beat Zulte-Waregem 3-0.
The Belgian club already had qualified as the surprise of group F while Ajax needed to avoid a loss by more than four goals to advance.
Huntelaar put Ajax ahead on a pass from Ryan Babel after only four minutes, and in the 56th minute converted again from an assist from Kenneth Perez. Johnny Heitinga made it 3-0 with a long-distance strike in the 83rd minute. Zulte-Waregem’s Ludwin van Nieuwenhuyze was sent off in the 63rd minute for a reckless tackle on Ajax defender Thomas Vermaelen.
Walter Pandiani scored for Espanyol in a 1-0 win over Austria Vienna that gave the Spanish team top spot in group F. Ajax were second and Zulte third.
Spain’s Celta Vigo advanced with a 1-1 draw at Palermo. Fernando Baiano put the visitors ahead with a 59th-minute header, before Palermo’s Giovanni Tedesco equalised in the 70th.
Palermo, third in the Serie A, was eliminated as Celta advanced behind group-H winner Newcastle. Fenerbahce finished third in the group after a 2-2 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt. Tuncay Sanli and Semih Senturk scored after Eintracht Frankfurt led 2-0 up with a pair of goals from Naohiro Takahara.
The five remaining clubs for the next round will be determined on Thursday when the final eight group games are played.
Other clubs already assured of advancing are Scotland’s Rangers; Israel’s Maccabi Haifa; England’s Tottenham; Romania’s Dinamo Bucharest; Italy’s Parma; defending champions Sevilla of Spain; and Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.
Werder Bremen, Spartak Moscow, Bordeaux, Shakhtar Donetsk, Steaua Bucharest, Benfica, AEK Athens and 2005 Uefa Cup champion CSKA Moscow will enter the draw from the European Champions League.
The draw for the next two rounds of the Uefa Cup will be conducted on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland. The draw for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals is set for March 16 in Glasgow, Scotland, the site of the May 16 final. — Sapa-AP