Romelu Lukaku became Everton 's leading goalscorer in European competition as his late penalty gave the Toffees a 2-1 victory over Dyna...
Romelu Lukaku becameEverton's leading goalscorer in European competition as his late penalty gave the Toffees a 2-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 clash.
Oleg Gusev gave the visitors the perfect start at Goodison Park, firing Andriy Yarmolenko's corner past Tim Howard in the 14th minute for a vital away goal.
However, Everton responded well after a poor start and equalised through Steven Naismith just before the interval.
Roberto Martinez's side pushed on for a winner in the second half but could not find a way past Oleksandr Shovkovskiy as he saved well from Lukaku and substitute Arouna Kone.
But Everton finally got their well-deserved breakthrough through Lukaku's penalty with just eight minutes remaining to take a narrow advantage into next week's second leg.
Wolfsburg lived up to their billing as Europa League favourites as they took a giant stride towards the quarter-finals with a 3-1 last-16 first-leg victory over Inter Milan.
With the sides level at the break, after Inter’s Rodrigo Palacio’s fifth-minute strike cancelled out by Wolfsburg centre-back Naldo on 26 minutes, two second-half strikes from former Chelsea midfielder Kevin de Bruyne turned the tie in favour of the Bundesliga side.
First he punished Inter keeper Juan Pablo Carrizo's mistake after the hour mark before wrapping a free kick around the his wall 15 minutes from time to put the Germans in the driving seat ahead of their trip to the San Siro.
Cup-holders Sevillaproduced arguably the performance of the round as they stunned La Liga rivals Villarreal 3-1 at El Madrigal.
Striker Vitolo created Europa league history as he latched onto Kevin Gameiro’s pass to give convert with just 13 seconds on the clock - the fastest goal in the competition’s history.
Former QPR midfielder Stephane M’bia doubled the lead on 26 minutes before Marcelino’s Yellow Submarine grabbed a lifeline through Luciano Vietto shortly after the break.
But their reprieve was short-lived as Gameiro volleyed home Vicente Iborra’s knock two minutes later to restore Sevilla’s two-goal lead ahead of next week’s tie at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
Napoli survived an early scare at home to ten-man Dinamo Moscow as Gonzalo Higuain bagged a hat-trick to put them within touching distance of the last eight.
The Russians took an early lead through former Germany international Kevin Kuranyi on two minutes, but Higuain hit back with
It was two shortly after when Higuain struck from the spot after Dries Mertens was brought down in the area.
Dinamo’s task got even harder a minute into the second half when Roman Zobnin was sent off after two bookable offences.
And Higuain’s crisp volley ten minutes after the dismissal wrapped things up as he moved to second, only behind Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, in the competition’s top scorers.
Fiorentina and Roma had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the rounds all-Serie A tie, as Josip Ilacic’s first-half strike was cancelled out late on by veteran Seydou Keita.
Roma given their hopes of qualification a boost had Adem Ljacic not had his penalty saved by Neto on the hour mark, but Rudi Garcia’s side will fancy their chances of qualification ahead of next weeks’ second leg at the Stadio Olimpico.
Zenit St Petersburg will take a two-goal to Italy after they saw off ten-man Torino 2-0 at the Petrovsky Stadium.
The Russians were given a helping hand in the first-leg when Marco Benassi senselessly picked up two yellow cards inside the opening half hour.
Axel Witsel soon put his side in front less than ten minutes after the dismissal before Domenico Criscito double the lead on 53 minutes.
Liverpool’s conquerors, Besiktas, threw away a lead as Club Brugge fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Gokhan Tore scored a precious away goal for the visitors a minute after the interval, but Bruges hit back with two goals in 15 minutes.
First, Tom de Sutter’s 25-yard drive levelled the tie before Lior Rafaelov’s 79th-minute penalty gave the Belgians the advantage.
Dnipro will take a slender advantage to Amsterdam after Roman Zozulya’s 30th-minute strike sealed a 1-0 victory over Ajax in Kiev.
