British quartet march into UEFA knockout stage

India
British quartet march into UEFA knockout stage
By DPA, Nov 24, 2006 - 7:38:48 PM

Hamburg, Nov 24 - Three English Premiership sides and Scottish club Glasgow Rangers sailed in to the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup.

Tottenham and Newcastle United both made it three straight wins in the tournament group stage Thursday while Blackburn and Rangers picked up draws, which also proved to be enough to advance to the last 32 with a game to spare.

Dinamo Bucharest meanwhile remained second in the group on four points after a 1-1 draw at Club Brugge.

Newcastle came from behind to defeat Spain's Celta Vigo 2-1 to extend their lead in Group H.

Turkey's Fenerbahce sank Serie A high-fliers Palermo in Istanbul with goals from Ghana striker Stephen Appiah -, Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano - and Tuncay Sandi -.

Blackburn progressed thanks to a goalless draw against Feyenoord in a Group E encounter in Rotterdam. The point proved enough after Basel and Nancy finished 2-2.

Glasgow Rangers qualified with a 2-2 draw at Auxerre in Group A while in the same group Maccabi Haifa earned a 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade to edge closer to qualification.

Czech side Slovan Liberec claimed their first victory of the group stage with a 4-1 drubbing of Grasshoppers Zurich in Group C.

Alkmaaar, who were without a game, stay top of the group on six points, ahead of Spain's Sevilla who move second on four points thanks to a 2-0 win over Braga, Luis Fabiano and Chevanton scoring in each half.

Hapoel Tel Aviv boosted their hopes with a 4-2 win at Paris St. Germain to move second in Group G, two points behind Panathinaikos, who were not playing.

Salim Toema scored two early goals and Walid Badir and Elyaniv Barda were also on target after the break for the Israel side.

Spain's Espanyol stormed to the top of Group F with a 6-2 thrashing of previous leaders Zulte-Waregem, with Luis Garcia scoring a hat trick and Walter Pandiani a brace.

Sparta Prague meanwhile picked up their first point in three matches with a goalless draw against visiting Ajax. Espanyol and Zulte-Waregem each have six points, with Ajax two points adrift.

All rights reserved by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited ( www.rxpgnews.com )