Soccer – Europa League:David Silva and Jo performed an unlikely double act as Manchester City got their Europa League campaign off to a winning start while Joe Cole sparked Liverpool into action for their win at Anfield.
City were 2-0 winners over Red Bull Salzburg and although Silva has endured a stop-start first few weeks in Manchester since his arrival from Valencia and has even been linked with a swift move back to Spain, he did the job on the night.
The World Cup star provided City with their early lead before Jo, who was the longest-serving outfield player in the City starting line-up despite spending the past 18 months away on loan, drilled home the second from the angle.
It was a fully merited triumph for a team that at times showed the form that brought them that encouraging early-season triumph over Liverpool, and gave Roberto Mancini an indication that after recent setbacks against Sunderland and Blackburn, his team are moving in the right direction.
At Anfield midfielder Joe Cole scored the quickest European goal in Liverpool's illustrious history to set his under-strength side up for a 4-1 victory over Steaua Bucharest.
The England international took just 25 seconds of their opening Group K match to find the net for his first strike since joining on a free transfer from Chelsea.
Cristian Tanase equalised for the Romanians in the 13th minute but David Ngog scored twice and substitute Lucas Leiva scored the other for a victory which was not as easy as the scoreline suggested.
Atletico Madrid began their defence with a 1-0 defeat at Aris Salonika while Juventus were held to a shock 3-3 draw by Lech Poznan in Turin.
Aris's Spanish forward Javito scored just before the hour against Atletico in Group B, running onto a flicked pass by Carlos Ruiz and firing a powerful shot into the corner, as they preserved their unbeaten home record in European competition.
Juve's Brazil World Cup villain Felipe Melo gave away an early penalty as the Italians fell two goals behind with Artjoms Rudnevs grabbing a hat-trick for the visitors including a stoppage-time equaliser in their Group A match.
The Latvian was on target on the half hour, snapping up a rebound, but Juve equalised when defender Giorgio Chiellini scored either side of halftime before Alessandro del Piero put them ahead in the 68th minute with a superb left-foot strike.
However, the Poles had the last laugh when Rudnevs equalised in the second minute of added time.
Patrick Helmes scored a hat-trick to help Bayer Leverkusen claim a 4-0 win over Norwegians Rosenborg in Group B. Stefan Reinartz scored the other for the German side, who were missing injured captain Michael Ballack.
Europa League Results
Group A
Juventus 3 Lech Poznan 2
SV Red Bull Salzburg 0 Man City 2
Group B
Aris Salonika 1 Atletico Madrid 0
Bayer Leverkusen 4 Rosenborg 0
Group C
Levski Sofia 3 AA Gent 2
Lille 1 Sporting 2
Group D
Club Brugge 1 PAOK Salonika 1
Dinamo Zagreb 2 Villarreal 0
Group E
AZ 2 FC Sheriff 1
Dynamo Kiev 2 BATE 2
Group F
Lausanne Sports 0 CSKA Moscow 3
Sparta Prague 3 Palermo 2
Group G
AEK Athens 3 Hajduk Split 1
Anderlecht 1 Zenit St Petersburg 3
Group H
Getafe 2 Odense BK 1
VfB Stuttgart 3 Young Boys 0
Group I
Debrecen 0 FC Metalist Kharkiv 5
PSV 1 Sampdoria 1
Group J
Karpaty Lviv 3 Borussia Dortmund 4
Sevilla 0 PSG 1
Group K
Liverpool 4 Steaua Bucuresti 1
Napoli 0 FC Utrecht 0
Group L
Besiktas 1 CSKA Sofia 0
FC Porto 3 Rapid Vienna 0