UEFA CUP REVIEW:Aston Villa came from behind to salvage a draw in the first-leg of their last-32 Uefa Cup tie with CSKA Moscow at Villa Park. Martin O'Neill's side went behind to a first half Vagner Love strike but John Carew's second-half equaliser gave the homeside a lifeline ahead of the return leg in the Russian capital.

Villa dominated the second 45 minutes but the Russians survived the onslaught and two penalty claims from the Villa players and fans.

Nevertheless, the visitors at times looked dangerous on the break as Villa piled forward and Love, whose goal after 18 minutes was expertly taken and came courtesy of a neat one-two with Yury Zhirkov, was a constant threat.

"European games are very difficult, and we were against a great team, so we can’t be disappointed,” Carew said afterwards. “It was a good game in the end but the away game will be more difficult, and cold, so we will have to prepare well and believe we can do it, although it would have been good to get the win today."

Holders Zenit St Petersburg shook off the rust to win the first leg of their tie with Stuttgart 2-1.

Szabolcs Huszti gave Zenit the lead after just two minutes only for Mario Gomez equalised in the 15th minute, but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk — who has agreed to transfer to Bayern Munich next season — made it 2-1 two minutes into first-half stoppage time.

Valencia put their poor recent domestic form behind them to take a slight advantage in their tie against 10-man Dynamo Kiev by securing a 1-1 draw at a snowy Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium.

Spain international David Silva netted a vital away goal for Los Che after nine minutes and, although Dynamo drew level just after the hour mark when Florin Cernat’s thunderous free-kick was deflected in, the visitors will be the happier of the two sides — even though Dynamo had Artem Milevskiy sent off.

St Etienne produced a classic away performance to claim a deserved 3-1 victoryover Olympiacos at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.

First-half goals from Ilan and Geoffrey Dernis set Alain Perrin’s side on their way before Predrag Djordjevic pulled a goal back from the penalty spot just after the hour.

Substitute Bafetimbi Gomis added gloss to the scoreline for Les Verts with a stoppage-time strike to put the French side firmly in the driving seat ahead of the return leg in two weeks.