Europa League: Italian flag flies high

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http://www.todayonline.com/Sports/EDC121005-0000079/Italian-flag-flies-high-in-Europa-League

Italian teams Inter Milan, Lazio and Udinese notched maiden group-stage victories in this season's Europa League, with the only dampener on the night for Serie A clubs being Napoli's 3-0 loss at PSV Eindhoven.

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Trailing 1-0 at half-time at Anfield, Udinese stunned five-time European champions Liverpool with a second-half fightback sparked by Antonio Di Natale's well-taken equalizer and completed by Giovanni Pasquale's drilled finish that proved to be the winner.

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Anzhi Makhachkala is level on four points with Udinese at the top of Group A thanks to a 2-0 win over Young Boys, courtesy of a brace by veteran Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o.

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Inter scored all its goals in the first half in a 3-1 win at Neftci of Azerbaijan to leave Andrea Stramaccioni's side level on four points in Group H with Rubin Kazan, which beat Partizan Belgrade 2-0.

Inter - which faces a derby with AC Milan on Sunday - won courtesy of goals by Philippe Coutinho, Joel Obi and Marko Livaja.

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Lazio heads Group J on four points following a 1-0 home win over Maribor of Slovenia but Tottenham is languishing in third place after conceding a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at struggling Panathinaikos.

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Napoli went to Eindhoven on a high, but their seven-match unbeaten run came undone thanks to goals from Jeremain Lens strike, and Dries Mertens and Marcelo for PSV.

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Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has hailed his side's "fantastic" performance in the 3-0 win over Bordeaux.

The French side came into the game on a 17-match unbeaten run, but Newcastle won in a canter thanks to goals from Shola Ameobi and Papiss Cisse and an own goal from defender Henrique.

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Cristian Rodriguez grabbed an injury-time winner for Atletico Madrid in a 1-0 victory over Plzen, the defending champions' second straight triumph in Group B. French club Lyon also left it late to beat Hapoel Kiryat Shmona 4-3 in a thrilling match in Israel, with Gueida Fofana scoring a stoppage-time winner.

However, there was no end to the woes of Athletic Bilbao, last season's beaten finalist, which lost 3-1 to Sparta Prague to slump to the bottom of Group I. Bilbao is also in the relegation zone in the Spanish league.

In other results, France forward Loic Remy scored twice in Group C leader Marseille's 5-1 thrashing of AEL Limassol and Hannover beat Levante 2-1 despite playing with 10 men for 80 minutes. In another surprising result, unheralded Hungarian side Videoton swept past Sporting Lisbon 3-0 in Group G.