Athens victory boost for Blues; Everton alone at the top of group after Benfica defeat: EUROPA LEAGUE ROUND-UP.

AEK ATHENS bounced back from their thrashing at Goodison Park a fortnight ago as they edged out Benfica 1-0 in the Greek capital.

Daniel Majstorovic's strike two minutes before the break proved the difference to leave the David Moyes' Blues alone at the top of Group I. Claudio Ranieri got the result he was after from his Roma players after they ended a run of disappointing results with a 2-0 victory over CSKA Sofia in Group E. The win was secured with two goals in three first-half minutes from Stefano Okaka Chuka and Simone Perrotta.

In the same pool, Danny Murphy's 57th-minute winner saw Fulham sink Basle to halt their three-match losing streak and surge to the top of the group.

Lazio posted a dazzling 4-0 victory at Levski Sofia for their first win in Europa League Group G. Beaten by Red Bull Salzburg in their opening pool game and struggling in Serie A, the Italian side produced a much-improved play against a toothless Levski at the Georgi Asparuchov Stadium.

After a tight start, Matuzalem opened the scoring midway through the first half before Mauro Zarate added the second on the stroke of half-time.

Second-half goals from Mourad Meghni and Tommaso Rocchi crowned a fine win for the Rome outfit.

In the same pool, Salzburg's dream start to the competition continued tonight as they claimed the prized scalp of Villarreal with a 2-0 home win thanks to goals in either half from Marc Janko and Somen Tchoyi.

Werder Bremen moved three points clear at the top of Group L after seeing off Athletic Bilbao 3-1 despite losing Peter Niemeyer to a red card just five minutes after he appeared as a second-half substitute.

The German side led 2-0 at the break thanks to a brilliant volley from Aaron Hunt and a well-worked effort from defender Naldo, and although Fernando Llorente pulled a late goal back for Athletic, it was not enough for the visitors and they conceded a third almost immediately when Torsten Frings scored from the penalty spot.

Austria Vienna had to settle for a point in their Group L clash with Portuguese side Nacional.

Milenko Acimovic missed a penalty 10 minutes into the game for the hosts and Ruben Micael gave the Madeirans the lead after 35 minutes.

An away win looked on the cards until Brazil-born Schumacher tied the game in the 76th minute.

Last season's UEFA Cup champions Shakhtar Donetsk took control of Group J with a 4-1 victory over Partizan Belgrade.

Two goals in each half, with Luiz Adriano, Jadson and Yaroslav Rakitskiy adding to Marko Lomic's 24th-minute own-goal, ensured victory before a late consolation from Adem Ljajic.

Also in the pool, Ivan Perisic's stoppage-time equaliser gave Club Brugge a 2-2 draw at Toulouse.

Joseph Akpala put the Belgian side ahead seven minutes into the second half but their lead lasted just two minutes before Moussa Sissoko celebrated getting his second France call-up today with the equaliser.

It looked as though Andre-Pierre Gignac's 84th-minute goal would hand all three points to Toulouse but Perisic levelled in the dying seconds.

Senegalese striker Dame Ndoye's first-half goal proved the difference as FC Copenhagen recorded a 1-0 home win over Sparta Prague in Group K. Otman Bakkal's first-half header was enough for PSV Eindhoven to claim their opening win of this year's competition at home to CFR Cluj in the same pool.

In Group H, Alex scored the only goal as Fenerbahce bounced back from their opening Europa League defeat to FC Twente with a 1-0 win at Sheriff Tiraspol in a low-key encounter.

Steve McClaren's Twente, meanwhile, were held to a disappointing goalless home draw by Steaua Bucharest.

There were goals aplenty in Group B as Valencia edged Genoa 3-2 and Lille romped to a 5-1 win at Slavia Prague.

Sergio Floccari gave Genoa the lead, but quickfire goals from David Silva and Nikola Zigic reversed the advantage.

Houssine Kharja drew the Italians level from the penalty spot but the match was finally settled when David Villa scored from 12 yards after being tripped in the box with 10 minutes left.

Lille also came from behind to thrash Slavia. Tjani Belaid's penalty had the Lille on the back foot, but Gervinho scored two of five on the counter.

CAPTION(S):

EURO WINNER: Fulham''s Danny Murphy goes past Carlos Alberto Carlitos