Europa League round-up: Zenit stage stunning comeback, Dundalk steal point
ByReuters
Updated 15/09/2016 at 21:46 GMT
There were goals galore in Maccabi Tel Aviv's game against Zenit St Petersburg as the Russian club fought back from 3-0 down to win 4-3, with all their goals coming from the 77th minute onwards.
Zenit
Image credit: Reuters
A late equaliser saw Dundalk become the first Irish club to claim a point in the Europa League group stages as they drew 1-1 at AZ Alkmaar.
AS Roma were held to a 1-1 draw at Viktoria Plzen despite taking the lead after four minutes, while fellow Italians Sassuolo, who are making their European debut this season, enjoyed a superb 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Elsewhere, Inter suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Hapoel Beer Sheva, with both sides in Southampton's group.
Zenit looked beaten when they fell 3-0 behind in the 70th minute against Maccabi but Aleksandr Kokorin headed home to begin the comeback before Eli Dasa was sent off for the Israelis in the 81st.
Further Zenit goals soon after from Brazilians Mauricio and Giuliano drew the Russians level and Luka Djordjevic remarkably grabbed the winner two minutes into stoppage time.
Ciaran Kilduff's late header sealed a point for Dundalk against AZ Alkmaar, having gone a goal down after Stijn Wuytens headed the hosts into the lead, though he required treatment following his brave efforts.
Despite Dundalk's Stephen O'Donnell seeing red, Dundalk shocked their Dutch opponents when O'Donnell levelled and subsequently held on after nine minutes of stoppage time.
Roma, who have made a bright start in Serie A with seven points from their opening three games, took the lead against Plzen in Group E from the penalty spot when Diego Perotti calmly stroked home after Stephan El Shaarawy was felled.
The lead lasted just seven minutes, however, as Martin Zeman's whipped cross found Marek Bakos to head the hosts level.
Along with Konyaspor, Sassuolo are one of two sides in the group stage making their European bow and they produced a stunning result to get off to the best possible start.
After a goalless first half, the Italians took the lead on the hour mark when Pol Lirola skipped past one challenge and bent the ball home. They doubled their advantage 15 minutes later when Gregoire Defrel raced clear to finish calmly.
Sassuolo rounded off a stunning performance with Matteo Politano's clinical finish in the 82nd minute.
Meanwhile, second-half goals from Miguel Vitor and Maor Bar Buzaglo handed Hapoel Beer Sheva all three points at the San Siro.
The result puts Frank De Boer under more pressure, who only picked up Inter's first win in Serie A against Pescata on Sunday.
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