Saturday, 5 October 2013

UEFA Europa League: Day 2 And Events That Unfolded

We reflect on matchday two of the UEFA Europa League by picking out ten of the most interesting facts and figures.

• Alan's opening goal in FC Salzburg's 2-1 win at Esbjerg fB was the 2,300th in the UEFA Europa League. The Brazilian was one of three players to register doubles on matchday two, the others being Wigan Athletic FC's Nick Powell and SS Lazio substitute Sergio Floccari, who scored twice in as many minutes late on to salvage a 3-3 draw at Trabzonspor AŞ.

• PSV Eindhoven's match at FC Chornomorets Odesa was their 38th in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final, equalling the previous mark set jointly by Club Atlético de Madrid and Sporting Clube de Portugal. Moreover, the Dutch side's 2-0 victory helped them overtake Atlético as the competition's highest scorers, with 62 goals, while the Spaniards remain the team with most wins, 23 to PSV's 21.

• In conceding an added-time equaliser to SK Rapid Wien, FC Dynamo Kyiv stretched their winless run to seven games – two short of the competition record. The 2-2 result also brought the Ukrainian outfit their tenth draw in the tournament which again is one shy of the record, held by FC Steaua Bucureşti.

• Wigan were one of four clubs to notch their first UEFA Europa League victory on matchday two, the other three being FC Slovan Liberec (2-1 at home to Estoril Praia), Apollon Limassol FC (1-0 at Legia Warszawa) and, at the eighth time of asking, Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (2-1 at FC Girondins de Bordeaux).

• Of the 24 teams new to the competition this term, four – Eintracht Frankfurt, Swansea City AFC, ACF Fiorentina and PFC Ludogorets Razgrad – have claimed maximum points from their opening two fixtures. Conversely, two debutants – Estoril and FC Kuban Krasnodar – have lost both matches.

• For the second matchday running the highest-scoring side were FC Rubin Kazan, who followed up a 5-2 win at Maribor with a 4-0 home success over SV Zulte Waregem. All their goals came in the second half – the tenth occasion that a team has scored four after the interval, but the very first time those four goals have been the only ones in the game.

• PAOK FC achieved a new competition landmark when Dimitris Salpingidis netted their 93rd-minute equaliser at AZ Alkmaar. The 1-1 draw was their seventh successive away fixture in the UEFA Europa League without defeat, eclipsing the record shared by Atlético, FC Porto and Fenerbahçe SK.

• Aged 36 years and 127 days, Massimo Ambrosini became the tournament's fourth oldest goalscorer with his winning strike for Fiorentina at FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. The record belongs to Czech midfielder Pavel Horváth, at 37 years and 214 days.

• Tottenham Hotspur FC forward Jermain Defoe's third goal of the campaign – at FC Anji Makhachkala – not only makes him the joint leading scorer in 2013/14 (alongside Salzburg's Alan and Jonatan Soriano) but also takes him into the UEFA Europa League's top ten all-time listing with nine goals. UEFA Cup included, he has struck 20 times at this level, placing him joint 22nd in the all-time rankings.

• For the second consecutive matchday, the 24 fixtures produced more away wins than home – eight to seven – with nine draws. The figures were ten, nine and five, respectively, on matchday one.

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