SPORTS

Europa League: Lukaku nets Everton treble while Celtic, Inter draw

February 20, 2015 10:02 IST

Romelu Lukaku of Everton FC celebrates. Photograph: Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images

A Romelu Lukaku hat-trick in a 4-1 win for Everton at Young Boys and a thrilling 3-3 draw between Celtic and Inter Milan ushered in the return of the Europa League as the first knockout stage delivered a glut of goals on Thursday.

Lukaku looked like the dynamic target man Everton fans have been hoping to see all season and could have scored five in a rampant display in the first leg of their last-32 clash in Switzerland.

His perfect treble of right-footed, left-footed and headed goals were among the highlights of a superb end-to-end encounter, that was perhaps only pipped for sheer entertainment by the game at Celtic Park where five of the six goals came in a dramatic opening 45 minutes.

Inter let slip a two-goal lead and then a 3-2 advantage as Celtic levelled in the third minute of stoppage time in a duel between two former European champions.

Napoli were among the other first-leg winners, beating Trabzonspor 4-0 away, and were considerably happier than Serie A rivals AS Roma whose status among the favourites looked questionable after a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Feyenoord.

Liverpool, one of the eight teams to have dropped into the Europa League from the Champions League, needed a late penalty from Mario Balotelli to take a 1-0 first-leg advantage against Turkish side Besiktas.

Sevilla stayed on course to retain their title with a 1-0 home win over Borussia Moenchengladbach while Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 at home to Fiorentina.

Elsewhere, Zenit St Petersburg were 1-0 winners at former European champions PSV Eindhoven, Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg won 2-0 at home to Portuguese team Sporting and Torino drew 2-2 with Athletic Bilbao.

Villarreal beat Salzburg 2-1 and Ajax Amsterdam beat Legia Warsaw 1-0.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Recommended by Rediff.com

NEXT ARTICLE

NewsBusinessMoviesSportsCricketGet AheadDiscussionLabsMyPageVideosCompany Email