SPORTS
Zenit comeback, fastest goal, United, Inter beaten
Baku, September 16, AZERTAC.
The UEFA Europa League group stage started at lightning speed, Slovan Liberec's Jan Sykora scoring the competition's fastest ever goal just 10.69 seconds into the early kick-off, with Feyenoord, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Sassuolo, Zorya and Dundalk all registering notable results thereafter on opening night, according to the official website of UEFA. Maccabi Tel-Aviv would have joined them had it not been for Zenit's sensational second-half comeback.
Matchday one results
Qarabağ 2-2 Liberec
Feyenoord 1-0 Manchester United
Zorya 1-1 Fenerbahçe
Young Boys 0-1 Olympiacos
APOEL 2-1 Astana
Mainz 1-1 St-Étienne
Anderlecht 3-1 Gabala
AZ 1-1 Dundalk
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 3-4 Zenit
Plzeň 1-1 Roma
Astra 2-3 Austria Wien
Rapid Wien 3-2 Genk
Sassuolo 3-0 Athletic
Standard Liège 1-1 Celta
Panathinaikos 1-2 Ajax
Konyaspor 0-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Braga 1-1 Gent
Salzburg 0-1 Krasnodar
Nice 0-1 Schalke
PAOK 0-0 Fiorentina
Internazionale 0-2 Hapoel Beer-Sheva
Southampton 3-0 Sparta Praha
Osmanlıspor 2-0 Steaua
Villarreal 2-1 Zürich
Manchester United, many people's favourites to lift the trophy in Stockholm in May, began with a loss at Feyenoord but were not the only high-profile club to stumble, Inter humbled 2-0 at home by UEFA group stage debutants Beer-Sheva.
Zenit – three down with 14 minutes left – looked certain to become another major casualty but somehow snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Maccabi.
Beer-Sheva's fellow first-timers Zorya had to settle for a draw with Fenerbahçe, who equalised in added time, while Dundalk – even with ten men – came from behind to hold AZ and Sassuolo beat Athletic.
Elsewhere, Osmanlıspor coach Mustafa Reşit Akçay made it 19 UEFA club competition games without defeat courtesy of a 2-0 triumph over Steaua.