It was a successful night for Eredivisie clubs as Ajax and FC Twente picked up away wins to give themselves a good chance of reaching the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.
Ajax snatched a valuable away win from their trip to Florence with a goal from Kennedy Bakircioglü giving Marco van Basten's side a 1-0 win over last year's semi-finalists Fiorentina.
It had been one-way traffic for much of the night at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, but Swedish midfielder Bakircioglü silenced the Florence faithful with 30 minutes remaining.
The Viola, who lost on penalties to Rangers in the final four in 2007/08, were unable to respond and missed a hatful of chances to leave them with a harder task in Amsterdam next week.
On the Stade Vélodrome, FC Twente boss Steve McClaren saw his side secure a first-leg victory over Marseille with a 1-0 victory in France.
Austrian forward Marko Arnautović tapped home from close range in the 22nd minute to hand the Dutch side the initiative heading into the return leg next week.
Meanwhile, Marseille face an uphill battle to overturn the deficit in Enschede in the second leg.
Others scorline in UEFA Cup on Thursday:
Also see:
Ajax snatched a valuable away win from their trip to Florence with a goal from Kennedy Bakircioglü giving Marco van Basten's side a 1-0 win over last year's semi-finalists Fiorentina.
It had been one-way traffic for much of the night at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, but Swedish midfielder Bakircioglü silenced the Florence faithful with 30 minutes remaining.
The Viola, who lost on penalties to Rangers in the final four in 2007/08, were unable to respond and missed a hatful of chances to leave them with a harder task in Amsterdam next week.
On the Stade Vélodrome, FC Twente boss Steve McClaren saw his side secure a first-leg victory over Marseille with a 1-0 victory in France.
Austrian forward Marko Arnautović tapped home from close range in the 22nd minute to hand the Dutch side the initiative heading into the return leg next week.
Meanwhile, Marseille face an uphill battle to overturn the deficit in Enschede in the second leg.
Others scorline in UEFA Cup on Thursday:
| Shakhtar | 2-0 | Tottenham |
| FC Copenhagen | 2-2 | Man City |
| Lech Poznań | 2-2 | Udinese |
Please subscribe to our RSS feed to receive more updates. You can also subscribe by Email and enjoy our latest posts sent directly to your inbox.
Also see:
- UEFA Cup round-up: Holders snatch victory; Valencia and Milan held
- Ancelotti includes Beckham in UEFA Cup squad
- UEFA Cup round-up: Wolfsburg and Hamburg claim top spots
- UEFA Cup round-up: Hamburg, Aston Villa and Ajax qualify; Portsmouth out
- UEFA Cup round-up: Udinese, Galatasaray, Twente into next round
