Europa League Scores, Results & Highlights: Tottenham & Dortmund Win, Liverpool & Ajax Settle for Draw
The 2015 UEFA Europa League kicked off with 24 matches from 12 different groups. Here are the key fixtures from Matchday 1 as well as highlights scores and highlights.
Tottenham Hotspur 3 - 1 QarabaÄ FK
English-side Tottenham Hotspur started their UEFA Europa League campaign with an impressive 3-1 win over Azerbaijani champions, QarabaÄ. Richard Almeida put the visitors in the lead in the seventh minute, stunning the home fans at White Hart Lane.
Son Heung-Min scored his first two a brace in the first half to give the host the lead heading into halftime. The Korean international grabbed the goals in the 28th and 30th minute. Harry Kane replaced Son in the 68th minute and made his presence felt as he set up Érik Lamela for the finishing touches with two minutes left before injury time.
Tottenham will face Monaco while QarabaÄ battles Anderlecht on Oct. 1 for Matchday 2 of Europe League Group J.
Borussia Dortmund 2 - 1 FC Krasnodar
Thomas Tuchel's perfect start for Dortmund continues as the German side won their 10th straight competitive game in a 2-1 win over FC Krasnodar. The Black and Yellows hosted the Russian club and the visitors immediately scored in the 12th minute with Pavel Mamayev silencing the home crowd.
Matthias Ginter pulled one back before the first half whistle, heading a Park Joo-ho cross. Ginter returned the favor in the 93rd minute, passing to the newly signed Korean international that scored the win with a diving header.
Group C Fixtures for Matchday 2 will be Krasnodar versus Qäbälä and Dortmund facing PAOK.
FC Girondins de Bordeaux 1 - 1 Liverpool FC
Liverpool's poor early season form continued as they failed to win for the fourth straight competitive game. Adam Lallana opened the scoring for the visitors, nutmegging defender Pablo before slotting home the ball in the 65th minute.
The French host Bordeaux salvaged a point as substitute striker Jussiê Ferreira Vieira equalized with less than 10 minutes before the final whistle. Liverpool will try to earn three points against FC Rubin Kazan in Matchday 2 while Bordeaux faces Group B's first place FC Sion.
After being quickly eliminated from the Champions League, AFC Ajax hosted Scottish-champions Celtic FC and battled to a 2-2 draw. Nir Bitton opened the scoring for Celtic in the eighth minute, but Viktor Fischer leveled the game in the 25th.
Mikael Lustig gave the lead back to the Scots with three minutes before the end of the first half. Lasse Schöne earned a point for the Dutch-side as he slotted home the equalizer in the 84th minute. Ajax's next schedule in the Europa League is against Molde FK while Celtic versus Fenerbahçe is a much watch for Group A.
You can check all the scores from Matchday 1 here and the group standings here.
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