Birmingham produced a stunning second-half comeback to
draw in Brugge whilst Fulham edged closer to the Europa League knockout stages by securing
an impressive 4-1 victory against Wisla
Krakow. Europa League Round-UpRubin Kazan 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur: FTTottenham's second string failed to deliver the performance ailing
manager Harry Redknapp would have wanted as they were easily beaten 1-0
by Rubin Kazan in their Europa League Group A game in Russia.Sebastien
Bassong needlessly gave away a free-kick on the edge of the box 10
minutes after half time and Bebras Natkho took full advantage by
clipping the set piece over the wall and past Carlo Cudicini.Had
it not been for a number of excellent saves from Cudicini, the scoreline
could have been much worse and Spurs did not register a shot on target
throughout the match despite the presence of Jermain Defoe and Roman
Pavlyuchenko up front.Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-2 Stoke City: FTSecond-half goals from Dean Whitehead and Peter Crouch earned Stoke a
notable 2-1 win in Tel Aviv and took them to the brink of qualification
for the knockout stages of the Europa League.The Potters had
beaten their Israeli opponents 3-0 a fortnight ago at the Britannia
Stadium but Maccabi went into the match unbeaten in 12 European games at
Bloomfield Stadium stretching back to 2004.Stoke had much the
better of the first half without managing to break the deadlock, but
Whitehead put that right six minutes after the break with a neat finish
from a tight angle before substitute Crouch tucked away the midfielder's
cross 13 minutes later, with Roberto Colautti's late header just a
consolation for the hosts.Birmingham City 2-2 Club Brugge: FTBirmingham produced a stunning second-half comeback to rescue a 2-2
draw from their Europa League Group H clash with Club Brugge to keep
alive their hopes of reaching the last 32.Chris Hughton's side
trailed 2-0 at the interval with Thomas Meunier and Joseph Akpala
striking in a five-minute spell just before the interval. But
Jean Beausejour reduced the arrears and then won the penalty converted
by substitute Marlon King which brought the Carling Cup holders level.It means City, Brugge and Braga are all level on seven points with two games remaining.Celtic 3-1 Rennes: FTAnthony Stokes' first-half double and a late strike from substitute
Gary Hooper gave Celtic a 3-1 victory over Rennes at Parkhead to boost
their Europa League hopes.Skipper Kader Mangane headed the French
side into the lead from a Julien Feret corner with less than two
minutes on the clock but on the half-hour mark James Forrest's drive was
parried by Rennes goalkeeper Benoit Costil to the feet of Stokes, who
knocked into the net from close range.Two minutes before the
break Stokes grabbed his second with a drive after racing onto a
Georgios Samaras header and in the 81st minute the Greece striker set up
Hooper, on for Forrest, to score number three as the visitors finished
with 10 men after star midfielder Yann M'Vila was sent off after picking
up two yellow cards.Fulham 4-1 Wisla Krakow: FTFulham edged closer to the Europa League knockout stages by securing
an impressive 4-1 victory from a tempestuous encounter against Wisla
Krakow.The west Londoners dominated the Group K tie from the
offset as they avenged their controversial 1-0 defeat in Poland two
weeks ago, while also extending their unbeaten home record in Europe to
22 matches. Damien Duff handed Fulham an early lead by tucking
away Andrew Johnson's low cross, but they were soon pegged back as an
Andraz Kirm shot deflected in off John Arne Riise.Fulham regained the
lead through Johnson's sublime volley on the 30-minute mark.
Source: DSG