De Boer: Manchester City had no answers for Ajax's play

Ajax manager Frank De Boer has praised his side following its 3-1Champions League win over Manchester City on Wednesday evening.

The Amsterdam outfit found itself one down thanks to Samir Nasri's first half strike but turned things round as Siem De Jong, Niklas Moisander and Christian Eriksen got on the scoresheet.

And after the game De Boer expressed his belief that the Dutch champion was just too strong for its Premier League counterpart.

He told reporters: "I know what we are capable of. I think we saw a good Ajax today that wanted to show something good. We played quite good sometimes. 

"City didn't have an answer to our play. There was a difficult time for us, but we after that, we picked it up again and deserved the 2-1."

Goalscorer De Jong was similarly pleased with the performance but remained keen to stress that his side still has work to do to seal qualification for the knockout stages.

"We expected a lot of danger from them, because they have so much quality in front. They scored on their first chance, while we were the better team. 

"I'm glad we scored the equalizer before half time. We had a lot of space in the second half, so we could play our game. Now we should get a result in Manchester, or else this result isn't much worth."

Cassano leads Inter to 2-0 win over Catania

ROME (AP) -- Inter Milan rejoined Lazio in third place in Serie A on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Catania.

Antonio Cassano opened the scoring in the 28th minute at the San Siro, heading in a pass from Esteban Cambiasso. Rodrigo Palaciosecured the victory with a volley in the 85th.

Inter and Lazio trail leader Juventus by four points, with second-place Napoli one point ahead in second following a 2-0 loss at Juventus on Saturday. Also Saturday, Lazio beat struggling AC Milan 3-2.

Fiorentina is fifth, 10 points back, after a 1-1 draw at Chievo Verona.

Cyril Thereau gave Chievo the lead in the 17th and Gonzalo Rodriguez tied it for Fiorentina a minute later. Fiorentina striker Luca Toni hit the post at the end of the first half. The Tuscan club is yet to win away.

Parma beat 10-man Sampdoria with two goals from Amauri. Palermo and Torino drew 0-0, and 10-man Udinese edged promoted Pescara with a 53rd-minute goal from Maicosuel.

Atalanta celebrated its 105th anniversary with a 2-1 comeback win over last-place Siena, with goals from Luca Cigarini and Giacomo Bonaventura. Cagliari beat Bologna 1-0 to move out of the relegation zone.

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LONDON (AP) - Everton lost ground on the Premier League's top three teams after being held to a 1-1 draw at last-place Queens Park Rangers, which is off to its worst start to a season in 21 years. QPR is without a win after eight games.

Everton, which finished a man down after Steven Pienaar was sent off, fell behind on a deflected strike by Junior Hoilett. But the team tied it when Sylvain Distin's header hit the post and rebounded in off the shoulder of QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

Sunderland escaped with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle thanks to Demba Ba's 86th-minute own goal. That denied the visitors a victory after playing more than an hour with 10 men following Cheick Tiote's dismissal.

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Radamel Falcao scored on a free kick in the 90th minute to give unbeaten Atletico Madrid a 1-0 victory at Real Sociedad, extending its winning run to seven games to remain level with Barcelona at the top of the Spanish standings.

Falcao curled a perfect right-footed shot over the defensive wall to take his league scoring tally to nine goals, two behind leader Lionel Messi of Barcelona.

''Falcao pleaded to take the free kick,'' Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. ''He has been practicing to improve his free kicks and today we saw the payoff. It was an exquisite strike.''

Atletico has won 11 of 12 games in all competitions as Simeone continues to forge Spain's best chance of a side capable of mounting a challenge to Barcelona and Real Madrid's recent domestic dominance.

Also, Espanyol won its first game after eight rounds thanks to Christian Stuani's injury-time winner for a 3-2 victory at Rayo Vallecano, and Miguel ''Michel'' Alfonso struck from long range 3 minutes from time to give Levante a 1-0 victory at Getafe. Zaragoza won 2-1 at Granada to break a two-game losing streak, while Osasuna fell past Espanyol into last place after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Real Betis.

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BERLIN (AP) - Stuttgart won 1-0 win at Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga to end the home team's four-game unbeaten run.

Vedad Ibisevic beat goalkeeper Rene Adler in the 31st minute, allowing the visitors to win for just the second time this season.

Nuremberg ended its four-game losing streak with a 0-0 draw at home to Augsburg.

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PARIS (AP) - Marseille fell 1-0 at struggling Troyes to concede first place in the French league to Paris Saint-Germain on goal difference.

Veteran midfielder Benjamin Nivet punished some sloppy defending in the 89th minute when he swept in a loose ball to give Troyes its first win of the season to lift it off the bottom of the table.

Marseille has picked up only one point from its last three games to put PSG back in the title race, having been six points ahead of its bitter rival a few weeks ago.

Marseille was dealt a further blow when top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac landed heavily after challenging for a header in the first half and hurt his left foot. Despite treatment and strapping, he was unable to continue and Loic Remy replaced him up front. The club later said Gignac fractured his foot.

Earlier, Bafetimbi Gomis scored early in the second half as Lyon beat Brest 1-0 to reclaim third place.

Also, Ajaccio drew 0-0 with Bastia in an ill-tempered Corsican derby that saw both sides finish with 10 men and opposing fans fighting in the stands.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) - Motherwell missed a chance to climb to third place in the Scottish Premier League by losing 1-0 to Hearts.

Danny Grainger scored from 30 yards in the 14th minute, giving Hearts its first victory at home since the opening day of the season. Motherwell came closest to scoring when Nicky Law's header was cleared off the line.

Motherwell is in sixth place, seven points behind league leader Celtic. Hearts moved up two places to eighth in the 12-team league.

Gerrard hits back at Vieira’s criticism of England youngsters

Steven Gerrard has rebuffed the Patrick Vieira’s recent criticism of the England’s younger generation.

The former Arsenal and France captain last week suggested that the country’s national footballers are "not as proud as they used to be", citing the number of young players pulling of out squads through injury as possible evidence of this change of attitude.

Roy Hodgson's England side faces Poland in Tuesday night’s World Cup Qualifier with Kyle Walker, Tom Cleverley and Jonjo Shelveyamongst the squad’s junior members.

Gerrard, however, has claimed there is no such problem, and that Vieira’s allegations have had little effect on him.

"It surprised me to read that," he told reporters on Monday. "The impression I get from young players at Liverpool is that they’re desperate to get into this set-up.

"You can see in their faces that when they’re left out, they’re really disappointed. It didn’t annoy me because I don’t really care what Patrick Vieira says. England’s young players are hungry."

Carlos Bocanegra learning new lessons playing with Spain's Racing Santander

After spending the majority of his career in large cities like Chicago, London and Glasgow, Carlos Bocanegra is getting used to life in the small coastal city of Santander in Spain. 

"It's a nice lifestyle out there, I've seen the sun quite a bit already," he told Goal.com. 

Bocanegra, the captain of the United States national team, joined Spanish second-division side Racing Santander on loan from Scotland's Rangers on the closing day of the European transfer window. It was a reluctant move as Bocanegra made it clear in interviews that he was more than settled in the Scottish capital. Rangers' demotion to the fourth division due to financial turmoil forced the central defender to search for a move to maintain his international career. 

However, Bocanegra is excited for the opportunity to play in a different style of soccer than he's used to after years of being in more physical leagues, such as the Premier League, Ligue 1, the Scottish Premier League and MLS. 
 
"It's nice to have some more of the ball. It's cool, I'm learning new tactics and things about the style that they play over there," Bocanegra said. 

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Bocanegra's international commitments have conflicted with the Segunda Division schedule and he has had limited impact on Racing, starting in only three of the club's opening nine fixtures. Still, the 33-year-old is being counted on to be almost another coach for the club's young players.  

Racing was a La Liga mainstay for almost a decade before being relegated last season. Many of the club's veterans left, looking to remain in the top division and according to Spanish newspapers, Bocanegra was partially brought in to provide a steady veteran presence on a young team. 

Marca reported that the club was impressed by the fact the Bocanegra was one of the 11 players that helped the U.S. upset the top-ranked Spain side in the Confederations Cup in 2009. Spain had previously been undefeated in 30 games prior to that match and it is still in the memory of many of the team's players. 

Racing is currently in 15th place in the Segunda Division and its chance of promotion looks relatively slim. Yet, the team has played better with the U.S. international. In Bocanegra's three appearances, the club worked its way to one of its two wins, and drew and lost in the other two matches. While Racing is benefiting from Bocanegra's experience, he believes that even in his 12th season, he is learning a few things by playing in Spain. 

"When I went to England, I had to adapt my game a bit, France, the same. Now in Spain, it kind of helps me in becoming a bit more rounded," Bocanegra explained.

Though Bocanegra is adding new wrinkles to his game in Spain, he remains hopeful that things can eventually work out with Rangers. He admits that he misses the physical style of soccer played in the United Kingdom. 

"I do miss some of the more physical nature of the Premier League," Bocanegra said. "Being able to mash and tackle, it's a bit more direct than [Spain's second division]."

He fondly remembers his first game in the Premier League. 

"For me, the speed of play and the physicality, everything was just [heightened]," he recalled. "It was a Monday night football game at Newcastle in a away match."  

He added, "I remember saying to myself, 'What the hell did I get myself into? This is crazy.' For me that was the biggest adjustment. You've got to rise to the level." 

There is speculation that Rangers has a small chance of returning to the Scottish Premier League next season. Bocanegra is hoping that the rumors are true so that he can return to the club. If that doesn't happen then he will likely have to look for another move next summer. Either way, Bocanegra's current focus is helping Racing become a better team. 

"At the moment, I'm enjoying this year," he said. "Obviously, when it gets closer to the summer, I'm still a part of Rangers. I'd like to go back, I hope that stuff changes a bit there. 

"I'm not thinking about it. I'm enjoying Spain. Next year is another thing."

McCarthy's Musings: Roger Espinoza's sprained ankle creates a ripple effect for club, country and player

The repercussions from Roger Espinoza's injury in Columbus on Sunday afternoon stretched all the way from central Ohio to Central America and Western Europe.

Espinoza, 25, suffered a sprained right ankle in Sporting Kansas City's 1-1 draw at Crew Stadium. The injury is expected to keep the central midfielder out for the next 2-4 weeks, according to a release issued by the club on Monday.

“I’m relieved that my injury is not a long-term injury,” Espinoza told the Kansas City Star on Tuesday.

He isn't the only one. Espinoza's knock impacts club, country and player like few setbacks incurred in MLS this year. 

In this instance, the country shoulders most of the burden. Honduras can't afford to wait a couple of weeks for its energetic midfielder to return to the fold. It must now devise a way to navigate its way through a difficult pair of fixtures in Panama on Friday and at home to Canada on Tuesday without him. 

Espinoza's absence makes that job harder. He ties everything together for Hondurans with his creativity (yes, he bears a bit more responsibility in that department for his country) and his work rate in the middle of the park. Other players can and must fill the void, but Espinoza's injury could mean the difference between a place in the Hexagonal and a spot on the couch to watch others compete for a berth in the World Cup. 

Similar concerns likely haunt Sporting manager Peter Vermes in the medium-term, but the situation isn't as dire for him at this stage. Espinoza can take two weeks to return to fitness. That's not a problem. It'd be nice to have him in the mix to secure the top seed in the Eastern Conference and ward off Chicago's advances, but it isn't compulsory with Graham Zusi available to drop into midfield and Bobby Convey and Jacob Peterson poised to fill any wide vacancy. 

Those remedial measures would start to wobble if the injury persists as the postseason commences. Sporting simply isn't the same team without Espinoza in midfield. His box-to-box presence permits Zusi to operate in more space on either the right or the left wing (depending on the matchup and the time in the game) and supplies the extra dollop of quality that Júlio César and Paulo Nagamura cannot muster. 

Espinoza is exactly the sort of player who will gut out a match half-fit if he isn't all the way back by the time the playoffs begin, but Sporting desperately needs him in top form to advance through the Eastern Conference. If he isn't at 100 percent, the chances of a second title in Kansas City this year decrease substantially.

From a long-term perspective, Espinoza may want to ponder whether he should take any field at less than full fitness before the end of the MLS season. His contract expires at the end of the year. Several suitors at home (Sporting) and abroad (English Premier League side and notable Honduran haven Wigan Athletic, for starters) have emerged to compete for his services. Unless Espinoza accepts a below-market contract (highly unlikely given his steadily increasing value) or Sporting decides to hand him a Designated Player deal (and the league would have a few stern words to share about that idea), he will likely change clubs during the winter and receive a hefty raise for doing so.

With a move likely on tap, Espinoza must do all he can to preserve his market value. It would make little sense to diminish the hard work done at last year's Gold Cup, this year's Olympics and in MLS by accelerating his recovery time and creating more serious concerns about his health with a setback over the next few weeks. He will no doubt feel compelled to make every effort to shrug off a blow that he initially thought led to a broken ankle, but he must also protect his own interests with a bumper contract on the way sooner rather than later.

Most of the problems would dissipate if Espinoza manages to shrug off the injury and take his usual place in the Sporting midfield three in a couple of weeks. His productive return wouldn't come soon enough to help his country, but it may just prevent the impact of that unfortunate twist from expanding to club and personal interests as well.

Messi, Ronaldo star as Barcelona draws with Madrid

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dueled each other to an entertaining stalemate on Sunday, with both superstars scoring twice as Barcelona drew 2-2 with Real Madrid to keep an eight-point lead over its archrival intact.

The result ended Barcelona's perfect start to the league campaign as it dropped points for the first time in seven games, but provided yet another memorable chapter in the rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo, the two biggest names in soccer.

''It should be prohibited to say which is the best in the world,'' Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said. ''They are both from another planet.''

Ronaldo put Madrid ahead at Camp Nou stadium in the 23rd from a pass by Karim Benzema to extend his scoring streak in ''clasico'' matches to six.

Then it was Messi's turn, as he took advantage of a defensive slip to level for Barcelona in the 31st, before adding a second goal in the 61st with a perfect free kick from almost 25 yards out.

But as Barcelona looked to seal the result, Mesut Oezil unlocked Barcelona's makeshift defensive line to set up Ronaldo to respond five minutes later and split the points.

It was, perhaps, a fitting end to the latest head-to-head duel between arguably the two best players in the world, who for the last two seasons have engaged in a two-way scoring race unlike anything the Spanish league has seen before.

''(Messi and Ronaldo) both try to do everything they can to help their teams and score goals,'' Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova said. ''If Ronaldo hadn't coincided with Messi, perhaps he would get even more recognition.''

Not to be outdone, Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao also scored twice on Sunday, including a 90th-minute winner, to earn a 2-1 win over third-place Malaga. The Colombian international leads the league with nine goals, one more than Messi and Ronaldo.

Atletico's sixth straight victory lifted it even on points with Barcelona at the top of the standings.

Also, Levante beat Valencia 1-0 thanks to Obafemi Martins' first-half goal, Granada downed Mallorca 2-1 for its first home loss, and Athletic Bilbao edged out Osasuna 1-0.

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LONDON (AP) - Veteran American goalkeeper Brad Friedel was dropped to the bench for Tottenham's 2-0 win over Aston Villa, ending his record run of 310 Premier League starts in a row dating to May 2004.

France captain Hugo Lloris, a summer signing from Lyon, started over Friedel and posted a shutout in his league debut, with Spurs' goals coming from Steven Caulker and Aaron Lennon.

''Obviously Brad was disappointed but as a great professional, he ended up accepting the decision,'' Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas said. ''We respect his performances and I'm sure he will be back in the team as soon as possible.''

Manchester United relied on early goals from its much-maligned defense and a stunning strike fromTom Cleverley to secure an impressive 3-0 win at Newcastle, keeping the pressure on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.

Jonny Evans and Patrice Evra scored on headers from corner kicks for United in the opening 15 minutes. Cleverley scored on a long-range shot in the 71st that curled in.

The frustration continues for Liverpool, which tied Stoke 0-0 at home. American midfielder Maurice Edu made his debut for Stoke as an 81st minute substitute for Charlie Adam.

In Sunday's other match, Jose Fonte scored a late tying goal - his second of the game - to earn Southampton a 2-2 tie against Fulham.

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MILAN (AP) - Ten-man Inter Milan hung on to beat crosstown rival AC Milan 1-0 in a bad-tempered Serie A derby that saw the hosts have a goal disallowed and a late penalty appeal waved away as they chased an equalizer.

Walter Samuel headed Inter in front in the fourth minute following a howler from goalkeeper Christian Abbiati. Milan improved but had Riccardo Montolivo's goal disallowed for a foul on Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.

Inter had Yuto Nagatomo sent off for a second yellow card shortly after the break, but Milan could not find the equalizer and was denied what looked to be a clear-cut penalty late on when Robinho appeared to be brought down by Samuel.

Earlier, American midfielder Michael Bradley scored his first goal for Roma in a 2-0 win against Atalanta, and defending champion Juventus stretched its unbeaten streak in the league to 46 games with a 2-1 victory at Siena.

Bradley sealed the game for Roma in the 62nd minute.

Claudio Marchisio scored what proved to be the winner for Juve.

Also Sunday, high-flying Lazio cruised to a 3-0 win at struggling Pescara.

Stevan Jovetic continued his impressive start to the season as he scored his fifth goal to send Fiorentina on its way to a 1-0 victory against Bologna.

Catania beat 10-man Parma 2-0 and Cagliari won 1-0 at Torino.

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PARIS (AP) - Marseille kept hold of first place in the French league after drawing 2-2 with bitter rival Paris Saint-Germain, with strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Andre-Pierre Gignac both scoring twice with well-taken goals in a pulsating first half.

PSG would have overtaken Marseille for first place with a win, remains three points behind Marseille after eight games.

Gignac gave Marseille the lead in the 17th minute, hitting a diagonal shot that went past goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu's outstretched hand.

Ibrahimovic then scored two stunning goals in the 23rd and 25th to send the raucous Stade Velodrome crowd into total silence and take his prolific tally to 10 goals in nine games since joining from AC Milan.

First, he volleyed the ball in from near the penalty spot with his outside of his foot with a martial arts-type kick from Maxwell's corner, and then hit a free kick from 30 yards (meters) with such pace that it flew past goalie Steve Mandanda before he could get across to stop it.

Gignac equalized in the 32nd when he soared above four PSG players to equalize with a powerful header from winger Mathieu Valbuena's corner that gave Sirigu no chance.

Third-place Lyon missed the chance to keep the pressure on the top two when it was held to a 1-1 tie at Lorient.

Earlier, sixth-place Bordeaux maintained its unbeaten start to the season after tying 1-1 at Brest through striker Cheick Diabate's second-half tying goal.

Israel forward Eden Ben Basat put Brest ahead in the 38th minute with his third goal of the season, but Diabate leveled in the 68th with his second goal in as many games.

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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Defending Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund lost more ground to Bayern Munich when it conceded a late goal and had to settle for a 1-1 tie at Hannover.

Mame Biram Diouf scored in the 86th minute to earn the tie for Hannover, leaving Dortmund trailing Bayern by nine points.

Eintracht Frankfurt had its first loss of the season, losing 2-0 at Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen tied 2-2 in the day's third match.

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AMSTERDAM (AP) - American forward Jozy Altidore was ejected from AZ Alkmaar's 2-0 loss to first-place Twente in the Dutch league.

Alkmaar's Adam Maher was shown a red card for a late tackle, and Altidore got two yellow cards protesting the call and was sent off in the 52nd. Nacer Chadli, Dusan Tadic and Luc Castaignos scored for Twente.

Earlier, PSV Eindhoven beat NAC Breda 4-0 to move into second place. Ajax drew 1-1 against FC Utrecht in Amsterdam and fell into fourth place behind Vitesse Arnhem.

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) - Greece striker Georgios Samaras scored the first-half winner as Celtic beat Hearts 1-0 to maintain its two-point lead in the Scottish Premier League.

Five days after earning Celtic its first away win in the Champions League with a stoppage-time goal against Spartak Moscow, Samaras drove home a low finish in the 34th minute at Celtic Park as his team claimed a third straight league win.

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VIENNA (AP) - American forward Terrence Boyd scored in the 86th minute, giving Rapid Vienna a 1-1 tie at Sturm Graz in the Austrian league. Boyd has five league goals this season and seven overall.

Udinese rallies to beat Liverpool in Europa League

LONDON (AP) -- Udinese rallied to beat Liverpool 3-2 in the Europa League on Thursday, joining fellow Italian teams Inter Milan and Lazio in notching maiden group-stage victories.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime at Anfield, Udinese stunned the five-time European champions with a second-half comeback sparked byAntonio Di Natale's well-taken equalizer and completed by Giovanni Pasquale's finish.

Anzhi Makhachkala is tied at four points with Udinese at the top of Group A thanks to a 2-0 win over Young Boys on Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o's two goals.

Inter scored all its goals in the first half in a 3-1 win at Neftci ofAzerbaijan to leave Andrea Stramaccioni's side level on four points in Group H with Rubin Kazan, which beat Partizan Belgrade 2-0.

Lazio heads Group J on four points following a 1-0 home win over Maribor of Slovenia but Tottenham is languishing in third place after conceding a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw at struggling Panathinaikos.

The only dampener on the night for Serie A clubs was Napoli's 3-0 loss at PSV Eindhoven that ceded top spot in Group F to Dnipro.

Elsewhere, Cristian Rodriguez scored an injury-time winner for Atletico Madrid in a 1-0 victory over Plzen, the defending champions' second straight triumph in Group B. French club Lyon also left it late to beat Hapoel Kiryat Shmona 4-3 in a thrilling match in Israel, with Gueida Fofana scoring a stoppage-time winner.

However, there was no end to the woes of Athletic Bilbao, last season's beaten finalist, which lost 3-1 to Sparta Prague to slump to the bottom of Group I. Bilbao is also in the relegation zone in the Spanish league.

In other results, France forward Loic Remy scored twice in Group C leader Marseille's 5-1 thrashing of AEL Limassol, fellow French club Bordeaux was sunk 3-0 at Newcastle and Hannover beat Levante 2-1 despite playing with 10 men for 80 minutes. In another surprising result, unheralded Hungarian side Videoton swept past Sporting Lisbon 3-0 in Group G.

Liverpool came into the match against Udinese in buoyant mood after finally ending its winless run in the Premier League with a 5-2 demolition of Norwich on Saturday. It started well, with Jonjo Shelvey putting the team ahead in the 23rd with a fine header.

But the evergreen Di Natale equalized 32 seconds after the break and after Sebastan Coates headed into his own net, Pasquale ran onto Di Natale's lay-off and thumped a low shot into the corner in the 72nd. Substitute Luis Suarez pulled a goal back from a free kick but late pressure failed to produce an equalizer for Liverpool.

Inter warmed up for Sunday's city derby with AC Milan with a victory courtesy of goals by Philippe Coutinho, Joel Obi and Marko Livaja.

''Even though there were a lot of changes to the side, Inter put in a really solid first half,'' Stramaccioni said. ''This group of players is on the way up.''

Ederson's 62nd-minute winner left Lazio in control of a group containing Spurs, who took a first-half lead through Michael Dawson but failed to make their dominance count before Toche leveled in the 77th for Panathinaikos.

The Greek team was there for the taking after its poor start in the domestic league, which resulted in officials throwing captain Costas Katsouranis off the team on Wednesday.

''There is a sense of disappointment,'' said Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas, who won the Europa League with Porto in 2011. ''In the second half, we made a lot of mistakes in passing and that let them in the game. But a point away from home is positive.''

Aston Villa 1-1 West Brom: Bent grabs late equalizer

Darren Bent came off the bench to clinch a hard-earned point for Villa against high-flying West Brom in a pulsating West Midlands derby at Villa Park.

Both teams cancelled each other out in a scrappy opening period but the contest came alive after the break as Paul Lambert's side fought back after the visiting team got its nose in front.

The recalled Gabriel Agbonlahor looked eager from the start to continue the form he showed at during the week and he almost cut open the Baggies rearguard with a darting run and a whipped cross that was just beyond the prowling Christian Benteke.

Villa gradually took a foothold in midfield and Australian winger Brett Holman was finding plenty of space in front of the Baggies box. Foster had to look lively to tip Holman's 30-yard thunderbolt just over the bar and shortly later the Aussie screwed another effort wide of the target after good work from Agbonlahor.

Baggies skipper Chris Brunt went down clutching his left hamstring and while he hobbled off Ciaran Clark rose to head an Agbonlahor cross just wide.

Brunt was replaced by Graham Dorrans, but while West Brom was still reorganizing, Holman out-muscled Gareth McAuley and saw his deflected effort tipped wide.

Steve Clarke's troops were desperate for the halftime whistle and their cause wasn't helped when Billy Jones went down clutching his right knee and was replaced by Gabriel Tamas a minute before the break.

The Baggies were on the ropes, but they came out after the break intent on giving as good as they got.

They gave a warning of what was to come when Shane Long's header was ruled offside. Villa didn't heed the warning and in 51 minutes the club was punished when Morrison beat the offside trap to send in a cross that Vlaarcould only divert into the path of Long who scored from close range.

Villa recovered from this setback and piled forward. Benteke was wasteful with a couple of opportunities and Lowton saw a 30-yard curler go just over the bar.

Paul Lambert made three substitutions in two minutes and two of them were involved in the leveler on 80 minutes.

With 10 minutes to go, a Barry Bannan cross was headed on by Vlaar and then Clark's volley was blocked only for Bent to bundle the ball home.

In a grandstand finish, Bent almost claimed the points for Villa but he scooped a 20-yard effort just wide.

The Baggies emerged from being under the cosh almost to grab the spoils but Romelu Lukaku's angled drive was blocked by Guzan.

Altidore scores league-high 8th goal for Alkmaar

AMSTERDAM (AP) -- American forward Jozy Altidore raised his Dutch league-leading goals total to eight, scoring in the 24th minute for AZ Alkmaar in a 3-3 tie against Waalwijk on Sunday.

Altidore has nine goals in nine games this season, including a score in the Dutch Cup. He also made the pass for midfielder Adam Maher to tie the score for AZ in the 86th minute, which extended its home unbeaten streak to 26 matches.

Dries Mertens and substitute Juergen Locadia both scored hat tricks as PSV Eindhoven beat Venlo 6-0 to move into third.

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first hat trick of the season, leading Real Madrid to a 5-1 home win over Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday as the defending champions strung together back-to-back La Liga victories for the first time this season.

Madrid (3-2-1) heads into next weekend's ''clasico'' at Camp Nou eight points behind first-place Barcelona (6-0).

Ivan ''Riki'' Sanchez-Rico put the visitors ahead 16 minutes in, but Ronaldo converted a penalty kick in the 23rd, Angel Di Maria gave Real a 2-1 lead in the 38th and Ronaldo scored in the 44th. Pepe headed in a goal in the 66th and Ronaldo conveted a penalty kick in the 83rd for his sixth league goal.

Ronaldo has 17 career hat tricks, including 16 for Real Madrid and 15 in the Spanish league.

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BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) - Darren Bent came off the bench to earn Aston Villa a point with an 80th-minute hoal in a 1-1 tie against midlands rival West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League.

Shane Long put the visitors ahead in the 51st, guiding in a low shot past American goalkeeper Brad Guzan after Ron Vlaar's attempted clearance flew straight at him.

Villa has won just one of its first six games under new manager Paul Lambert and stayed in 15th place in the 20-team league. West Brom is sixth, its best top-flight start since the 1978-79 season.

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ROME (AP) - Napoli rejoined Juventus at the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win at 10-man Sampdoria as the southern club seeks its first Italian title since Diego Maradona first led it to glory.

Edinson Cavani converted a penalty kick for Napoli in the 67th minute for his league-high sixth goal of the season.

Daniele Guastaldello was given his second yellow card for tripping Marek Hamsik at the edge of the area. Replays showed that the foul may have occurred just outside the area.

Maradona led Napoli to its only two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990.

Inter Milan and Lazio are tied for third, four points behind the leaders, after each club won Sunday. Inter edged 10-man Fiorentina 2-1 on Diego Milito's 17th-minute penalty kick and Antonio Cassano's 34th-minute goal for its first home win of the season and Lazio beat Siena 2-1.

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BERLIN (AP) - Alexander Meier scored twice for Eintracht Frankfurt to beat Freiburg 2-1, extending the promoted team's unbeaten start to the Bundesliga.

Max Kruse gave visiting Freiburg a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute, scoring with an angled shot from a rebound after Sebastian Freis' initial effort was saved.

Meier tied the score in the 68th.

Oczipka delivered the corner for Meier to score again five minutes later.

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PARIS (AP) - French leader Marseille's perfect start to the season ended with a 4-1 loss to Valenciennes as goalkeeper Steve Mandanda gifted a goals by making a blunder.

Gael Danic and Anthony Le Tallec put the hosts 2-0 up after 35 minutes, and Mandada then rolled the ball out straight to Foued Kadir, who made it 3-0. Le Tallec scored his second of the game midway through the second half, before Marseille substitute Jordan Ayew got a goal in injury time.

Marseille (6-1), which had allowed only one league goal coming in, has a three-point lead over Paris Saint-Germain (4-0-3).

Third-place Lyon (4-1-2) lost 2-0 to visiting Bordeaux on second-half goals by left back Benoit Tremoulinas and forward Cheick Diabate.