Thursday 12 March 2015 23:40, UK
Wolfsburg lived up to their billing as Europa League favourites by taking a giant stride towards the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory over Inter Milan in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
With the sides level at the break, after Inter’s Rodrigo Palacio’s fifth-minute strike was cancelled out by Wolfsburg centre-back Naldo on 26 minutes, two second-half strikes from former Chelsea midfielder Kevin de Bruyne turned the tie in favour of the Bundesliga side.
First he punished Inter keeper Juan Pablo Carrizo's mistake after the hour mark before wrapping a free kick around his wall 15 minutes from time to put the Germans in the driving seat ahead of the second-leg at the San Siro.
Cup-holders Sevilla produced arguably the performance of the round as they stunned La Liga rivals Villarreal 3-1 at El Madrigal.
Striker Vitolo created Europa League history as he latched onto Kevin Gameiro’s pass to convert with just 13 seconds on the clock - the fastest goal in the competition’s history.
Former QPR midfielder Stephane M’bia doubled the lead on 26 minutes before Marcelino's Yellow Submarine grabbed a lifeline through Luciano Vietto shortly after the break.
But their reprieve was short-lived as Gameiro volleyed home Vicente Iborra's knock two minutes later to restore Sevilla’s two-goal lead ahead of next week’s tie at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
Napoli survived an early scare at home to 10-man Dynamo Moscow as Gonzalo Higuain bagged a hat-trick to put them within touching distance of the last eight.
The Russians took an early lead through former Germany international Kevin Kuranyi on two minutes, but Higuain hit back on 25 minutes with a well-taken header.
It was two shortly after when Higuain struck from the spot after Dries Mertens was brought down in the area.
Dinamo’s task got even harder a minute into the second half when Roman Zobnin was sent off after two bookable offences, and Higuain's crisp volley 10 minutes after the dismissal wrapped things up as he moved to second, only behind Everton's Romelu Lukaku, in the competition’s list of top scorers.
Fiorentina and Roma had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the round's all-Serie A tie, as Josip Ilicic's first-half strike for the hosts was cancelled out late on by veteran Seydou Keita.
Roma could have given their hopes of qualification a greater boost had Adem Ljacic not had his penalty saved by Neto on the hour mark, but Rudi Garcia's side will fancy their qualification chances ahead of next week's second leg at the Stadio Olimpico.
Zenit St Petersburg will take a two-goal lead to Italy after they saw off 10-man Torino 2-0 at the Petrovsky Stadium.
The Russians were given a helping hand in the first leg when Marco Benassi senselessly picked up two yellow cards inside the opening half hour.
Axel Witsel soon put his side in front less than 10 minutes after the dismissal before Domenico Criscito doubled the lead on 53 minutes.
Liverpool’s conquerors, Besiktas, threw away a lead as Club Brugge fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Gokhan Tore scored a precious away goal for the visitors a minute after the interval, but Bruges hit back with two goals in 15 second-half minutes.
First, Tom de Sutter's 25-yard drive levelled the tie before Lior Rafaelov's 79th-minute penalty gave the Belgians the advantage.
Dnipro will take a slender advantage to Amsterdam after Roman Zozulya's 30th-minute strike sealed a 1-0 victory over Ajax in Kiev.
