TNT Sports
De Bruyne cheers Wolfsburg, Higuain lifts Napoli
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Published 12/03/2015 at 23:23 GMT
VfL Wolfsburg's Belgium forward Kevin de Bruyne scored twice and set up the other goal as they recovered in style to beat Inter Milan 3-1 in a Europa League last-16 first leg tie on Thursday.
VfL Wolfsburg's Kevin de Bruyne (2nd L) is congratulated by his team mate Naldo (2nd R) after scoring a second goal against Inter Milan during their Europa League round of 16 first leg soccer match in Wolfsburg, March 12, 2015 (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
All four early games were won by the hosts with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk beating Ajax Amsterdam 1-0, Club Bruges edging Besiktas 2-1 and Zenit St Petersburg defeating 10-man Torino 2-0.
Triple former European champions Inter made a good start in Germany and Rodrigo Palacio gave them the lead when he slipped the ball under keeper Diego Benaglio in the sixth minute.
Wolfsburg, who are second in the Bundesliga, hit back in the 28th when Naldo levelled from a De Bruyne corner.
The home side made it 2-1 early in the second half as De Bruyne fired home first time from Vierinha right wing cross.
The former Chelsea forward added a third for Wolfsburg when he curled in a free kick with 15 minutes to go and could have had a hat-trick but missed an open goal in the closing stages.
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Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain (R) challenges Tomas Hubocan (L) of Dynamo Moscow during their Europa League round of 16 first leg soccer match at the San Paolo stadium in Naples March 12, 2015. Napoli won 3-1 (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain grabbed a treble for a 3-1 win over Dynamo Moscow.
Kevin Kuranyi headed Dynamo Moscow into a surprise second-minute lead in Naples before the home team equalised when Higuain nodded in a centre from Faouzi Ghoulam.
The Napoli number nine then made it 2-1 from the penalty spot in the 31st minute after Dries Mertens was brought down.
Dynamo had Roman Zobnin sent off one minute into the second half before Higuain completed his treble with a sublime volley, his sixth goal in Europe this season.
Napoli coach Rafa Benitez is aiming to win the Europa League for the second time in three seasons, having guided Chelsea to a 2-1 final victory over Benfica in Amsterdam in 2013.
Sevilla midfielder Vitolo recorded the fastest goal ever scored in the competition (13.2 seconds) to lead the holders to a 3-1 triumph at La Liga rivals Villarreal and Fiorentina drew 1-1 with AS Roma in an all-Serie A tie.
At the Madrigal, the ball went forward from the kick-off and Kevin Gameiro set up Vitolo to score a goal that clipped almost two seconds off the previous fastest goal record set by Ismael Blanco of AEK Athens when the competition was launched in 2009.
Stephane M'bia extended Sevilla's lead before Luciano Vietto pulled one back for Villarreal in controversial fashion.
M'bia handled the ball in the build-up but the referee allowed the goal to stand, rather than award a penalty, after spending two minutes deliberating with two of his officials.
Gameiro then restored Sevilla's two-goal advantage with a venomous close-range volley in the 50th minute.
Josip Ilicic gave Fiorentina an early lead against AS Roma before the visitors had Adem Ljajic dismissed on the hour.
Roma's 10 men fought hard to get back in the tie and they were rewarded when Seydou Keita levelled with 13 minutes to go.
The second legs will be played next Thursday.
Dnipro beat Ajax 1-0 in Ukraine thanks to Roman Zozulya's goal on the half-hour while Zenit sank Torino 2-0, who had Marco Benassi sent off in the 28th minute, with Axel Witsel and Domenico Criscito on target.
Goekhan Toere gave Besiktas the lead after 46 minutes against Bruges but the Belgians rallied thanks to a goal from Tom De Sutter just past the hour and a Lior Refaelov penalty to secure a 2-1 win.
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