There were four early matches today in the Europa League featuring two Premier League sides, one of whom got a decent result (even if it was horrible ugly to watch). Lazio are happy after they thrashed Stuttgart. Here's a recap of the early action across Europe.
UEFA Europa League 2013: Early games recap
Chelsea suffered a defeat in Romania, Newcastle played to a dire scoreless draw in Russia and Lazio are cruising after a big away win over Stuttgart.
Alex Grimm
Things that were better than this match: Pretty much everything, click the link for a full review.
A first half penalty was all Steaua needed to get an excellent opening leg result against the Blues. Click the link for a full review.
VfB Stuttgart 0-2 Lazio
Ederson scored in the 21st minute and Ogenyi Onazi added a goal of his own in the 55st minute as Lazio cruised to a painless first leg victory over Stuttgart. Despite being without Miroslav Klose, Cristian Brocchi and Abdoullay Konko due to injuries and resting Cristian Ledesma, Andre Dias and Giuseppe Biava, Lazio had little trouble dealing with the Germans.
The Italian side are now the clear favorites to advance to the quarterfinals as they’ll return home for the second leg with two away goals. It’s tough to see Stuttgart overcoming this result, which is a bummer.
Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Fenerbahce
Pierre Webo’s 81st minute strike earned Fenerbahce and always important away goal and a first leg victory over Plzen. No doubt the Czech side would have been happy with a draw but considering the level of dominance shown by Fener, it’s definitely a deserved resulted for the Turkish side.
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