Contenders celebrate home successes

Four of the five teams in UEFA Cup Group D produced winning displays on the domestic front this weekend. Middlesbrough FC, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, PFC Litex Lovech and AZ Alkmaar all picked up maximum points from their league games, while Grasshopper-Club were the only side to miss out on three points as they were held at home.

Middlesbrough FC 4-1 Manchester United FC

Middlesbrough roared to their best win of the season, putting four past a shell-shocked Manchester United at the Riverside Stadium. Gaizka Mendieta opened the scoring in the second minute with a long-range effort, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink added a second in the 25th minute and Yakubu Ayegbeni made it 3-0 from the penalty spot in first-half added time after Staurt Parnaby had been fouled. Mendieta got his second and Middlesbrough's fourth 12 minutes from time before Cristiano Ronaldo responded for United seconds before the final whistle.

"I told the players afterwards that they should enjoy themselves because moments like this do not come along too often," said Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren, whose side progressed to the fourth round of the English League Cup with a 1-0 win at Everton FC on Wednesday night. "We had to impose our system on theirs. We did that and it was a platform for our win. We have been waiting for this kind of performance and result." McClaren's first-choice centre-backs Gareth Southgate (groin) and Ugo Ehiogu (knee) were both missing, so Matthew Bates joined Franck Queudrue and Chris Riggott at the back.

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 2-0 FC Arsenal Kharkiv

Dnipro bounced back from a 1-0 defeat against FC Vorkla Poltava in the last 16 of the Ukrainian Cup last Wednesday with victory in the Premier League against Arsenal on Sunday. Vadim Tishenko's charges scored a goal in each half through Ruslan Kostysyn and Dmytro Semochko to register a win which allowed them to jump from 14th to tenth in the league standings. The match was also notable for the return of midfielder Olexander Rykun to the lineup for the first time in a month following a personal conflict with previous coach Evgeniy Kucherevskiy.

"I am very happy that we have finally got a win. It may boost the team and give us more confidence," said Tishenko. "As for Middlesbrough, we expect a very tough match. Our opponents offer more than a serious test, but we will try to come up with some surprises for them."

PFC Litex Lovech 4-0 PFC Marek Dupnitza

Litex recorded their fifth home win in a row after sweeping aside Marek on Saturday. However, the victory came at a cost as stand-in striker Zhivko Zhelev was forced off injured just 27 minutes into the game. Zhelev, who was replaced by Lyubomir Lyubenov, is now a doubt for Litex's first UEFA Cup group game at home to Grasshoppers on Thursday. Brazilian striker Sandrinho scored twice against struggling Marek, with the other goals a Lyubenov penalty and a Milivoje Novakovič strike.

"We could have scored more goals, but also could have conceded," said Litex coach Ljupko Petrović, who saw his side move into sixth in the Bulgarian Premier League. "We made some mistakes that could be fatal against Grasshoppers. On Thursday we must be more focused and careful."

Grasshopper-Club 1–1 BSC Young Boys

Grasshoppers warmed up for their UEFA Cup match at Litex with a 1-1 draw at home against Young Boys on Sunday. João Paulo opened the scoring for the visitors before half-time, while Antonio Dos Santos struck the equaliser five minutes into the second period with his seventh goal of the season. Grasshoppers finished with ten men after striker Rogerio was sent off for a foul on Tiago.

Grasshoppers struggled to break through a determined and well-organised Young Boys defence, although Ricardo Cabanas missed a great chance when the game was still goalless. Grasshoppers are unbeaten at home in 15 league games, and were without injured trio Gerardo Seoane, André Muff, and Leandro. Coach Hanspeter Latour said: "We were the better team but we should have been more ruthless in front of goal. It helped that we were able to equalise shortly after half-time."

ADO Den Haag 0-2 AZ Alkmaar

AZ collected a comfortable victory from their trip to Den Haag on Saturday and were given a big boost with the return of Joris Mathijsen after six months out with a knee injury. Tarik Sektioui got AZ's first goal on 16 minutes before Shota Arveladze wrapped up the points with his eleventh goal of the season ten minutes into the second half.

"Joris told me he was ready for it and he was full of self-confidence, which I had noticed in training," AZ coach Louis van Gaal revealed. "He is fit and I am glad about the way he played tonight. We played pretty well, but we should have scored a lot more." AZ are not in action on Matchday 2, giving injured trio Demy de Zeeuw (groin), Pius Ikedia (hamstring) and Juha Reini (achilles) more time to recover.