Trio triumph as AZ drop points

All five UEFA Cup Group D rivals managed to avoid defeat in their respective domestic leagues at the weekend. There were victories for Middlesbrough FC, PFC Litex Lovech and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, while AZ Alkmaar and Grasshopper-Club had to be content with draws.

FC Groningen 0-0 AZ Alkmaar

AZ could only manage a draw at Groningen on Sunday, a result which dropped Louis van Gaal's team to third place in the Eredivisie standings, three points behind PSV Eindhoven and two adrift of Feyenoord. Afterwards the AZ coach said: "Every second ball went to Groningen in the first half, they were mentally and physically better than us. In the second half we recovered well. We must not play too many matches like this, otherwise we won't become champions."

Van Gaal is also troubled a an injury list which includes Barry Opdam (knee), Demy de Zeeuw (groin), Pius Ikedia (hamstring) and Juha Reini (achilles). Meanwhile, a number of AZ players were involved in international action last week. Goalkeeper Henk Timmer made his debut for the Netherlands in their 3-1 friendly defeat against Italy, a game which also featured Denny Landzaat and Joris Mathijsen. Meanwhile, Ron Vlaar and Stijn Schaars both played for the Dutch side that reached the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals, defeating Slovenia 2-0 on aggregate.

Middlesbrough FC 3-2 Fulham FC

Middlesbrough moved eleventh in the English Premiership by twice coming from a goal down to defeat Fulham at the Riverside stadium. Collins John gave the visitors an early lead with a spectacular volley, but James Morrison levelled four minutes past the hour with his first league goal. Pape Bouba Dioup quickly restored Fulham's advantage but Yakubu Ayegbeni scrambled the home side on terms for a second time before Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink settled the contest six minutes from time with a close-range finish. Defender Gareth Southgate returned from a groin injury to captain the side with Ugo Ehiogu dropping out while Morrison replaced Gaizka Mendieta (calf) in a 3-5-2 formation in which Brad Jones played in goal due to a shoulder problem keeping out Mark Schwarzer - who, together with striker Mark Viduka, also absent on Sunday, helped Australia overcome Uruguay in midweek to reach the FIFA World Cup finals for the first time since 1974.

"It took a lot of character to come back twice, a lot of hard work and we deserved it because we were the better team," said Hasselbaink. "In the second half we changed it around, we began to cause them problems and created chances so I think it's a fair result. It's important we climb the table, this club needs to be around fifth or sixth and we need to get a run together. We didn't have the best of starts, so hopefully this result can get us going and we can take it on into our next game."

SC Tavriya Simferopol 0-1 FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Dnipro improved on their recent fortunes by going to Tavriya and winning 1-0. The match, which was decided by a long-range effort from 19-year-old midfielder Konstyantyn Kravchenko, was enough to elevate Dnipro into ninth place in the Ukrainian Premier League. Centre-back Bohdan Shershun missed the game through injury, Olexandr Grytsay taking his place. Meanwhile, striker Olexandr Melashchenko is still regaining full fitness following his recent lay-off.

Following the match, Dnipro's caretaker coach Vadim Tischenko said: "I think it was an even match. We were a bit lucky, and if Tavriya had more luck it could have been a draw, but for us the most important thing is the final score. We had our good and bad moments today, however I cannot say that anyone wasn't committed enough. Now we need to try and beat Litex."

PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1-2 PFC Litex Lovech

Litex climbed up to fourth place in the Bulgarian Premier League table after securing their first away win of the season on Sunday at PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1936. Ljupko Petrović's team sealed the victory thanks to first-half efforts from Borislav Hazurov, on 25 minutes, and Petar Zlatinov 13 minutes later. "We played well, though we made several mistakes at the back," said coach Petrović afterwards. "If we want to take something from our visit to Dnipro on Thursday, we must be fully concentrated in defence. I think today luck was also on our side".

Petrović has also been given a boost with the news of defender Zhivko Zhelev's speedy recovery from a back injury. Zhelev, who was being used as a stand in striker before his injury, is expected to be fit for the visit of AZ Alkmaar on Matchday 4.

FC St. Gallen 1-1 Grasshopper-Club

Grasshoppers dropped eight points behind Swiss Football League leaders FC Basel 1893 after earning a rather fortuitous point at St. Gallen. The home side had a number of presentable opportunities, but fell behind after 25 minutes as Grasshoppers' Brazilian forward Eduardo thumped in a 25-metre shot. The lead proved short-lived, however, as a slip from Fabio Coltorti let in Alex for the equaliser, although the Grasshoppers goalkeeper redeemed himself with a number of smart stops, denying both Eric Hassli and Moreno Merenda with spectacular saves.

The visitors were once again without six first-choice players: Ricardo Cabanas and Rogerio were suspended, Tariq Chihab, Gerardo Seoane, André Muff and Leandro all injured. "It was a tough fight," said coach Hanspeter Latour. "We had chances in the first half and they had opportunities after the break, so the result was a fair one."