Udinese stun Liverpool at Anfield while Inter cruise in Azerbaijan

A dramatic second half fightback from Italian side Udinese stunned English Premier League club Liverpool in the Europa League and inflicted their third straight defeat at Anfield.

Brendan Rodgers’ side had started brightly, taking the lead through Jonjo Shelvey’s first half header, but Udinese roared out of the blocks in the second half.

Veteran striker Antonio Di Natale equalized just after the interval and an own goal from Uruguayan defender Sebastián Coates handed Udinese a 2-1 lead on 69 minutes.

Giovanni Pasquale quickly made it 3-1 and though Luis Suarez pulled a goal back with a spectacular free kick Liverpool couldn’t find a leveler.

It increased the pressure on Rodgers, with Liverpool languishing in 14th place in the Premier League with just one win from six games.

“I thought the team worked very well but we can’t have to score three, four or five goals to win games. That is the area we have to work on. We concede goals too easily,” Rodgers told ITV.

The other game in Group A saw Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o score twice, as Anzhi Makhachkala beat Young Boys, of Switzerland, 2-0 in Russia.

Fellow Premier League side Newcastle fared better than Liverpool, easing past French outfit Bordeaux who came into the game on the back of a 17-match unbeaten run.

Shola Ameobi put them in front with a tap in before an own goal from Henrique doubled their lead. Senegal striker Papiss Cisse made it 3-0 in the second half, and Newcastle now top Group D.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew told ESPN: “What pleased me most was that we played with verve and energy again, we looked more like ourselves from last year, and that is a good side trust me.”

Club Brugge – Newcastle’s next opponents – beat Portuguese side Maritimo 2-0 in Belgium.

The third English club in the Europa League, Tottenham, had to make do with a 1-1 draw in Greece with Panathinaikos in Group J as Jose Toche canceled out Michael Dawson’s opener.

The group’s other game saw Italian side Lazio edge past Slovenians NK Maribor thanks to an Ederson goal.

Inter Milan cruised to their second successive victory of the competition with a 3-1 win away at Neftchi of Azerbaijan thanks to goals from Phillippe Coutinho, Chukwuma Joel Obi and Marko Livaja.

In the other Group H game, Russian side Rubin Kazan beat Partizan Belgrade 2-0.

Holders Atletico Madrid edged past Czech team Viktoria Plzen but had to rely on an injury time goal from Cristian Rodriguez in their Group B clash while in the other game Salim Cisse’s goal handed Académica de Coimbra a win over Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

Two goals from Baroni Cristian helped Turkish outfit Fenerbahce win 4-2 at Borussia Monchengladbach in Group C. A brace from Loic Remy heped French club Marseille to a 5-1 win over Cypriots AEL.

In Group E Norwegian side Molde beat Stuttgart, of Germany, 2-0 while in Romania Steaua Bucharest defeated FC Copenhagen of Denmark 1-0.

Ukrainians Dnipro recorded a 3-2 victory at AIK Athens in Greece. The other Group F clash saw PSV Eindhoven thrash Italian side Napoli 3-0 in Holland.

In Group G, Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon were humbled in Hungary, losing 3-0 to minnows Videoton FC Fehervar.

FC Basel battled back from 2-0 down at home to Belgium’s Racing Genk – Marco Streller’s double rescuing a point in Switzerland.

There were goals galore in Group I as French outfit Lyon beat Hapoel Kiryat Shmona 4-3 in Israel, Gueida Fofana netting twice, while Sparta Prague defeated Spain’s Atheltic Bilbao 3-1 in the Czech Republic.

In Group K, Ukrainians Metalist Kharkiv beat Rapid Vienna of Austria 2-0, and Bayer Leverkusen beat Rosenborg 1-0 in Norway thanks to a goal from Stefan Kiessling.

In Group L Hannover beat Levante 2-1 despite having a man less than the Spanish side for more than 80 minutes.

Two goals from Nikola Djurdjic put Swedish side Helsingborg into the lead against Twente, but the Dutch outfit hit back to claim a 2-2 draw.