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Europa League wrap: Fulham, PSG bow out

Fulham were stunningly knocked out of the Europa League on Wednesday, while PSG also exited the competition. The English Premier League side began the matchday one point ahead of Polish side Wisla Krakow, meaning that a win would be enough to send them through to the knockout stages. And they were well on their way to securing all three points at half-time after goals to Clint Dempsey and Kerim Frei. But Odense – who were incapable of progressing past the group stage – kept battling, and a 64th minute free-kick from Hans Andreasen beat Fulham's third-string goalkeeper Neil Etheridge. Fulham, though, only needed a win to be safely through, but the Danes continued to push the hosts' defensive line, and they struck with what turned out to be the last touch of the game. Senegalese forward Baye Djiby Fall headed in a terrific cross to bring Odense level, much to the contempt of the locals. And with Wisla Krakow defeating the already qualified FC Twente 2-1, it was the Poles who went through to the knockout rounds from Group K. Lukasz Gargula and Tzvetan Genkov scored for the winners but their match in Poland finished with Fulham still in front in London. Odense's equaliser sparked belated celebrations in the Krakow crowd and amongst the players. In Group F, PSG exited the competition despite defeating Athletic Bilbao 4-2. The Parisian outfit – who spent over 65 million pounds in the off-season – headed into the game on the back of successive wins but they were quickly trailing after Jon Aurtenetxe's fourth-minute strike. Javier Pastore and Mathieu Bodmer responded before half-time for PSG although their lead lasted just 10 minutes after the break with David Lopez levelling proceedings for the La Liga outfit. An Inigo Perez own-goal and a Guillaume Hoarau penalty in the last five minutes handed PSG the win but it was in vain after Red Bull Salzburg – who were level on seven points with them prior to the matchday – won 3-2 at Slovan Bratislava. Milos Lacny scored two in the first six minutes for the Slovakians but from there Salzburg mounted a terrific comeback, with Jakob Jantscher and Leonardo responding with goals of their own before the break. An own goal from Marian Had just eight minutes into the second half sealed the result for the Austrians who qualified for the knockout stages ahead of PSG in Group F on goal difference only. In Group D, Lazio got the win they needed to progress by toppling leaders Sporting Lisbon 2-0 in Rome, thanks to goals from Libor Kozak and Giuseppe Sculli in a result that meant FC Zurich's 2-0 home success against Vaslui amounted to nothing. Besiktas defeated the already qualified Stoke City to top Group E, with the Turkish side scoring three second-half goals to beat the 10-man visitors 3-1. The other match saw nine-man Dynamo Kyiv claim a thrilling 3-3 draw against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Anderlecht finished Group L with six wins from as many matches after an entertaining 5-3 win over Lokomotiv Moscow and AEK Athens joined them on the winners list, with the Greek side earning their first points of the campaign with a 3-1 win at Sturm Graz. Bundesliga side Schalke 04 toppled Israeli outfit Maccabi Haifa 3-0 in Group J to finish on top of the group and joining them in the next stage were Steaua Bucharest who defeated AEK Larnaca 3-1. From the 12 existing groups, the top two sides from each will join the eight third-placed sides in the UEFA Champions League in the round of 32.
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