Battling Everton peg back Liege

EVERTON twice had to fight back to grab a 2-2 draw in a vibrant UEFA Cup tie against Standard Liege.

Liege were ahead early on when Dieumerci Mbokani netted from close range.

Ayegbeni Yakubu equalised before Joseph Yobo’s own-goal put the Belgians ahead again, only for Segundo Castillo to equalise with a fine 25-yarder.

Aston Villa struggled to see off nine-man Litex Lovech before putting one foot in the group stage with a 3-1 first-leg victory in Bulgaria.

The hosts took the lead in the 10th minute through Ivelin Popov before Nigel Reo-Coker levelled on the stroke of half-time.

Cedric Cambon and Mihail Venkov were then sent off before Gareth Barry scored from the penalty spot and Bulgarian Stiliyan Petrov sealed the win late on.

Goals from Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe gave Portsmouth a 2-0 win over Vitoria Guimaraes at Fratton Park, while Brazilian striker Jo scored twice as Manchester City came from behind to defeat AC Omonia 2-1.

AC Milan moved towards the group stage and took some heat off coach Carlo Ancelotti with a 3-1 win over FC Zurich.

Czech defender Marek Jankulovski gave Milan the lead on the stroke of half-time and Brazilian teenager Alexandre Pato doubled the advantage with a rocket free-kick in the 57th minute and his substitute Marco Borriello made it 3-0 in the 74th.

Midfielder Dusan Djuric pulled one back for the Swiss visitors four minutes later.

Motherwell have goalkeeper Graeme Smith to thank as their hopes remain alive after a 1-0 loss against Nancy.

Pascal Berengeur broke the deadlock for the Ligue 1 outfit but they were unable to double their advantage after Smith saved Issiar Dia’s second-half penalty.