Guarin pounces to give Porto edge in Iberian battle

SUBSTITUTE Fredy Guarin netted a late winner to put Porto in pole position in their Europa League last-32 tie with Iberian rivals Sevilla.

Guarin capitalised on a defensive mix-up five minutes from time to give Porto a potentially crucial advantage to take back to Portugal for the return leg.

Earlier, Porto had taken the lead through Jorge Rolando in the 59th minute but that was cancelled out by a Frederic Kanoute header seven minutes later. Rangers were dealt a blow when Matias Fernandez grabbed a late leveller to deny them victory over Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League, drawing 1-1 in Glasgow. Steven Whittaker was on the scoresheet but it was not enough to claim victory at Ibrox.

Mounir El Hamdaoui’s 68th-minute strike rounded off a stunning 3-0 first leg win for Ajax at Belgian Jupiler League leaders Anderlecht.

Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen also hit the target to secure a result which ought to make the second leg in Amsterdam a formality. On a fine night for Dutch teams, champions FC Twente beat Rubin Kazan after late goals from Luuk de Jong and captain Peter Wisgerhof earned a 2-0 win in Russia.

Aiden McGeady’s Spartak Moscow came from 2-0 down to defeat Basle in Switzerland 3-2, Zhano Ananidze snatching the last-minute winner for the Russians. Genseric Kusunga’s foul on McGeady handed Ananidze the opportunity — and his 20-yard effort found the bottom corner.

Benfica came from behind to beat Stuttgart 2-1 in a tight game in Portugal. Martin Harnik gave the German side the half-time advantage but late goals from Oscar Cardozo and Franco Jara turned the tie Benfica’s way.

Other big winners included Dynamo Kiev, for whom Andrei Shevchenko scored in a 4-1 win over Besiktas in Turkey, and Bayer Leverkusen, who hammered Metalist Kharkiv 4-0 in Ukraine. An 89th-minute strike from Peguy Luyindula denied BATE Borisov a famous win in Minsk and rescued a 2-2 draw for Paris St Germain.

Artoms Rudnevs gave Lech Poznan a slender 1-0 advantage over Braga in Poland, while Napoli and Villarreal ground out a goalless draw in Italy.

PSV came from 2-0 down to draw at Lille while Young Boys Bern beat Zenit St Petersburg 3-2. CSKA Moscow beat PAOK Saloniki 1-0.