Everton 4 - 0 AEK Athens
Everton opened their Europa League Group I account by dismantling outclassed AEK Athens in a game marred by two second-half red cards.
The hosts took an early lead through Joseph Yobo's header and soon added a second as Sylvain Distin poked home.
Stephen Pienaar rifled in a stunning third shortly before the break, with Jo turning sharply to add a late fourth.
AEK had Carlos Araujo red carded after 54 minutes and Louis Saha followed late on for raising his hand to a defender.
Saha barely made contact with the face of AEK defender Juanfran, who made a meal of the incident, in stoppage time but it was right in front of the referee and he had no hesitation in dismissing the French striker.
Araujo, on the other hand, could have had no complaints after he was sent off for kicking out at Distin following a challenge with the French defender.
Everton have a had a sticky start to the Premier League season but from the opening whistle they were a cut above their Greek visitors.
Jack Rodwell and Tim Cahill took control of midfield and with Pienaar looking lively down the right and Jo causing a makeshift AEK defence plenty of problems, it was only a matter of time before the goals started flowing.
Just before kick-off Everton confirmed they had signed Australia captain Lucas Neill and the right-back was in the stands to see two of his new defensive comrades get on the scoresheet inside the opening 17 minutes.
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CSKA Sofia 1 - 1 Fulham
Diomansy Kamara's second-half strike ensured a much-changed Fulham marked their Europa League group stages bow with a precious point at CSKA Sofia.
The Senegalese striker latched on to a ball over the top to round the keeper and slot home as Fulham held off an effervescent Sofia side in Bulgaria.
The hosts had taken the lead when Michel lashed home from 20 yards.
And they could have won it had Fulham keeper David Stockdale not tipped Yordan Todorov's drive over the bar.
A point was always going to be a valuable one for Fulham as they made their first appearance in the group stages of a European competition in the club's history, but Sofia's hussle-and-bustle approach almost ensured the Londoners were forced to make the long trip home with nothing.
As it was, Kamara rounded off a fine individual display with a very well taken goal to reward Fulham's determination and just about justify boss Roy Hodgson's decision to rest nine first-team players.
This time last season, Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill made eight changes for his side's Uefa Cup clash against CSKA Moscow and they subsequently lost 2-0 and were dumped out of the competition.
But that did not deter Hodgson, with only keeper Stockdale and defender John Pantsil surviving from Sunday's Premier League win over Everton.
It did, however, lead to a disjointed opening from the Londoners, and CSKA Sofia were by far the better starters at the Vasil Levski National
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Beside they finished fourth in the previous campaign in domain league, AEK is probably the best Greek club beside Olympiakos and Pao. They started domain campaign with both opening wins, while in European previous round eliminated decent Romanians – Vaslui (1-2 away, 3-0 at home). They’re typical represent of Greek football. Players with great technical skill, they have a high level of fighting spirit and their play is really nice to watch. But, at the same tame, shaky defences (AEK’s goalie-Sebastian Saja is in more than decent shape, though) and lack of physical strength and tactics usually bring a bad outcome when they play in European competitions. AEK have noticed just a single win in last eleven European games on the road and their record is especially bad when they play against British clubs (Everton haven’t lost at home in Europe for about four years, btw.). No big missings for tonight match and despite AEK can produce some good display and score, they’re still underdogs at Goodison Park. Their chances are in underestimating by the opponent and in Everton’s defence line.
