Midweek joy in Europa League for British clubs

All three clubs representing England in the Europa League came out with victories last night in what proved to be a fairly easy night for the sides. Tottenham, Wigan and Swansea collectively scored a total of 6 goals scored and conceded just 1. Topping it all off, all of the trio are still undefeated going into gameweek 3.

Spurs took on Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia where just 50 away fans braved the journey, though they were treated to a good display from their side who controlled proceedings for much of the night. Goals from Jermain Defoe and summer signing Nacer Chadli sealed the 3 points in this 2-0 victory. Group K looks to be a stroll in the park now for Tottenham who travel to face the well named ‘FC Sheriff’ later this month.

Wigan’s first home match in this completion resulted in an entertaining encounter against Slovenian champions NK Maribor. The first 45 were a breeze as Nick Powell headed in after a goalkeeping error and Ben Watson bagged Latics second not long after. Chances to kill the game off weren’t taken and the Slovenian’s pulled one back but Manchester United loanee Powell added his name to the scoresheet in the 90th minute to make it 3-1. Owen Coyle’s team face Ruban Kazan next at the DW Stadium.

Swansea escaped a scare from St Gallen (and I don’t just mean with the pyrotechnics on show in the away section) after the Swiss side were awarded a penalty early on. The result was a simple save by Tremmel and from then on the Welsh team dominated though Gallen looked dangerous on the counter at times. The Swans broke the deadlock early into the second half, Wayne Routledge with a tap-in to secure a 1-0 win.

Highlights from these matches can be found here

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