Parma, Newcastle score away wins

Parma and Newcastle scored vital away victories in the UEFA Cup first round, first leg ties played yesterday.

A late goal from 19-year-old midfielder Daniele Dessena gave Italian side Parma a 1-0 win at FC Rubin Kazan, of Russia.

Despite resting several first-team players, the Serie A side created several goalscoring chances with Maurizio Ciaramitaro, Zlatan Muslimovic and Vitali Kutuzov failing to hit the target.

Parma had to wait until the 79th minute before netting the all-important goal.

Muslimovic chested down the ball inside the area before firing a powerful shot that was somehow kept out by goalkeeper Aleksandrs Kolinko. But Dessena was first to react and headed the ball over the keeper to put the visitors ahead.

The hosts should have drawn level just a minute later when they were awarded a penalty for Ciaramitaro's foul on Baiano but Dominguez blasted it wide.

A 10th-minute goal from new signing Antoine Sibierski was enough to give Newcastle a 1-0 win at Estonia's Levadia Tallinn.

Sibierski, making his Newcastle debut, powered a header past goalkeeper Kolenko after an excellent cross from Scott Parker.

Newcastle lost Titus Bramble to injury midway through the first half, but were still able to limit Levadia to shots from distance.

Another new signing, Obafemi Martins, looked lively up front but wasted a number of opportunities, blasting over the bar three times.

Overall, it was an unconvincing performance from Glenn Roeder's men, but they should be good enough to kill off the tie at St James' Park in two weeks' time.

Hertha Berlin were surprisingly held to a 2-2 home draw by Danish side OB Odense.

The visitors took a surprise seventh minute lead through an own goal by Josip Simunic. Christian Gimenez put the Germans level on 38 minutes before Kevin Boateng put Hertha 2-1 up on 50 minutes. However, their joy was shortlived as Odense managed to draw level three minutes later through a Bechara Oliveira goal.

French side Lens also failed to shine as they could only manage a goalless draw at Ethnikos Achnas of Cyprus.

Second half goals from Wesley Sneijder, Roger and Klas Jan Huntelaar gave Ajax a comfortable 5-2 win at IK Start, of Norway.