Luque gives Newcastle 1-0 win at Palermo

British clubs enjoyed a fruitful night on the second day of the UEFA Cup group phase as Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers all scored their second consecutive win yesterday.

Newcastle went clear at the top of Group H when Albert Luque netted the winner in a 1-0 win over Palermo.

The win gave the Premier League side six points from two games.

The Sicilians looked more likely to score in a lively opening at the Stadio Barbera, with Newcastle's defence backpedalling to clear shots by Franco Brienza and Andrea Caracciolo off their line.

In the 37th minute, however, James Milner broke down the left and whipped in a cross for Luque to head past home keeper Alberto Fontana.

Newcastle's teenage goalkeeper Tim Krul, making his debut, made a series of fine saves to keep Palermo out.

Blackburn scored three goals in the final 15 minutes to floor Swiss side Basel at Ewood Park to maintain their perfect record in Group E.

Tugay Kerimoglu netted the opening goal on 75 minutes before a Francis Jeffers penalty and Benny McCarthy goal late on secured the points for the English side.

Tottenham came from a goal down to beat Club Bruges 3-1 at White Hart Lane.

Two goals from Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov and another from Ireland's Robbie Keane kept the Hotspurs well in control in Group B with two wins from as many matches.

Ibrahim Salou had given the visitors a surprise lead on 14 minutes.

Rangers are also leading Group A after goals from Nacho Novo (5) and a Charlie Adam penalty a minute from time eased them to a 2-0 win over Israel's Maccabi Haifa.

In the other match from this group, Italy international keeper Marco Amelia earned Livorno a 1-1 draw with Partizan Belgrade when he headed in a late equaliser.

Amelia was left unmarked in the penalty box to glance a header past his Partizan opposite number Ivica Kralj in the 87th minute after the home side had taken the lead 16 minutes earlier through striker Nenad Mirosavljevic.

The result kept alive Livorno's chances of reaching the knockout stage of the competition after their opening 3-2 home defeat to Rangers while Partizan's next outing is a visit to Israel's Maccabi Haifa.

Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar struck twice to earn Ajax Amsterdam a 3-0 win over Austria Vienna.

Huntelaar broke the deadlock from close range 10 minutes before half-time after goalkeeper Szabolcs Safar had blocked a Zdenek Grygera header.

The Dutch league leaders, playing their first match in Group F, sealed the points with two goals in four minutes midway through the second half.

Edgar Manucharyan scored with a deflected goal and then an unmarked Huntelaar nodded in a free-kick from attacking midfielder Kenneth Perez.