Emmanuel Adebayor, making a rare start for moneybags Manchester City, scored his first goals of the season yesterday to secure a 3-1 win over Lech Poznan and give his club an excellent chance of qualifying from Europe League Group A.
Poznan had held Juventus to a 3-3 draw in their opening group match, and Slawomir Peszko came close to giving the Poles a shock early lead.
But good work by Adam Johnson and then Vieira set up Adebayor to draw first blood in the 13th minute, the Togolese forward spinning round and then firing a low shot beyond Poznan goalkeeper Jasmin Buric.
Poor marking then saw the former Arsenal man elude his marker to power home the second with a header on 25 minutes.
Poznan came into the match having lost three league games on the bounce to plunge into the bottom four with only eight points from as many games.
But spurred on by 5,000 visiting fans they made a game of it after the break and Joel Tshibamba fired them back into the contest five minutes after the restart.
City, level with the Poles on four points from their opening two encounters and hence needing the win to go clear, promptly stepped up a gear and, after Tshibamba had first missed a sitter from eight yards, Adebayor volleyed in from close range after a superb pass from Silva set up the chance on a plate.
“I’m very happy, very delighted - I’m training hard every day,” said Adebayor, keen to feature in a weekend Premier League tussle with former club Arsenal.
Liverpool retained their two-point lead in Group K with two home games to come after a gutsy goalless draw at Napoli in Italy.
With Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres rested and not even brought to Italy, young guns Jonjo Shelvey, Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly were given the chance to impress at the San Paolo stadium and acquitted themselves well, adding to the optimism sparked by new US ownership of the club.
The build up to the game was dominated by violence as a band of Napoli thugs prawled the city the night before the game randomly attacking Liverpool fans, resulting in five people being injured.
FC Utrecht of the Netherlands joined Napoli on three points after a 1-1 home draw with Steaua Bucharest.
Other highlights of yesterday’s action saw two-time European champions Porto make it three wins in three games as they triumphed 3-1 at Turkey’s Besiktas – despite having two men sent off.
Falcao hit the opener and Hulk added the others before Bobo netted a consolation.
Yesterday’s results
Group A
Man. City vs Lech Poznan 3-1; Salzburg vs Juventus 1-1.
Standings: Man. City 7; Lech Poznan 4; Juventus 3; Red Bull Salzburg 1.
Group B
Atletico Madrid vs Rosenborg 3-0; Aris Thessaloniki vs Bayer Leverkusen 0-0.
Standings: Bayer Leverkusen 5; Aris, A. Madrid 4; Rosenborg 3.
Group C
Sporting Lisbon vs Ghent 5-1; Lille vs Levski Sofia 1-0.
Standings: Sporting 9; Lille 4; Levski Sofia 3; Gent 1.
Group D
Villarreal vs PAOK Salonika 1-0; Dinamo Zagreb vs Club Brugge 0-0.
Standings: Villarreal 6; PAOK, D. Zagreb 4; Club Brugge 2.
Group E
Sheriff Tiraspol vs BATE Borisov 0-1; AZ Alkmaar vs Dynamo Kiev 1-2.
Standings: BATE 7; D. Kiev 4; Alkmaar, S. Tiraspol 3.
Group F
Palermo vs CSKA Moscow 0-3; Sparta Prague vs Lausanne 3-3.
Standings: CSKA 9; Sparta Prague 4; Palermo 3; Lausanne 1.
Group G
Zenit SP vs Hajduk Split 2-0; Anderlecht vs AEK Athens 3-0.
Standings: Zenit SP 9; AEK, Anderlecht, Hajduk 3.
Group H
Young Boys vs Odense 4-2; Stuttgart vs Getafe 1-0.
Standings: Stuttgart 9; Young Boys 6; Getafe 3; Odense 0.
Group I
Metalist Kharkiv vs Sampdoria 2-1; Debrecen vs PSV 1-2.
Standings: PSV 7; Metalist 6; Sampdoria 4; Debrecen 0.
Group J
B. Dortmund vs Paris SG 1-1; Karpaty Lviv vs Sevilla 0-1.
Standings: PSG 7; Sevilla 6; B. Dortmund 4; Karpaty 0.
Group K
Utrecht vs Steaua Bucharest 1-1; Napoli vs Liverpool 0-0.
Standings: Liverpool 5; Napoli, Utrecht 3; Steaua 2.
Group L
CSKA Sofia vs Rapid Vienna 0-2; Besiktas vs Porto 1-3.
Standings: Porto 9; Besiktas 6; Rapid 3; CSKA 0.