It was contrasting fortunes for English clubs vying for glory in the Europa League cup on Thursday.
While Chelsea got a deserving away win, Liverpool was dismissed by Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0.
Super sub, Oscar, snatched a late winner for Chelsea as they laboured to a vital 1-0 victory Sparta Prague at the Toyota Arena to leave themselves with a great chance of qualifying for the last 16 of the Europa League.
The Brazilian was on the pitch for less than 60 seconds before he latched on to a delightful back-heel from Eden Hazard, eight minutes from time, to notch his sixth European goal of the season and ease the pressure on Rafa Benitez.
The Spaniard rested Ashley Cole and the recovering John Terry but otherwise opted for a strong starting XI featuring the likes of Fernando Torres, Ramires and Juan Mata as he sought to decide the tie with vital away goals.
Europa League results
Anji Makhachkala 3 – 1 Hannover
Zenit St. Petersburg 2 – 0 Liverpool
Ajax 2 – 0 Steaua Bucuresti
BATE Borisov 0 – 0 Fenerbahce
Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 1 Benfica
Dynamo Kyiv 1 – 1 Bordeaux
Levante 3 – 0 Olympiakos Piraeus
Napoli 0 – 3 Viktoria Plzen
Sparta Prague 0 – 1 Chelsea
Atletico 0 – 2 Rubin Kazan
Basel 2 – 0 Dnipro D’petrovsk
Inter Milan 2 – 0 CFR Cluj
Monchengladbach 3 – 3 Lazio
Newcastle 0 – 0 Metalist Kharkiv
Stuttgart 1 – 1Racing Genk
Tottenham 2 – 1 Lyon
International – Club Friendlies
Valerenga 0 – 1 Kalmar
Esbjerg 2 – 1 Red Star
FK Senica 3 – 0 Sonderjysk
Botev Plovdiv 3 – 2 Rostov
Lillestrom 0 – 2 CSKA
Mjallby 1 – 0 Nomme
Ujpest 3 – 0 Chernomorets
Bratislava 1 – 0 Zabrze
Razgrad 0 – 1 Legia Warsaw
Kristiansand. 2 – 1 Nordsjaelland
Inter Turku 0 – 1 VPS Vaasa
Djurgarden 3 – 2 FC Lahti
FC Midtjylland 2 – 0 Farense
