Story highlights
Ukraine's FC Dnipro beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in first leg of Europa League tie
Dynamo Kiev lose 2-0 to Valencia in tie that was played in Cyprus
Juventus make positive to Europa campaign following Champions League elimination
Ukraine’s FC Dnipro earned a 1-0 victory over English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur as the knockout stages of the Europa League got underway on Thursday.
Yevhen Konoplyanka scored from the penalty spot nine minutes from the end to hand the Ukrainian Premier League side a priceless lead ahead of next week’s return leg at White Hart Lane.
The first leg at the Dnipro Arena was played in front of a sparse crowd following the terrible violence that has taken place in recent days on the streets of the capital Kiev, 280 miles (450 km) northwest.
A national day of mourning was declared on Thursday following the loss of dozens of lives in anti-government protests.
Both sets of players wore black armbands as a mark of respect to the dead and observed a minutes silence before the start of the match.
Read more: Sergey Bubka urges Ukraine to end violence
Once the game got underway Spurs dominated possession but it was the home side who made the most of their chances.
Roberto Soldado should of put Spurs ahead in the 56th minute but fired over the bar from five yards after Paulinho had played in an inch-perfect cross from the right.
Tim Sherwood’s side were made to pay for their profligacy when Jan Vertonghen brought down striker Matheus in the box before Konoplyanka scored from the spot kick to end Spurs’ 100% record in the Europa League this season.
Dynamo Kiev, who are currently lying third, one place above Dnipro, in the Ukrainian Premier League, had to have their last 32 first leg tie with Valencia moved to Cyprus because of the ongoing violence.
The match played in the GSP Stadium in Cyprus’ capital Nicosia was won 2-0 by the Spanish side.
In other matches, last season’s runners up Benfica beat Greek side PAOK Salonika while 2011 champions Porto could only manage a 2-2 draw against German side Eintracht Frankfurt.
Italian clubs enjoyed a mixed time of it on Thursday with Fiorentina running out 3-1 winners against Dutch side Esbjerg.
Serie A leaders Juventus, who finished third behind Galatasaray in the Champions League Group B last December, had better luck against fellow Turkish side Trabzonspor beating them 2-0.
Napoli, however, only managed a 0-0 draw with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium and Lazio lost 1-0 to Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.