Mixed results in Europa League action

Edy Reja's men played the last half-hour with 10 men following the dismissal of defender Luciano Zauri and had to rely on Giuseppe Sculli's 71st-minute strike to avoid deeper embarrassment.

Djibril Cisse's 35th-minute penalty had given the hosts the lead but a brace from Brazilian Wesley early in the second half gave Vaslui the scent of glory before Sculli came to the rescue.

In the same pool, Sporting Lisbon made a more impressive start with a 2-0 win over FC Zurich in Switzerland.

Former European champions PSV Eindhoven relied on a piece of magic from Dries Mertens to nudge past visitors Legia Warsaw 1-0 in Group C.

Ovidiu Herea's second-half strike was enough to give Rapid Bucharest a winning start to their Group C campaign at Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

Besiktas strolled to the top of Group E with a 5-1 triumph over Maccabi Tel-Aviv in a highly-charged atmosphere in Istanbul.

Two first-half goals from Hugo Almeida put the hosts on the front foot and, though Roei Kahat pulled one back four minutes after the break, Mehmet Aurelio replied two minutes later and further strikes from Egeman Korkmaz and Edu secured the win.

Paris St Germain got their Group F campaign off to a strong start with a 3-1 win over Salzburg.

In the same group, Athletic Bilbao grabbed a 2-1 victory at Slovan Bratislava.

Hannover and Standard Liege played out a painfully uninspiring goalless draw in their Group B opener in Germany, while Morten Nordstrand's second-half penalty settled a low-key encounter in FC Copenhagen's favour as they edged Ukrainian side Vorskla 1-0 in Denmark.

In Group I, a late winner by Pablo Armero helped Udinese get over their Champions League elimination by Arsenal with a 2-1 win over Stade Rennes.

Matias Suarez hit a hat-trick as Anderlecht thrashed AEK Athens 4-1 in their Group L opener in Belgium.

Lokomotiv Moscow came from behind to win 2-1 at Sturm Graz.

Schalke could not break through a resolute Steaua Bucharest defence and had to settle for a goalless draw in Group J, while Maccabi Haifa shrugged off a poor domestic campaign to edge AEK Larnaca via Mohammad Ghadir's goal.

In Group G, goals from Josmer Altidore, Rasmus Elm, Adam Maher and Brett Holman earned AZ Alkmaar a crushing 4-1 win over Malmo, whose consolation came from a 72nd-minute Daniel Larsson penalty.

Also in Group G, Ukrainians Metalist Kharkv hit back from a goal behind to win 2-1 away to Austria Vienna.

In Group H, Club Brugge beat Maribor 2-0 with early goals from Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe and Nabil Dirar.

Late goals from Peter Utaka and Rasmus Falk Jensen ensured Odense started their Group K campaign with an impressive 3-1 victory at Polish champions Wisla Krakow.

Stoke were denied a winning start to their Europa League Group E campaign by Dynamo Kiev's late equaliser to end the match 1-1.

Mark Schwarzer's own goal meant Fulham and FC Twente drew 1-1 in their Group K clash at Craven Cottage.

An inexperienced Tottenham side came through a nail-biting finish to leave the cauldron of the Toumba Stadium with a hard-fought goalless draw in the Group A clash against PAOK Salonika.

It was a tough night in Group A's other game for Shamrock Rovers as the Irish side lost 3-0 to Rubin Kazan.

Celtic's dismal European away record continued with a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in their Group I opener in Spain.

Birmingham's dream of making a flying start to their Group H campaign was brought crashing back down to earth as they lost 3-1 to Braga.