Zagreb: West Ham started their Europa League campaign with a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in Group H, while Celtic scored two goals in a 4-3 loss to Real Betis in Group G in the opening round of games on Thursday. took the lead. .
Red Star Belgrade, the 1991 European Cup winners, scored a 2–1 home win over Portuguese rivals Braga, while Bulgarian Ludogorets Razgrad earned a 1–1 draw over Danish side Midtjiland in Group F.
Michael Antonio gave West Ham the lead in the Croatian capital in the 22nd minute when he scored goalkeeper Dominic Livakovic and swung the ball into an empty net after stopping a poor back pass from Kevin Theophile-Katherine.
Declan Rice sealed the victory in the 50th with a fine individual effort as he cleared his marker to the left from the halfway line and drilled the ball eight meters through Livkovic’s legs.
Paul Onuachu’s stoppage-time goal gave Belgium’s Genk a 1–0 win at Rapid Vienna in the second Group H match.
A goal from Albion Azeti and Josip Juranovic penalties gave Celtic a 2–0 lead at Betis inside the opening 27 minutes, but their joy was short-lived as the home side leveled through Juan Miranda and Juanmi eight minutes later.
Betis shook the visitors with another two quick goals shortly after the break, moving through Borja Iglesias in the 50th minute as Juanmi netted after a clever move in his second two minutes.
Anthony Ralston set up a tense end in the 87th minute by pulling back a bar for Celtic, but Betis held on to come out on top in a seven-goal thriller.
In the second Group G game, Bayer Leverkusen fought for a 2–1 home win against Ferencváros, as Axquiel Palacios and Florian Wirtz canceled an early Ryan Mami opener for the Hungarian side.
Left-back Milan Roddick carried Red Star in the 75th minute and Braga returned a minute later through Vanderson and only Alexander Katai pleased the enthusiastic home fans with an 85th-minute penalty.
In Group E, Thomas Strakosha scored in the middle of the second half to help Galatasaray secure a 1–0 home win over Lazio, while 10-man Lokomotiv Moscow earned a 1–1 home draw with Olympique Marseille.
After dismissing Nair Tiknizyan at the start of the second half, Lokomotiv went down a Cengiz under penalty before Faustino Anjorin saved a point for the Russian side with an 89th-minute goal.
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