By Johnny Edward:
Victor Moses made his first Europa League appearance in five years for Chelsea in Thursday’s 1-0 win over Vidi FC of Moldova at the Stamford Bridge in London, reports Completesportsnigeria.com.
Moses came on for Willian in the 74th minute of the win. It was his first appearance in the competition in five years and his seventh since he made his debut against Sparta Praha.
The former Nigeria international last played in the competition for Chelsea in their 3-1 Second leg semi final win against FC Basel. Moses was scored a goal in the encounter.
Alvaro Morata scored the only goal of the encounter against Vidi FC in the 72nd minute to send Chelsea top of Group L with six points after recording their second straight win.
Chelsea with eight changes to the starting line-up for the game dominated the proceedings but were unable to break a well organised Vidi FC defence in the first half.
With 25 minutes left to play Maurizio Sarri brought on Eden Hazard and Ross Barkley for Pedro Rodriguez and Ruben Loftus Cheek.
Morata broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute.
In the other Group L clash, PAOK Thessaloniki defeated BATE Borisov 4-1. Leo Jeba scored twice in the opening 17 minutes for PAOK Thessaloniki.
In the second half, Maksim Skavysh and Dimitrios Pelkas sealed an emphatic win, scoring in the 63rd and 73rd minutes respectively.
Samuel Chukwueze made his first start for Villarreal in their 3-3 draw away at Spartak Moscow in Russia.
The former Nigeria U-17, U-20 forward played for 70 minutes before he was replaced by Santi Carzola.
The other Group G clash saw Rangers defeat Rapid Wein 3-1 at the Ibrox Stadium in Scotland.
Nigerian-born midfielder, Ovie Ejiara played the entire duration of the encounter Rangers while his compatriot Umar Sadiq was not listed in the match day squad.
At the Stade Maurice Dufrasne, in Belgium Uche Agbo played for 76 minutes before he was subbed off for Paul-Jose M’Poku in Standard Liege’s 2-1 win over Akhisaspor in Group J. It was Agbo’s second start in the UEFA Europa League this season.
In the other Group J clash, Sevilla lost 2-1 away to FC Krassnodar in Russia.