A young Tottenham side held PAOK Salonika to a scoreless draw Thursday as fellow British sides struggled to make a significant impact on the first night of Europa League group action. While Fulham drew 1-1 with Dutch side FC Twente and Stoke came seconds away from pulling off the shock of the night in a 1-1 draw away to Dynamo Kiev, Scottish side Celtic fell to a 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid.
Spurs, who play Liverpool on Sunday in the Premier League, made 10 changes to their side and that decision looked questionable as the Greeks piled on the pressure in a lively second half. PAOK could have gone 1-0 up just after the half hour mark after Carlo Cudicini tripped Stefanos Athanasiadis inside the Spurs box. But after Lino converted the spot-kick, the Brazilian defender was forced to retake the spot-kick. Luckily for Spurs, Lino dragged his second attempt wide. Roman Pavlyuchenko’s fierce drive, which brushed the top netting of Dario Kresic’s goal, was Spurs’ best chance of the half.
Athanasiadis then failed to convert a superb chance after slipping past Sebastien Bassong and Vedran Corluka on 67 minutes. Spanish side Athletic Bilbao defeated Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia by 2-1. Birmingham went down 3-1 at home to last season’s runners-up Braga while little Irish side Shamrock Rovers slumped 3-0 at the hands of Russia’s Rubin Kazan.
