The late kick-offs in Groups A-F of the Europa League provided just as much drama and significance as the earlier games, as 10-men Fulham came so close yet so far against Roma, and Celtic failed to win once more going down 1-0 to Hamburg.

Roy Hodgson's Fulham came agonizingly close to topping Group E but were denied by a last-gasp equaliser from Marco Andreolli to cancel out Brede Hangeland's header in the first-half.

The game was clouded with controversy after Stephen Kelly brought down former Liverpool midfielder John Arne Riise for a Roma penalty.

The referee, after mulling over the matter with his goalmouth official, decided to send off Hangeland and only corrected his decision minutes later when Kelly confessed to his crime.

Elsewhere in the group, a brace from Alexander Frei gave Basle three points over CSKA Sofia to see them top the table.

Celtic continued their dire run in the competition with a humiliating home defeat to Hamburg.

Tony Mowbray's conservative approach to the game played into the Germans' hands as they eventually won the war of attrition when Marcus Berg struck the only goal of the game midway through the second-half.

Celtic stay rooted to the bottom of Group C notching up just a single point in three games, whilst Hapoel Tel-Aviv top the group after a 5-1 smashing of Rapid Vienna.

Lille top Group B with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Genoa, whilst Spanish giants Valencia could only manage a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague in a game that saw much sought-after Premier League target David Villa see red for kicking out at defender Benjamin Vomacka.

Meanwhile, former European champions Ajax ran out 2-1 winners over Dinamo Zagreb thanks to a Luis Suarez penalty and a late Dennis Rommedahl effort, but the Dutch outfit lie second in Group A on goal difference as Anderlect picked up an away point with a goalless draw at Politehnica Timisoara.

And finally former Leeds and Liverpool winger, Harry Kewell, was on target for Galatasaray as they overcame Dinamo Bucharest 4-1 at home to top Group F, and Sporting Lisbon maintained their 100 per cent record to top Group D with a tight 1-0 victory over Hertha Berlin thanks to an early goal from Adrien Silva.