ExtraFootie's Dave Segar rounds-up all the action from Wednesday evening's Europa League action as Everton book their place in the knockout stage, Celtic bow out with a win and Steve McClaren suffers a rare defeat.

Everton had been frustrated at the weekend as they lost 2-0 to Liverpool in the 212th Merseyside derby, despite dominating for large periods, though they seemed to take note from their neighbours play book as they performed their own 'smash and grab' performance in a 1-0 win over AEK Athens in Greece.

The Toffees got off to the perfect start when Russian midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov ran onto a layoff from Jo, took a touch and lashed the ball into the roof of the net to give David Moyes' men the lead after just six minutes.

However, things got worse for the visitors as an already injury ravaged side were weakened further after both Dan Gosling and Sylvain Distin picked up knocks and had to be replaced by youngsters Jose Baxter, 18, and Shane Duffy, 17.

On a horrible pitch in wet conditions it was difficult for a football match to break out, and sure enough after the double substitution, Everton were forced onto the back foot for most of the game.

Luckily they were up against a poor Athens side, who were missing on loan Liverpool striker Krisztian Nemeth through injury, and the Greeks struggled to build any real flowing play.

The Blues were holding on in the second half, and Athens midfielder Youssouf Hersi nearly equalised with a shot from range only for his effort to clip the post and go wide.

Everton picked up their third and final injury in the 73rd minute as Jo hobbled off with a knee problem and was replaced by Yakubu.

There was soon a smile on the face of Moyes though as the final whistle went and Everton could celebrate the fact they had confirmed their qualification.

This was confirmed thanks to Benfica beating BATE Borisov in the other game in the group, with goals from Javier Saviola and Coentrao Fabio enough to seal a 2-1 victory in Belarus.

In Group C, goals from Georgios Samaras and Barry Robson secured a first win of the Europa League group stages for Celtic as they defeated leaders Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2-0 at Parkhead.

The Hoops played with purpose and vigour despite knowing they were likely to be eliminated from the competition whatever happened in Glasgow, and took the lead on 22 minutes when Samaras headed home an Aiden McGeady cross.

Celtic dominated the game in front of a half empty stadium, though it sounded full when Robson curled in the second on 68 minutes from a free kick.

Tony Mowbray's side became a little sloppy in possession as the game wore on but were able to keep a clean sheet and had to hope for the right result in the other game of the group to remain in the competition.

Unfortunately for them it didn't come as Hamburg beat Rapid Vienna 2-0 in Germany to secure their place in the knockout stages and eliminate Celtic.

Goals from Marcell Jansen and Marcus Berg sealed the win for the German side, who go top of the group, a point ahead of Hapoel, while Celtic climb to a meaningless third.

Elsewhere, Valencia moved to the top of Group B after a convincing 3-1 win over Lille at the Mestalla thanks to goals from Joaquin (2) and Juan Mata.

In the other game Slavia Prague and Genoa produced a 0-0 stalemate in the Czech Republic, with the results leaving Los Che top on nine points, with Lille and Genoa both on seven going into the final set of matches.

In Group G Lazio were dumped out of the competition after a 2-1 loss to Red Bull Salzburg, who confirmed themselves as group winners in Austria.

Biancocelesti midfielder Pasquale Foggia had drawn his side level after Rafiu Afolabi had given Salzburg the lead, only for Somen Tchoyi to win it with a stunning individual effort for the home team with 12 minutes to go.

Lazio's misery was Villarreal's joy as the Yellow Submarine sealed their qualification after a 2-0 win against Levski Sofia in Bulgaria thanks to goals from Guiseppe Rossi and Marcos Senna.

Group A saw Ajax confirm their place in the last 32 with a 2-1 win away to FC Timisoara, with much sought after Luis Suarez and Marko Pantelic grabbing the goals for the Dutch side.

Dinamo Zagreb gave themselves a fighting chance of finishing as runners up to Martin Jol's team after an impressive 1-0 win in Anderlecht put them to within two points of the Belgian outfit going into the last round of matches.

Finally in Group H Fenerbahce sealed top spot after a 1-0 win over Steve McClaren's Eredivisie table-toppers FC Twente, thanks to a sole strike from defender Diego Lugano in Holland.

In the other game Steaua Bucharest were eliminated while Sheriff Tiraspol were left with a slight chance of qualification after the duo played out a 1-1 draw in Moldova.