Mbia shines in Europe

Stephane Mbia and Seydou Keita got their names on the score sheet in a thrilling night of Europa League football.

The ties are well poised after the first-leg Round of 16 matches with Mbia's Sevilla arguably the biggest winners on the night having claimed a 3-1 away win at Spanish rivals Villarreal.

Mbia netted the second on the night as the defending champions took a massive step in securing their place in the final eight with an impressive showing at El Madrigal.

Keita again showed his class for Roma as they registered a 1-1 draw at Mohamed Salah's Fiorentina.

Salah had set up Josip Ilicic for the opener, but Keita popped up in the 77th minute to nod in a corner-kick to grab a valuable away goal for Rudi Garcia's men.

Elsewhere, a Roman Zozulya strike condemned Thulani Serero's Ajax Amsterdam to a 1-0 loss at Ukrainian outfit Dnipro.

Arouna Kone and Steven Pienaar's Everton came from behind to edge Dieumerci Mbokani Dynamo Kiev 2-1 at Goodison Park thanks to an assist and a goal from Romelu Lukakau.

The headlines on Thursday evening though belonged to Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuaín who netted a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Christopher Samba and his Dynamo Moscow teammates.

Results:


Zenit Saint Petersburg 2-0 Torino


Dnipro 1-0 Ajax


Wolfsburg 3-1 Inter Milan


Club Brugge 2-1 Besiktas


Everton 2-1 Dynamo Kiev


Villarreal 1-3 Sevilla


Napoli 3-1 Dynamo Moscow


Fiorentina 1-1 Roma