Europa League: Balotelli scores on debut to hand Man City a win

Mario Balotelli got his Manchester City career off to a flying start as he scored the only goal in their 1-0 win over Timisoara in Romania in the first leg of their Europa League play-off.

Mario Balotelli got his Manchester City career off to a flying start as he scored the only goal in their 1-0 win over Timisoara in Romania in the first leg of their Europa League play-off.

Trabzonspor's Hrvoje Cale (left) vies for the ball with Fernando Torres during Liverpool's 1-0 win in the Europa League play-off in Anfield, Liverpool yesterday. PIC/AFP

Balotelli, who joined City from Inter Milan last week for around 29 million euros, started on the bench before coming on as a 57th minute substitute for Gareth Barry. In the 72nd minute, moments after Yaya Toure had hit the post, Balotelli capitalised on some fine work by Emmanuel Adebayor to fire the ball into the top corner. He went on to pick up a yellow card as City got an important away win.

Liverpool, Aston Villa also win
There was good news for the other English teams in action as well with Ryan Babel's goal on the stroke of half-time giving Liverpool a 1-0 win over Turkey's Trabzonspor. Roy Hodgson's side should have had more but Christian Poulsen had a goal disallowed and Joe Cole missed a penalty. Aston Villa shrugged off the recent departures of coach Martin O'Neill and star James Milner to grab a useful 1-1 draw against Rapid Vienna in Austria. Winger Marc Albrighton crossed for Barry Bannan to score from close range in the 12th minute. The home side levelled when Atdhe Nuhiu glanced in Steffen Hofman's cross.

Ballack scores in Bayer's win
German midfielder Michael Ballack made his first appearance for new club Bayer Leverkusen since his move from Chelsea. Coming on in the second half, Ballack, who missed the World Cup due to an ankle injury, scored from the penalty spot in Leverkusen's 3-0 win over the Ukrainians of Simferopol.

Juventus, PSG, CSKA victorious
Juventus needed a last gasp winner from Amauri to sneak a 2-1 win at Sturm Graz in Austria. French Cup winners Paris St Germain cruised to a 2-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv while Lille were held to a goalless draw at Romanian side Vaslui. CSKA Moscow enjoyed a 4-0 home win over Cypriot outfit Anorthosis Famagusta. Sibir Novosibirsk collected a notable scalp, beating PSV Eindhoven 1-0.