Brighton’s much-anticipated debut in the Europa League did not go to plan as they were beaten 3-2 at home by AEK Athens in a thrilling contest on Thursday night.
Liverpool and West Ham picked up wins in their group stage openers, although both needed to come from behind against their unfancied competition.
Meanwhile in the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa were left disappointed by their start to the campaign, losing 3-2 at Legia Warsaw.
It was a dramatic evening for all four Premier League sides, but the Seagulls’ defeat to the Greek side was perhaps the most eventful and most surprising result.
Former Everton defender Djibril Sidibe opened the scoring for the Greek side with a superb header just 11 minutes in, to stun the Amex where there was so much expectation for Roberto De Zerbi’s men.
Joao Pedro equalised from the penalty spot half an hour in, after initially being booked for a dive by the Estonian referee, before the decision was overturned thanks to VAR.
Mijat Gacinovic put the Greek champions back ahead and there was a repeat of the first half drama as Pedro was again denied a penalty. before VAR overturned the decision and the same man scored from the spot.
Brighton looked by far the most likely to get a winner but it was Ezequiel Ponce who pounced on the break to stun the Premier League side and take three points.
It is a bit of a nightmare start for De Zerbi’s men who are in a tricky group alongside Ajax and Marseille, who drew in Amsterdam on Thursday.
Liverpool overcame an early wobble to beat LASK 3-1 in Austria, despite being 1-0 down thanks to a Florian Flecker goal on 19 minutes.
The favourites were much better in the second half and goals from Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah completed a deserved win.
Ryan Gravenberch made a full debut for Jurgen Klopp’s side, while there were also starts for the likes of 17-year-old Ben Doak and 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic.
Klopp said after the win: ‘I know people expect us to fly through this competition, it will not happen. We have to dig in and I thought we did. We can learn so much.’
West Ham also had to bounce back from conceding first as they hosted Serbia side Backa Topola and fell behind to a Petar Stanic goal on 47 minutes.
A Nemanja Petrovic own goal set the Hammers on their way on 66 minutes, with goals from Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek completing a 3-1 win for the home team.
Also on Thursday evening, Aston Villa made a disappointing start to their Europa Conference League campaign, losing 3-2 at Legia Warsaw.
The Premier League side were behind after just three minutes after Pawel Wszolek scored, but Jhon Duran equalised just three minutes later in a chaotic start.
Ernest Muci put the Poles back ahead, before Lucas Digne’s deflected effort levelled thing sup again, but it was Muci at hand for a second time, making the score 3-2 on 51 minutes which the Villains could not respond to.
Villa boss Unai Emery said: ‘We had some good and some really bad moments, and in our worst moments they scored. Our reaction in the second half was not the same as the first – we created chances only in the last five minutes.
‘Everything that happened tonight, I have experienced in European football before. I want to watch the match again to see how we manage when we play in Europe.
‘I believe in this squad. We have to build a squad to play in four competitions. It’s difficult with players like Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia injured but we have to build again with the players we have. We have to learn from this. We could still have lost this game with a different XI.’
MORE : Jurgen Klopp dismisses Ryan Gravenberch injury fears after full Liverpool debut
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