Facile wins for Bremen and Everton in UEFA Cup

There were plenty of goals as the tournament resumed after the winter break with the eight third-placed clubs from the Champions League group phase joining the 24 teams remaining in the tournament.

 Goalkeeper Tim Wiese saved two penalties as Bremen beat Portuguese side Sporting Braga 3-0 thanks to first-half goals from Naldo and Daniel Jensen and a penalty at the death by Hugo Almeida.

 Naldo put Bremen in front after just four minutes with a longe- range shot before Wiese saved Roland Linz's spot kick to maintain the German side's lead.

 Jensen doubled Bremen's advantage on 27 minutes with a shot from 14 metres before, nine minutes later, Wiese once again saved a penalty, this time from Jorginho. Almeida completed the scoring with virtually the last kick of the game after Joao Pereira handled in the area.

 "When we get penalties we have to convert them," said Linz afterwards. "Now it will be really tough for us in the return leg."

   English Premier League side Everton suffered a few scares away to Norwegian side Brann Bergen before second-half goals from Leon Osman and substitute Victor Anichebe gave David Moyes' side a 2-0 victory.

 Bergen enjoyed sustained bouts of pressure early on and Vaagan Moen looked to have put the home side in front directly from a corner just before half-time but Eirik Bakke was deemed to have fouled goalkeeper Tim Howard.

 However, once Osman broke the deadlock shortly before the hour mark with a superb effort from 20 metres, the result was never in doubt.

 Everton's second through Anichebe, who tapped home a Joleon Lescott cross, means Bergen have a mountain to climb in the second leg at Goodison on February 21 against a side that have now won six UEFA Cup games in succession.

 PSV Eindhoven, who like Bremen dropped down from the Champions League, proved too strong for Helsinborg, winning 2-0 thanks to a penalty from Timmy Simons and a right-footed effort from Danko Lazovic.

 Russian side Zenit St Petersburg take a slim 1-0 lead to Spain for their return match against Villarreal after Pavel Pogrebnyak took advantage of a goalkeeping error by Diego Lopez to score the only goal of the game on 63 minutes.

 In other action, Sporting Lisbon beat Basle 2-0 and Bayer Leverkusen played out a scoreless draw away to Turkish side Galatasaray in snowy Istanbul. The tie between AEK Athens and Spanish side Getafe is finely poised after the match finished 1-1.

 Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers could only manage a scoreless draw at home to Greek side Panathinaikos while Anderlecht beat Bordeaux 2-1 and Marseille overcame Spartak Moscow 3-0.

  The UEFA Cup continues Thursday with six more round of 32 ties, the highlights of which are Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich's trip to Scottish side Aberdeen and Slavia Prague's tussle with Tottenham Hotspur.

By George Burns, dpa