Europa League 09/10: Everton qualified to round 32 and round-up

Everton sealed qualification to the knockout stages of the Europa League with one match to spare after a 1-0 win over AEK Athens.

The game was played in atrocious conditions with the rain thrashing down for most of the 90 minutes but Diniyar Bilyaletdinov splashed through the standing water on the pitch in the sixth minute to fire what proved to be the winning goal.

The three points was earned despite manager David Moyes having to reshuffle his pack due to injuries to Sylvain Distin and Dan Gosling in the first-half.

The situation worsened for Moyes with just over 15 minutes remaining when lone striker Jo also limped off with a suspected knee injury.

The battle for qualification will go down to the final round of matches with Valencia, Lille and Genoa still in contention.

Valencia moved top of Europa League Group B with a 3-1 victory at home to Lille, while Slavia Prague can no longer make it through to the last 32 following a goalless draw with Genoa.

Joaquin netted inside three minutes for Valencia and then doubled the lead after 32 minutes, with the impressive Juan Mata wrapping up victory seven minutes after half-time.

Ajax confirmed their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League and moved to the top of Group A following their 2-1 win at Politehnica Timisoara.

Martin Jol’s side had to come from behind in Romania after Dorin Goga gave the hosts, who had to win to keep their European hopes alive, an early two minute lead.

Meanwhile Anderlecht relinquished top spot thanks to their 1-0 defeat at home to Dinamo Zagreb.

As a result the Belgian outfit will now have to win their last group match in Amsterdam to be certain of a place in the last 32.

A Miroslav Slepicka strike on 57 minutes was enough to win the game for Zagreb and reignite their hopes of progressing through the group stages.