time winner Liverpool was fortunate to leave Sparta Prague with a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 match, but fellow former champion Ajax, FC Porto and CSKA Moscow emerged with away wins Thursday. Kenny Dalglish's first European match in charge of the Reds was a dull affair which Sparta shaded, with Leonard Kweuke and Kamil Vacek coming close for the hosts in the second half. Ajax thrashed Anderlecht 3-0. Czech striker Tomas Necid scored the winner for 2005 champion CSKA Moscow in a 1-0 victory at PAOK Salonika, and 2003 winner FC Porto beat Sevilla 2-1 thanks to Fredy Guarin's late strike. Villarreal held on for 0-0 at 10-man Napoli but Zenit St. Petersburg lost 2-1 at Young Boys. Dalglish's first stint as Liverpool manager was from 1985 to 1991, when the English giant was banned from European competition following a deadly riot in the 1985 European Cup final against Juventus at Heysel Stadium. The 59-year-old Scot was hired for a second stint at the Reds last month and has sparked an upturn in fortunes, but the team's performance in Prague was reminiscent of those under his predecessor, the beleaguered Roy Hodgson. The competition winners in 1973, ‘76 and 2001 were second best against a side playing its first competitive fixture in two months, due to the Czech Republic's winter break. A draw makes Liverpool favorite to go through, however. Alderweireld scored the opener against the team from the country of his birth, heading home a corner in the 33rd minute, and then provided the assist for Denmark youngster Eriksen's goal in the 60th. Spartak Moscow rallied from 2-0 down at halftime to beat Basel 3-2 away, with Jano Ananidze completing the turnaround two minutes into injury time. French league leader Lille's 2-2 home draw with PSV Eindhoven was marred by pre-match violence in the city center. Peguy Luyindula's last-minute strike salvaged Paris Saint-Germain, second in France's Ligue 1, a 2-2 draw at BATE Borisov. Elsewhere, Benfica rallied to beat Stuttgart 2-1, Dynamo Kiev beat Besiktas 4-1, Dutch champion FC Twente won 2-0 at Rubin Kazan and Artjoms Rudnevs netted the winner for Polish side Lech Poznan in a 1-0 home victory over Braga. FIFA postpones Yemen qualifier FIFA has postponed Yemen's home qualifying match for the 2012 Olympics against Singapore because of protests in the capital Sana'a. FIFA says it agreed with the Asian Football Confederation to delay next Wednesday's scheduled first-leg match by one week until March 2. FIFA says the match could later be switched to a neutral country if the security situation “does not clearly improve in the next days.” FIFA says the match must be organized in a “totally safe and secure environment.”
