Ronaldinho strikes in PSG win in UEFA Cup

World Cup winner Ronaldinho led Paris Saint Germain to a 3-0 cruise against Hungary’s Ujpesti with a 12th minute UEFA Cup strike on a n...

World Cup winner Ronaldinho led Paris Saint Germain to a 3-0 cruise against Hungary’s Ujpesti with a 12th minute UEFA Cup strike on a night yesterday when the powerhouse teams managed to avoid embarrassing losses.

Mauricio Pochettino and Martin Cardetti also hit the target before half time as PSG strolled to an easy win.

Glasgow Celtic overwhelmed Lithuania’s Suduva 8-1 with a hat-trick from Henrik Larsson and Lazio overpowered Xanthi of Greece 4-0 with Argentina star Claudio Lopez among the scorers.

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Bundesliga clubs Schalke and Stuttgart Lifted the gloom hanging over German clubs after the Champions Cup losses of Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Schalke won 4-1 at Gomel of Belarus with Danish striker Ebbe Sand scoring twice and Stuttgart gained the same result at home to Ventspils of Latvia with Kevin Kuranyi netting two. Werder Bremen should have made it another handsome German win but threw away a two goal lead at Metalurh Donetskof of Ukraine and was held 2-2.

New England star Alan Smith continued his scoring form when he scored the only goal 10 minutes from the end as Terry Venables’ Leeds edged Metalurh Zaporizhzhya of Ukraine while Jean Tigana’s Fulham celebrated its first UEFA Cup game with a 1-0 win at Hajduk Split of Croatia. Steed Malbranque scored the only goal five minutes into the second half.

Chelsea edged Norway’s Viking 2-1 with goals by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Enrique de Lucas but conceded what could be a vital last minute strike by Ben Wright. A 1-0 win for the Norwegians when the second legs are played in two weeks time and Chelsea goes out on away goals.