Adebayor hat-trick takes City to the top

October 22, 2010 04:44 pm | Updated 04:44 pm IST - Berlin

Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor (L) celebrates with teammate Dedryck Boyata after scoring his third goal against Lech Poznan during the Europa League match.

Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor (L) celebrates with teammate Dedryck Boyata after scoring his third goal against Lech Poznan during the Europa League match.

Emanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick for Manchester City in the Europa League on Thursday night to take his side to the top of their group with their third win from three games.

Togo international Adebayor scored two goals for the home side in their Group A game before the break and then added a third in the second-half, while Joel Tchibamba pulled one back for Lech Poznan.

The other group game saw Red Bull Salzburg draw 1-1 with Juventus.

The Serie A side has three points in the group from their third draw in as many games and is one point behind Poznan, while Salzburg has just one point.

Sporting Lisbon and CSKA Moscow also won their third game of the campaign, with the Portuguese team securing the biggest victory of the night with a 5-1 victory against Gent in Group C, while CSKA won 3-0 at Palermo in Group F.

Sporting lead their group from Lille, who are on four points after beating Levski Sofia 1-0. Sparta Prague, who drew 3-3 with Lausanne, are second in Group F with just four points.

The holders Atletico Madrid kept alive their hopes of retaining the trophy with a 3-0 win at home against Rosenborg in Group B to move to four points from their three matches.

Bayer Leverkusen, who played to a goalless draw at Aris Saloniki top the group on five points, while the Greek club and Atletico are on four. Rosenborg on three points can also still advance to the knock-out stage.

In Group D Villarreal moved to the top with a hard-fought 1-0 win against POAK, while Dynamo Zagreb played to a goalless draw at home against Club Brugge.

The Spanish side now has six points, while PAOK remain on four and were overtaken also by Zagreb, who are in second place on goal difference.

The final matches saw Bate Borisov keep the lead in Group E with a 1-0 win at FC Sheriff. Dynamo Kiev, who won 2-1 at AZ Alkmaar, moved into second place.

Borisov are on seven points, while Kiev have four points. Both other clubs are on three points.

In the earlier matches, struggling German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart, former UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg and Porto maintained their 100 per cent record.

Stuttgart beat visiting Spanish club Getafe 1-0 through a goal from Ciprian Marica, while St Petersburg beat Hajduk Split 2-0.

Porto, who ended their game at Beskitas with nine men after having Maicon and Fernando sent off, won 3-1 through a brace by striker Hulk and a first-half goal from Radamel Falcao.

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