Levante begin group stage with win

Levante have begun life in the Europa League proper with a win, as they defeated Helsingborgs on Thursday night.

After an initial burst at the start from the home side, the game dissipated into a closed affair, with only one attempt at goal, from the Swedes, recorded in the first half hour of play.

However, it soon picked up after that, with Levante surging forward to eventually open the scoring five minutes before the break, through Juanfran, who benefited from Michel’s quick free-kick to fire into the bottom corner.

The visiting side came out in the second half keen to equalise and created a handful of chances that they struggled to otherwise convert, just as Levante missed a couple at the other end.

However, the game fizzled out soon after and Los Granotes held on for their first win in the European competition's group stages.

Levante 1-0 Helsingborgs

Scorers: Juanfran 40 (L)

Levante: Navas; P. Lopez, Ballesteros, Navarro, Juanfran; Iborra, Diop; Juanlu, Michel (Barkero 60), Pedro Rios (Pallardo 87); Angel (Ruben Garcia 72)

Helsingborgs: Hansson; Baffo, C. Andersson, Larsson, Uronen; Mahlangu (Alvaro 85), Lindstrom (Bouaouzan 72), Gashi, Bedoya; Accam (Sorum 64), Durdic

Ref: Kulbakov (BLR)

Tags Helsingborgs
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