Swansea qualify
Swansea City are through to the last 32 of the Europa League despite producing a lacklustre performance in losing 1-0 to St Gallen in Switzerland on Thursday.
The Welsh side knew that a point in would secure their qualification for the knockout stages from Group A but instead a second-half Marco Mathys goal allowed the already-eliminated hosts to bow out on a high.
Nevertheless, the defeat did not prevent the Swans from advancing as Kuban Krasnodar failed to get the victory they required away to Valencia in Spain to stand a chance of grabbing second place.
Paraguayan Lorenzo Melgarejo scored to earn the Russians a 1-1 draw after Paco Alcacer put group winners Valencia ahead at the Mestalla, but Kuban bowed out.
After a quiet first half, St Gallen grew as a threat after the restart, but visiting goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel made two good saves to deny Roberto Rodriguez before Sebastien Wuethrich hit the woodwork from a free-kick.
St Gallen then had a goal disallowed when Neil Taylor turned a cross into his own net but Wuethrich was penalised for a foul on the Swansea captain.
However, Mathys turned in a low Wuethrich cross following a quick free-kick to put the Swiss Super League side in front with 10 minutes left.
Pablo Hernandez fired wide with Swansea’s best chance late on but they limp through and will play European football after Christmas for the first time in their history.
Tottenham Hotspur, who had already qualified before hosting Anzhi Makhachkala at White Hart Lane, made it six wins from six in Group K by beating the Russians 4-1.
Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, whose form since signing for Spurs in the summer has been the subject of criticism, scored a hat-trick, including one penalty, while Lewis Holtby also netted with a classy finish as Andre Villas-Boas’ side ran out comfortable winners.
Last season’s FA Cup winners Wigan Athletic were eliminated from Group D, finishing bottom of the section after a 2-1 defeat away to Slovenian champions Maribor.
In new manager Uwe Rosler’s first game in charge, Wigan had to win to stand a chance of going through and a Jordi Gomez penalty put them in front.
However, Chris McCann was sent off moments later for a second booking after handling in the box and Dejan Mezga tapped in to equalise after his penalty had been saved.
Zeljko Filipovic then put Maribor in front in the second half, and they held on to win despite having Ales Mertelj sent off late on.
Maribor qualified for the last 32 courtesy of their better head-to-head record against Belgian side Zulte Waregem, who lost 2-0 to section winners Rubin Kazan.
Former European champions PSV Eindhoven needed just a point to go through from Group B but were eliminated after losing 1-0 at home to Chornomorets Odessa, a Franck Dja Djedje goal taking the Ukrainians through instead.
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