Battling Stoke bow out

STOKE saw their European adventure come to an end as Jonas’ first-half goal earned Valencia victory at the Mestalla and a 2-0 win on aggregate.

It was always an uphill struggle for the Potters after they lost the home leg last week and Valencia’s reward is a last-16 meeting with PSV Eindhoven.

Daniel Parejo struck the crossbar for Valencia after 90 seconds and they took the lead when Pablo Hernandez set up Jonas for the simplest of finishes in the 24th minute, while Stoke were left to rue several missed chances by Kenwyne Jones.

Tim Matavz scored twice as PSV Eindhoven wrapped up a 6-2 aggregate victory over ten-man Trabzonspor with a 4-1 win at the Philips Stadion.

Dries Mertens, with a penalty, and Kevin Strootman were also on target for PSV with Burak Yilmaz replying for the Turks, who had goalkeeper Tolga Zengin sent off.

Udinese bounced back from a goal-less first leg in Italy to beat PAOK Salonika 3-0 in Greece. Danilo opened the scoring after six minutes and Antonio Floro Flores and Maurizio Domizzi sealed things.

Mame Biram Diouf scored the only goal as Hannover won 1-0 in Belgium for a 3-1 aggregate win over Club Brugge, while Nacer Chadli’s 29th-minute effort earned FC Twente a 1-0 win over Steaua Bucharest for a 2-0 aggregate victory. A 0-0 draw was good enough for Standard Liege to edge past Wisla Krakow 1-1 on aggregate on the away goals rule.

Athletic Bilbao beat Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0 to also advance on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate. Iker Muniain scored the winner two minutes after Fernando Amorebieta’s 60th-minute sending-off.