Another Europa draw for Spurs

Paris - English Premier League outfit Tottenham had to settle for a third straight Europa League draw on Thursday when they were held 1-1 at Slovenia's Maribor.

Midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson rescued a point to keep the Londoners in touch with Group J leaders Lazio, who could only manage the same scoreline at Panathinaikos.

Spurs trail the Italians by two points after a poor showing at the Stadion Ljudski, where last season Maribor were not good enough to see off second tier English Championship side Birmingham.

Robert Beric fired in from close range three minutes before the break for Maribor but Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas sent on Spaniard Iago Falque and he whipped over the cross which ultimately saw Sigurdsson convert in a goalmouth melee.

Beaten at home by Chelsea at the weekend, Spurs had every reason to atone with Villas-Boas making three changes as Hugo Lloris, Kyle Naughton and Andros Townsend came in.

But they could not prise apart a dogged home side despite early pressure and Ales Mejac could have inflicted further damage as he fired just off target shortly before Beric bundled in the hosts' goal.

Of some consolation to Spurs was Jose Verdu Nicolas's last-gasp leveller for Panathinaikos which denied Lazio a win which looked to be there for the taking for the Romans after Georgios Seitaridis had put through his own goal in the first half.

In other early action, Genk of Belgium made it three wins in three by defeating Sporting Lisbon 2-1 while Hungary's Videoton are second after beating Swiss side Basel in Group G.

Former European champions Inter Milan lead Group H after Rodrigo Palacio netted the only goal against Partizan Belgrade but Russia's Rubin Kazan edged Neftci of Azerbaijan by the same score to stay level on points with seven from three games.

French side Lyon thanked a Jimmy Briand goal four minutes from time for a third straight success - 2-1 over Group I tailenders Athletic Bilbao and Sparta Prague lie second after a 3-1 win over Israel's Hapoel Kiryat Shmona.

Group G

Genk (BEL) 2 (De Ceulaer 25, Barda 87) Sporting Lisbon (POR) 1 (Schaars 8)
Videoton (HUN) 2 (Schar 3-o.g, Caneira 33) Basel (SUI) 1 (Schar 90)

Group H

Inter Milan (ITA) 1 (Palacio 88) Partizan Belgrade (SRB) 0
Rubin Kazan (RUS) 1 (Kasaev 16) Neftci PFK (AZE) 0

Group I

Lyon (FRA) 2 (Lisandro 54, Briand 86) Athletic Bilbao (ESP) 1 (Gomez 79)
Sparta Prague (CZE) 3 (Krejci 7, Kadlec 10, Svejdik 44) Hapoel Kiryat Shmona (ISR) 1 (Abuhatzira 76)

Group J

Maribor (SLO) 1 (Beric 42) Tottenham (ENG) 1 (Sigurosson 59)
Panathinaikos (GRE) 1 (Toche 90) Lazio (ITA) 1 (Seitaridis 25-o.g.)

Group K

Rapid Vienna (AUT) 0 Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 4 (Wollscheid 37, Castro 56, 90+2, Bellarabi 59)
Rosenborg (NOR) 1 (Elyounoussi 46) Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) 2 (Marlos 81, Xavier 89)

Group L

Levante (ESP) 3 (Michel 59-pen, Rios 78, 88) FC Twente (NED) 0
Helsingborgs (SWE) 1 (Dos Santos 90) Hanover (GER) 2 (Diouf 12, Konan 90)

Playing later:

Group A

Liverpool (ENG) v Anzhi Makhachkala (RUS)
Udinese (ITA) v Young Boys (SUI)

Group B

Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR) v Viktoria Plzen (CZE)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Coimbra (POR)

Group C

AEL Limassol (CYP) v Fenerbahce (TUR)
Moenchengladbach (GER) v Marseille (FRA)

Group D

Maritimo (POR) v Bordeaux (FRA)
Newcastle (ENG) v Club Brugge (BEL)

Group E

VfB Stuttgart (GER) v FC Copenhagen (DEN)
Steaua Bucarest (ROM) v Molde (NOR)

Group F

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) v Napoli (ITA)
PSV Eindhoven (NED) v AIK Solna (SWE)