( CNN ) -- A goal from Liverpool 's forgotten man Stewart Downing helped Brendan Rodgers ' side beat Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala in the Europa League and go top of Group A . The winger , who signed for a reputed $ 32 million back in 2011 , grabbed only his fourth goal for the club to see off Anzhi , led by veteran Dutch coach Guus Hiddink . It could have been a more comfortable margin for Liverpool but Daniel Agger had a goal ruled out when he headed the ball out of Anzhi keeper Vladimir Gabulov 's hands and fired home . The defender was yellow carded for his efforts . The Russian side , who boasted four time African Player of the Year Samuel Eto ' o among their ranks , failed to threaten regularly . Victory represented perfect preparation for Liverpool as they head into one of their biggest games of the season , against Merseyside neighbors Everton on Sunday . `` Great credit to the players after that , '' Rodgers told match broadcaster ITV . `` I have n't even thought about the derby , with our squad it 's one game at a time . `` We had good control of the game and when we had to dig deep they put their bodies on the line for us . `` Stewart Downing scored a brilliant goal . He is a wonderful technician off either foot . He has had a rough ride here , it 's been a tough time but he is a good guy and an important member of our team and he got a good reception from the Kop . '' The other game in Liverpool 's group saw Young Boys beat Italian side Udinese 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Argentinean striker Raul Marcelo Bobadilla . Liverpool 's fellow Premier League side Newcastle also won 1-0 as French winger Gabriel Obertan scored the only goal of the game against Belgian outfit Club Brugge in Group D. The other match saw French club Bordeaux draw 1-1 with Maritimo in Portugal . Slovenian minnows NK Maribor grabbed an impressive point against the third Premier League side in the competition -- Tottenham -- in Group J , Gylfi Sigurdsson saving Spurs ' blushes by canceling out Robert Beric 's opener . Italian club Lazio are top of the group from Maribor despite an injury time goal from Jose Toche rescuing a 1-1 draw for Greek outfit Panathinaikos . Italian giants Inter had to rely on an 88th minute goal from Rodrigo Palacio to help them beat Serbian team Partizan Belgrade 1-0 at the San Siro . Inter are joint top of Group H with Russian side Rubin Kazan after Alan Kasaev 's early goal helped them past Neftchi , from Azerbaijan . Holders Atletico Madrid made it three wins out of three to maintain their position at the top of Group B . Goals from Diego Costa and Emre helped the Spaniards beat Portuguese side Academica de Coimbra 2-1 . In the group 's other game a goal from Frantisek Rajtoral saw Czech club Viktoria Plzen beat Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2-1 in Israel . Turks Fenerbahce moved to the summit of Group C after Egeman Korkmaz 's winner saw them edge past AEL in Cyprus . German side Borussia Monchengladbach comfortably beat Marseille , from France , in the other match , after goals from Filip Daems and Peniel Kokou Mlapa . Romanians Steaua Bucuresti made it seven points from their three matches to consolidate top spot in Group E after a 2-0 victory over Molde , from Norway . VfB Stuttgart drew 0-0 with Danish side FC Copenhagen in Germany . In Group F , Ukrainian team Dnipro claimed the scalp of Italian side Napoli to go top with a 3-0 win . Dutch club PSV Eindhoven drew 1-1 with AIK of Sweden . Racing Genk surged to the top of Group G with a 2-1 triumph over Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon , who went down to ten men after Khalid Boulahrouz was sent off . And Hungarian minnows Videoton FC Fehervar recorded a 2-1 victory over Swiss club Basel thanks to Caneira 's winner . In Group I a late Jimmy Briand goal maintained Lyon 's 100 % record as the French side beat Spain 's Athletic Bilbao 2-1 . Sparta Prague eased to a 3-0 win over Israeli side Hapoel Kiryat Shmona in the group 's other match in the Czech Republic . In Group K German outfit Bayer Leverkusen romped to a 4-0 victory over Rapid Vienna in the Austrian capital , Gonzalo Rondon Castro grabbing two goals . Two late goals from Bonfim Marlos and Ribeiro Cleiton Xavier saw Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv triumph 2-1 over Rosenborg in Norway . In Group L two goals from Maestre Pedro Rios helped Spanish side Levante to a comfortable 3-0 win over Dutch club Twente , managed by former England manager Steve McClaren . In the other game an injury time goal from Didier Ya Konan helped Germany 's Hannover win 2-1 against Helsingborg in Sweden .
Russian sides Liverpool and Liverpool win to move top of their Europa League groups . Belgrade beat Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala 1-0 thanks to Académica de Coimbra goal . Holders Atletico Madrid beat Académica de Coimbra 2-1 while Inter beat Partizan Belgrade . Napoli slump to defeat against Racing Genk while Napoli lose at Dnipro .