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dpa
Berlin
Record champions Sevilla and Arsenal made comfortable winning starts to the Europa League on Thursday but seven-time continental kings~AC~Milan were made to sweat against minnows Dudelange.
Sevilla thrashed Standard Liege 5-1 in Group J while Arsenal won 4-2 against Ukrainians Vorskla, who put some respectability on the scoreline with two late consolations.
Milan in contrast were made to work hard in Luxembourg and only a deflected shot from Gonzalo Higuain spared their blushes 1-0 in Group F.
Chelsea also settle for a 1-0 win at PAOK~in Group L thanks to an early goal from Willian.
Sevilla, who had a run of three Europa League successes 2014-16, crushed hapless Liege with Ever Banega and Wissam Ben Yedder bagging doubles.
"It is very important to win after those last two (domestic) losses, we needed to do it to start the group stage well in a competition that we all want (to win)," Ben Yedder said.
Turkish side Akhisarspor lost 1-0 at home Krasnodar in the other group game.
Arsenal proved way too strong for their Group E opponents with a double from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the way. Sporting Lisbon beat Qarabag 2-0 in the other game.
"I think we played well in the first half and in the beginning of the second as well," Aubameyang told BT~Sport."We know the Premier League is long. We have to win these games straight away and perform quickly."
Dudelange were backed by a sold out 8,000 crowd at the Stade Josy Barthel and held their own against one of the most storied clubs in Europe on their group stage debut.
But~Higuain's fortunate goal just before the hour ensured they were left pointless in the end.
"We had everything to lose tonight but we came here with the right mentality," Milan defender Mattia Caldara said."We did well to remain calm after a difficult first half and in the second we played much better and scored the goal we needed."
Olympiacos and Real Betis in the other group match played out the only goalless draw of 24 games on Thursday.
Chelsea dominated PAOK but with only one goal trail BATE Borisov in Group L after they won 2-0 at Vidi.
"We were in control of the match for 90 minutes," Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri said."We had a lot of opportunities.
"We missed them and so I'm very happy with the three points, very happy with the performance, but not very happy with the result. When it's time to kill the match, we have to kill the match."
Lazio survived a scare against 2-1 Apollon but Ciro Immobile's penalty counted as the winner while in Marseille, Luka Jovic struck a last minute winner for Eintracht Frankfurt after Jetro Willems was sent off. A UEFA punishment for last year's beaten finalists Marseille meant the Velodrome was empty in Group H.
"It is unbelievable, it only does us good," Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp said."Now we have to build on it."
In Group B, RB~Leipzig fought back from two down at home to RB~Salzburg only for Fredrik Gulbrandsen to snatch an 89th minute winner 3-2 for the guests. Celtic beat Rosenborg 1-0.
Bayer Leverkusen were forced into a similar comeback against Ludogorets Razgrad but Kai Havertz, who also scored their first, saw they completed the job with a late winner.
AEK Larnaca lost 1-0 at home to Zurich in the other game.
Rapid Vienna lead Group G having beaten Spartak Moscow 2-0 but Villarreal were held to a 2-2 draw by Rangers, who equalised twice in Spain.
In Group I there were home wins for Besiktas, 3-1 over Sarpsborg and Genk, 2-0 against Malmo.
Astana snatched a last gasp 2-2 draw away to Dynamo Kiev in Group K while a 90th minute penalty gave Rennes a 2-1 win over Jablonec.
Copenhagen held Zenit St Petersburg 1-1 to start Group C with a point while Slavia Prague edged Bordeaux 1-0.
And Dinamo Zagreb racked up a 4-1 win over Fenerbahce while Spartak Trnava beat Anderlecht 1-0 in Group D.
