Five-goal Ajax are just too good

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LONDON, England -- Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice in Ajax Amsterdam's 5-2 away win over IK Start in the first round of the UEFA Cup on Thursday.

Marcus Rosenberg, Wesley Sneijder and Roger were also on target against the Norwegians who had tied the four-time European champions at 2-2 in the 56th minute with strikes by Marius Johnsen and Geir Fevang.

Daniel Dessena scored in the 79th as 1999 champion Parma won 1-0 at Russia's Rubin Kazan, while Antoine Sibierski's 10th-minute goal gave Newcastle a 1-0 win at Estonia's Levadia in Tallinn.

Hertha Berlin were held 2-2 at home by OB Odense.

A seventh-minute own goal by Josip Simunic put the Danish club ahead, only for Christian Giminez and Kevin-Prince Boateng to score either side of halftime for the Bundesliga team to lead 2-1. Oliveira Bechara made it 2-2 in the 53rd.

Christian Pulhac scored the winner five minutes from the end of a seven-goal thriller as Dinamo Bucharest won 4-3 at FC Xanthi. Claudiu Niculescu scored twice for the Romanian team and Diego Quintana hit two for the Greek club.

Czech club Liberec beat Red Star Belgrade 2-0 with Tomas Frejlach scoring two minutes before halftime and a last-minute goal by Jan Blazek.

There were 40 UEFA Cup games with the second legs to come in two weeks.

First round, first leg scores:

Artmedia Bratislava (Slovakia) 2, Espanyol (Spain) 2

Atromitos (Greece) 1, Sevilla (Spain) 2

Atvidabergs (Sweden) 0, Grasshoppers (Switzerland) 3

AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) 3, Kayserispor (Turkey) 2

FC Basel (Switzerland) 6, Rabotnicki Kometal (Macedonia) 2

Besiktas (Turkey) 2, CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) 0

Braga (Portugal) 2, Chievo (Italy) 0

Chornomorets (Ukraine) 0, Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Israel) 1

Derry City (Ireland) 0, Paris Saint-Germain (France) 0

Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 1, Auxerre (France) 2

Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) 4, Brondby (Denmark) 0

Ethnikos Achnas (Cyprus) 0, Lens (France) 0

Fenerbahce (Turkey) 2, Randers (Denmark) 1

Hearts (Scotland) 0, Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) 2

Hertha Berlin (Germany) 2, Odense (Denmark) 2

Legia Warsaw (Poland) 1, Austria Magna (Austria) 1

Levadia Tallinn (Estonia) 0, Newcastle (England) 1

Livorno (Italy) 2, FCS Pasching (Austria) 0

Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) 2, Zulte-Waregem (Belgium) 1

Lokomotiv Sofia (Bulgaria) 2, Feyenoord (Netherlands) 2

Maccabi Haifa (Israel) 1, Litex Lovetch (Ukraine) 1

Marseille (France) 1, Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic) 0

Molde (Norway) 0, Rangers (Scotland) 0

Panathinaikos (Greece) 1, Metallurh Zaporizhzhya (Ukraine) 1

Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) 4, FC Groningen (Netherlands) 2

Rapid Bucharest (Romania) 1, Nacional (Portugal) 0

Rubin Kazan (Russia) 0, Parma (Italy) 1

SCP Ruzomberok (Slovakia) 0, Club Brugge (Belgium) 1

Salzburg (Austria) 2, Blackburn (England) 2

Schalke (Germany) 1, Nancy (France) 0

Sion (Switzerland) 0, Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) 0

Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) 0, Tottenham (England) 1

Slovan Liberec (Czech Republic) 2, Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) 0

Standard Liege (Belgium) 0, Celta Vigo (Spain) 1

IK Start (Norway) 2, Ajax (Netherlands) 5

Trabzonspor (Turkey) 2, Osasuna (Spain) 2

Vitoria Setubal (Portugal) 0, Heerenveen (Netherlands) 3

West Ham (England) 0, Palermo (Italy) 1

Wisla Krakow (Poland) 0, Iraklis (Greece) 1

Xanthi (Greece) 3, Dinamo Bucharest (Romania) 4

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