Jo breaks Man City duck in UEFA victory

(CNN) -- Brazilian striker Jo steered Manchester City towards the group stages of the UEFA Cup with his first goals for the club in a 2-1 victory at Omonia Nicosia.

The 21-year-old, a $36 million summer signing from CSKA Moscow, helped turned the first round first leg match in Cyprus on its head by scoring in the 59th and 72nd minutes -- after Klodian Duro had made the breakthrough for Omonia.

Albanian midfielder Duro broke the deadlock with a stunning free-kick that whistled past goalkeeper Joe Hart.

However, City drew level with a swift counter-attack as Shaun Wright-Phillips raced to the byline and released Jo, who made no mistake.

The Premier League side secured their victory when Jo made no mistake from close range after getting on the end of a cross from Pablo Zabaleta.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth's maiden adventure into Europe saw the FA Cup winners secure a comfortable 2-0 home win over Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes.

French midfielder Lassana Diarra put Portsmouth on their way with a rifling finish after a 1-2 with Jermain Defoe after 39 minutes.

However, just three minutes later, Guimaraes squandered a great chance to level matters when Roberto was brought down by Sol Campbell in the penalty area.

Fajardo stepped up to take the kick, but his effort clipped the top of the crossbar, not even requiring goalkeeper David James to move.

Defoe then wasted a great chance to double their lead, but saw his penalty kick well saved by goalkeeper Nilson after the England striker had been tripped in the area.

Three minutes after the break, the refererr levelled matters by awarding a penalty to Portsmouth after Defore had been tripped, but the England striker saw his shot superbly saved by goalkeeper Nilson.

Despite the setback, Defoe -- who scored a double against Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Saturday -- continued to look dangerous and got his reward when a superb move down the left saw Nadir Belhadj cross for the former Tottenham striker to finish with a sweet half-volley.

Aston Villa struggled to see off nine-man Litex Lovech before putting one foot in the group stage with a 3-1 victory in Bulgaria.

The hosts took the lead in the 10th minute through Ivelin Popov's free-kick before Nigel Reo-Coker levelled after a defensive mix-up on the stroke of half-time.

The hosts then had Cedric Cambon sent off, before being reduced to nine men when Mihail Venkov handled in the area, resulting in Gareth Barry scoring from the penalty spot.

Stiliyan Petrov sealed the win against his compatriots late on, scoring from close range after the goalkeeper had saved his initial effort.

Belgian champions Standard Liege, who were unluckily knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool, gained some revenge against their Merseyside rivals Everton, securing a 2-2 draw in an entertaining match at Goodison Park.

Liege took an early lead when Dieumerci Mbokani was left unmarked to score from close-range after a superb right-wing cross from Wilfried Dalmat.

Nigerian striker Yakubu levelled when taking advantage of a deft through-ball from Leon Osman, but Joseph Yobo's own-goal put Liege back in front.

However, Segundo Castillo's 25-meter drive, his first goal for the club, earned Everton a draw after a frantic opening 45 minutes.

A good night for English clubs was completed when Premier League bottom side Tottenham lifted some of the gloom around White Hart Lane with a 2-1 win over Wisla Krakow.

David Bentley opened the scoring for the hosts when converting Aaron Lennon's cross, but the Polish side levelled within two minutes when Tomas Jirsak lashed the ball home after a lay-off from Pawel Brozek.

However, Darren Bent gave the London side a vital advantage when he headed home a Frazier Campbell cross with 17 minutes remaining.