Impressive Man City too good for Schalke

(CNN) -- A goal in each half from Benjani and Stephen Ireland gave Manchester City a superb 2-0 win at Bundesliga side Schalke to give them a maximum six points from their two UEFA Cup Group A matches following their opening 3-2 victory over FC Twente.

The home side threatened first when Germany midfielder Jermaine Jones forced goalkeeper Joe Hart to tip his shot around the post.

England defender Micah Richards was then called into action to clear a goalbound effort from Schalke striker Kevin Kuranyi after Hart had misjudged a cross from the right.

City took the lead shortly after the half-hour mark, when Daniel Sturridge's cross-cum-shot was sidefooted home at the far post by Zimbabwe international striker Benjani after hestitation in the home defense.

Shaun Wright-Phillips almost extended the visitors' lead with a stinging drive on 55 minutes that drew a full-stretch save from Schalke shot-stopper Manuel Neuer.

But 10 minutes later it was 2-0, with in-form midfielder Ireland coolly slotting home underneath the on-rushing Neuer, after Benjani had sent the ball spinning into the air in a challenge on the edge of the Schalke penalty area.

Hart produced a stunning reflex save to keep out substitute Gerald Asamoah's close-range header with 15 minutes remaining, but it was the closest that Fred Rutten's side came to breaking the deadlock.

Meanwhile, Jamie O'Hara scored the only goal as Tottenham claimed a 1-0 win at Dutch side NEC Nijmegen to boost their hopes of qualifying from Group D.

O'Hara was quickest to react in the 14th minute, tapping home from close range after Frazier Campbell had smashed a cross from the left by Gareth Bale against the underside of the bar.

Moestafa El-Kabir came close to equalizing nine minutes later when he turned sharply and unleashed a powerful left-foot shot that goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes managed to punch away.

NEC have now lost both their matches, after a 3-2 at Dinamo Zagreb, while Tottenham lost 2-0 to Udinese before beating Dinamo 4-0 at White Hart Lane.

In Group H, Russian side CSKA Moscow, the 2005 winners, beat Lech Poznan of Poland 2-1 to make sure of their place in the knockout stages.

Alan Dzagoev and Yuri Zhirkov's first-half goals secured CSKA's third successive win to keep them top of the group, with Semir Stilic hitting a late consolation.

The biggest win of the night was in Athens, as Luciano Galletti scored in the first minute and set up two other goals as Greek champions Olympiakos thrashed Benfica 5-1 in Group B.

The Argentine midfielder fired the ball past Benfica goalkeeper Quim after just 40 seconds, sparking the goal spree.

Christos Patsatzoglou and Brazilian Diogo Luis Santo scored the second and third goals before David Luiz pulled one back for Benfica.

Fernando Belluschi tapped in a pass from Galletti to make it 4-1 just before half-time and Santo scored his second and the home side's fifth in the 53rd minute, with Galletti again providing the pass.

The result sees Benfica struggling to qualify from the group with just one point from their three matches.

Leonardo came off the bench to score in the second half and give Ajax a 1-0 win at Hamburg to virtually guarantee qualification from Group F.

The Dutch giants have six points from three games, while Hamburg have three points from their two matches and can still qualify.

The Brazilian capitalized on a defensive error to score with 14 minutes left to play, with the ball bouncing off both posts before the striker put it into the net.