NEVILLE’S BOYS’ BIRTHDAY BASH ON EURO DEBUT

EVERYTHING came right for Gary Neville on his 41st birthday as Valencia won 6-0 on his debut as a coach in the Europa League. It was more rapid Valencia than Rapid Vienna as Neville’s young team — with six players aged 23 or under — raced to a 5-0 lead inside the first 35 minutes. Birthday boy Neville has not had it easy meeting the expectations of fans who saw their team win this competition in 2004 and have twice reached the Champions League final but this was a European night for them to savour. There had been a chocolate cake with ‘Happy Birthday Mister’ on it at the team hotel before the game but the real present came in the first half when his players delivered their best performance since he took over. The rout began after just four minutes when Andre Gomes crossed and Santi Mina arrived to sweep the ball home. It was 2-0 after 10 minutes when Mina’s brilliant pass sent Dani Parejo clear to score and on 25 minutes it was three with Mina converting Pablo Piatti’s cross. Alvaro Negredo and Gomes added two more before the break and Rodrigo made it six with a minute left. Meanwhile, Fernando Llorente scored two goals and Kevin Gameiro added a third for Sevilla in a comfortable home win as the Spaniards looks to back up title wins in 2014 and last year. Dortmund beat Porto 2-0 through goals by Lukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus, while Denis Suarez scored with a free kick off the underside of the crossbar to give Villarreal a 1-0 win at home to Napoli.