Hamburg - There were victories for most favourites in Thursday's UEFA Cup group games, with Serie A clubs AC Milan and Udinese being two of six club with two wins from two matches.

Former Champions League winners Milan needed a goal four minutes into injury time from substitute Ronaldinho to break down the Sporting Braga defence.

The other Group E game saw German Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg come from behind to beat Dutch club Heerenveen 5-1 in the so-called Group of Death.

With Premier League side Portsmouth also in the group, Wolfsburg went into the game knowing that they could not afford to lose at home.

Finnish midfielder Mika Vaeyrynen gave the visitors the lead just after the half hour, but Edin Dzeko equalized just three minutes later. Grafite gave his side the lead six minutes from the break.

In the second half, Wolfsburg proved far too strong for Heerenveen as Dzeko, Zvjezdan Misimovic and Jacek Krzynowek added goals to give the Bundesliga side a convincing 5-1 victory in their first match in the group phase.

Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath said that he was impressed with his side's performance in the second half.

"Heerenveen looked strong in the first half, but we then took control in the second," he said. "It was a good game for my side."

There was a good win for Udinese, who won 2-1 at Spartak Moscow to register their second win from two games and move atop Group D with six points. Fabio Quagliarella scored twice for the Italian club.

The other group game saw Harry Redknapp take his Tottenham Hotspur side to an excellent 4-0 victory against Dinamo Zagreb in his first UEFA Cup game in charge of the London club. Darren Bent scored a hat trick for the struggling Premier League side.

Aston Villa was another Premier League side securing a victory with a 1-0 win at Slavia Prague to take them to six points in Group F from John Carew's first-half deflection into the Slavia goal.

Ajax Amsterdam beat MSK Zilina 1-0 to put their UEFA Cup campaign back on track in the same group.

VfB Stuttgart, who lost their first Group C game in Sevilla, Spain, bounced back with a 2-0 win against Partizan Belgrade.

Both goals for the home side were scored by Germany striker Mario Gomez late in the game.

Stuttgart coach Armin Veh said that even though they had scored only in the second half, they had dominated proceedings throughout: "We were the better side and had many chances. It was a good game from my team."

Gomez, who has now scored five goals in the UEFA Cup, said that the team was much better in the second half. "We were rewarded for our efforts in the second half."

With Standard Liege beating Sevilla 1-0 in the other group game, Liege, Sevilla, Stuttgart and Sampdoria all have three points, while Belgrade are left struggling without a point from their two games.

In Group A, Manchester City beat Dutch club Twente Enschede 3-2, while Schalke 04 drew 1-1 at Racing Santander.

Former Spanish striker Fernando Morientes gave Valencia the lead on the hour in their Group G game in Spain against FC Copenhagen, but Brazilian midfielder Cesar Santin levelled for the Danish team four minutes from the end.

St Etienne beat Rosenborg Trondheim 3-0 in the other group G game, while former UEFA Cup winners Galatasaray Istanbul won 2-0 at Benfica Lisbon in Group B.

In the same group, Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin managed to play to a goalless draw at Metalist Kharkiv to move second in Group B with two points from their two matches.

With the top three advancing from the five-team groups, Hertha coach Lucien Favre accentuated the positive: "I look at it this way: we won a point, rather than losing two."

He did, however, add that at times the last pass was missing from the team.

Berlin captain Arne Friedrich said that the team did well at the back. "But upfront we should have done more," he said.

AS Nancy and CSKA Moscow took control of Group H.

The Russian club won 3-1 at Feyenoord Rotterdam for their second victory from two games, while AC Nancy drew 2-2 at Polish club Lech Poznan to take them to four points. Poznan is third in the group with one point. (dpa)