PARIS (AFP) - Patrick Kluivert struck twice as Newcastle United got Graeme Souness's reign as St James's Park boss off to a stuttering start with a 2-0 win over Israeli Arab side Bnei Sakhnin in the UEFA Cup first round, first leg on Thursday.
But it was another night of misery for Scottish giants Rangers whose season suffered another slump with a 1-0 defeat at Maritimo in Portugal.
Dutch striker Kluivert scored both his goals in the first half, but Newcastle were far from convincing against the poverty-struck Israeli side and both sides finished with ten men.
On the hour, Nicky Butt was sent-off for violent conduct, just two minutes after coming on as a substitute, and he was soon followed by Sakhnin's Abas Soan for a crunching foul on Kluivert.
On the island of Madeira, Rangers slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Maritimo to pile more pressure on boss Alex McLeish whose side were dumped out of the Champions League in the qualifying round.
To add to his woes, McLeish has also seen his team slip seven points behind bitter rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premier League and a defeat against the Portuguese in the second leg in Glasgow in two weeks' time could herald the end of the line for the manager.
Italian striker Gustavo Manduca scored the only goal of the game on Thursday as he pounced after goalkeeper Stefan Klos had failed to hold a Luis Filipe cross in the 27th minute.
Elsewhere, there were mixed fortunes for British clubs.
Middlesbrough put one step in the next round, which will be played over a group format, with a 3-0 win against Banik Ostrava of the Czech Republic while Hearts saved Scotland pride with a 3-1 win against Braga of Portugal at Murrayfield.
However, Millwall face a tough task to progress after a 1-1 home draw with Ferencvaros of Hungary while Irish side Shelbourne came back from 0-2 down to draw 2-2 with French side Lille in Dublin.
Middlesbrough's dream team of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka, with a brace, gave the Riverside team a 3-0 win with all the goals coming late in the second half.
Goals from Andy Webster, Paul Hartley and Patrick Kisnorbo gave Hearts the advantage in Edinburgh although Paulo Sergio pulled one back for Braga.
A late second half double by Shelbourne substitute Glen Fitzpatrick brought the battling Irish side back from the brink against Lille.
First half goals by Lille midfielders Mathieu Bodmer and Christophe Landrin gave the French side a well deserved 2-0 interval lead and it looked as if they would cruise through to the end.
But headers in the 80th and 83rd minute by substitute Fitzpatrick stunned the visitors who ended up hanging on for the draw.
Millwall face an extremely difficult task to qualify for the group stages after a late free-kick from Peter Lipcsei levelled player-manager Dennis Wise's opener.
Italian giants Lazio came away from the Ukraine with a 3-0 win against Metalurh Donetsk with late goals from Tommaso Rocchi, Cesar and Goran Pandev.
Japanese international Shinji Ono, who helped Feyenoord to the UEFA Cup title in 2002, grabbed the 74th minute winner for the Dutch side against Odd Grenland in Norway.
German side Schalke, who sacked coach Jupp Heynckes on Wednesday, suffered no hangover as they cruised to a 5-1 victory at home against FHK Liepajas Metalurgs of Latvia.
Ebbe Sand, playing his first match of the season after recovering from meningitis, hit a hat-trick.