Europa League

The first week of the opening week of Europa League qualifying continued on Thursday with 36 games.

At Gyumri, Armenia:

Serhiy Malyi scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute as Shakhter Karagandy defeated FC Shirak 2-1 on the road in the opening match of their two-game series.

At Almaty, Kazakhstan:

Aslan Darabayev scored the only goal of the match in the 89th minute as FC Kairat defeated visiting Kukesi 1-0 in the opening contest of their two-match series.

At Yerevan, Armenia:

Bauyrzhan Dzholchiev scored what proved to be the game winner in the 67th minute as four different goal scorers each tallied once FC Astana from Kazakhstan gained a hammerlock on their two-game series with FC Pyunik with their series-opening 4-1 road domination in the Armenian capital.

At Orhei, Moldova:

The opening match between Veris Chisinau and visiting Litex Lovech from Bulgaria ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

At Gabala, Azerbaijan:

Wagner Lago scored both goals (74', 89') in NK Siroki Brijeg's series-opening 2-0 road blanking of Gabala FK.

At Tartu, Estonia:

Magnus Andersen scored twice (14', 44') as Norway's Tromso IL destroyed Santos Tartu 7-0 on the road in the opening contest of their two-game series.

At Gargzdai, Lithuania:

Sligo Rovers held hosts Banga Gargzdai to a series-opening 0-0 deadlock.

At Niksic, Montenegro:

Miroslav Covilo scored twice in the second half (50', 86') as Slovenia's FC Koper demolished ten-man Celik Niksic 5-0 on the road in their series opener.

At Kouvola, Finland:

Denis Abdulahi scored the only goal of MYPA's series-opening home victory over IF from the Faroe Islands in the 76th minute.

At Rakvere, Estonia:

Daniil Ratnikov (32') and Yevgeni Kabayev (72') each scored once as Sillamae Kalev took a 2-1 game-one home decision over FC Honka.  Armend Kabashi kept the Finnish club alive in the series with his goal in the 82nd minute.

At Skopje, Macedonia:

Lasha Kutchukhidze scored the only goal of the match in the 31st minute as Georgia's Chikhura Sachkhere took the opening match of their series with FK Turnovo 1-0 on the road.

At Andorra la Vella, Andorra:

Milorad Krstev (3'), Aleksandar Stojanovski (14'), and Marko Simonovski (83') delivered the goals as FK Metalurg Skopje gained command of their two-game series with UE Santa Coloma with their series-opening 3-0 road domination.

At Valkeakoski, Finland:

Sebastian Standvall (53') and Jarno Parikka (54') each scored a second-half goal a minute apart as VPS topped visiting IF Brommapojkarna 2-1 in the opening match of their two-game set.  Christian Kouakou scored in the 33rd minute to keep the Swedish club in the series.

At Burgas, Bulgaria:

Marian Ognyanov scored twice (25', 51') as Botev Plovdiv demolished visiting AC Libertas from San Marino 4-0 in the opening contest of their two-game series.

At Tbilisi, Georgia:

Ardit Shehaj scored the winning goal in second-half stoppage time (90'+3) as Albania's Flamurtari Vlore took the series-opening match with Sioni Bolnisi 3-2 on the road.

At Tiraspol, Moldova:

Andrey Novicov's own goal may prove to be very costly as it enabled Inter Baku to take the opening game of their series with FC Tiraspol 3-2 on the road, despite two late desperate goals from the hosts.

At Vaduz, Liechtenstein:

Pascal Schurpf scored twice (8', 72') as FC Vaduz spoiled the first-ever Europa League qualifying match from a club from Gibraltar with their 3-0 series-opening domination of College Europa FC.

At Trondheim, Norway:

Alexander Soderlund scored twice (44', PK-54') as Rosenborg BK opened their two-match series by dominating visiting FK Jelgava from Latvia 4-0.

At Gothenburg, Sweden:

CS Fola Esch from Luxembourg opened their two-game series by holding hosts IFK Gothenburg to a 0-0 stalemate.

At Differdange, Luxembourg:

Omar Er Rafik scored the only goal of the match in the 87th minute as Differdange 03 took their series opener with visiting Atlantas of Lithuania 1-0.

At Bangor, Wales:

Daniel Bamberg's equalizer in the 43rd minute lifted Norway's FK Haugesund to a series-opening 1-1 road draw with Airbus UK Broughton.  Jordan Johnson scored for the hosts in the 29th minute.

At Ta' Qali, Malta:

Erik Sabo scored twice during a two-minute period (PK-11', 13') as FC Spartak Trnava will head back to Slovakia with the advantage in their series with Hibernians following their series-opening 4-2 win.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

FK Cukaricki, with goals from Nenad Mirosavljevic (8'), Petar Bojic (49'), Slavoljub Srnic (89'), and Nikola Stoiljkovic (PK-90'+1), demolished visiting  UE Sant Julia from Andorra 4-0 in game one of their two-match series.

At Split, Croatia:

Tomislav Glumac (39') and Aljosa Vojnovic (87') provided the scoring as HNK Split blanked visiting Mika 2-0 in game one of their two-match series.

At Celje, Slovenia:

Segun Adeniyi's equalizer in the 89th minute lifted KF Laci to a series-opening 1-1 draw with NK Rudar Velenje.  Denis Klinar scored for the hosts in the 17th minute.

At Torshavn, Faroe Islands:

Michael Carvill scored the winning goal in the 88th minute as Linfield will head back to Northern Ireland with the advantage in their series with B36 following their series-opening 2-1 road victory.

At Toftir, Faroe Islands:

Finnur Justinussen (23') and Andreas Olsen (59') delivered the goals as Vikingur took game one 2-1 at home over Daugava Daugavpils.  Eriks Hokins kept the Latvian club's chances in the series alive with his goal in the 56th minute.

At Debrecen, Hungary:

Diosgyori VTK, thanks to goals courtesy of David Barczi (33') and Patrik Bacsa (90'+3), downed visiting Birkirkara FC 2-1 in game one of their two-game series.  Matheus Bissi kept the Maltese club alive with his goal in the 35th minute.

At Serravalle, San Marino:

Momcilo Raspopovic (30') and Milos Raickovic (36') delivered the goals for FK Buducnost Podgorica as the Montenegrin club defeated SS Folgore Falciano Calcio 2-1 on the road in match one of their two-game series.

At Derry (Londonderry), Northern Ireland:

Patrick McEleney (15'), Rory Patterson (PK-25'), Mark Timlin (47'), and Barry McNamee (86') produced the goals as Derry City demolished visiting Aberystwyth Town 4-0 in their series opener.

At Aberdeen, Scotland:

Adam Rooney scored twice (PK-52', 90'+2) as Aberdeen blew out visiting Daugava Riga 5-0 in the opening contest of their two-game series.

At Belfast, Northern Ireland:

Stephen Cockcroft (23'), Jordan Owens (43'), and Colin Coates (58') each scored a goal as Crusaders took the opening match of their series with Daugava Riga 3-1.  Aleksandar Susnjar delivered a potential lifeline for the Latvian club with his 88th-minute score.

At Sarjevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina:

FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo and visiting Lovcen Cetinje (Montenegro) battled to a series-opening 0-0 draw.

At Reykjavik, Iceland:

Fabio Prates scored the only goal of the match in the 61st minute as Nomme Kalju will head back to Estonia with a 1-0 series lead on aggregate following their game-one road win over Fram Reykjavik.

At Gardabaer, Iceland:

Stjarnan, with Olafur Karl Finsen scoring twice (PK-13', 54') demolished visiting Bangor City 4-0 in the opening contest of their two-game series.

At Hafnarfjordur, Iceland:

With Atli Bjornsson scoring twice in the waning moments (90', 90'+3), FH Hafnardordur broke open what was a scoreless deadlock for more than 80 minutes (Ingimundur Niels Oskarsson scored in the 82nd minute) and blew out visiting Glenavon 3-0 in their series opener.