Europa League: Action From The Third Qualifying Round

The remaining 34 two-match sets in the third qualifying round for the 2009-10 Europa League got under way on Thursday.

At Tbilisi, Georgia:

Goals from Giorgi Merebashvili (41') and Levan Khmaladze (87') sparked Dinamo Tbilisi to a 2-0 home win over Red Star Belgrade in game one of the clubs' two-game series.

At Skopje, Macedonia:

Caca's hat trick (20', 34', 79'), combined with Chris Sorensen's successful penalty kick at 62 minutes, lifted OB Odense to a 4-3 road win over FK Rabotnicki in game one of the two clubs' two-match, home-and-away, total goals series.

At Podgorica, Montenegro:

SK Sturm Graz, thanks to tallies courtesy of Mario Hass (PK-64') and Fabian Lamotte (76'), came from behind to edge FK Petrovac 2-1 on the road in game one of their two-match set.

At Helsinki, Finland:

Elvin Mammadov scored the only goal of the match at 69 minutes as Qarabag defeated FC Honka 1-0 on the road in game one.

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Goals from Hakan Balta (31'), Harry Kewell (47'), Sabri Sarioglu (53'), and Milan Baros (73') powered Galatasaray to a convincing 4-1 road win in game one over Maccabi Netanya.

At Vilnius, Lithuania:

Bobby Zamora (45'), Danny Murphy (PK-57'), and Seol Ki Hyeon (85') provided the goalpower as Fulham overpowered FK Vetra 3-0 on the road in the series opener.

At Donetsk, Ukraine:

FC Metallurh Donetsk got their two-match set on the right foot with a 2-0 home win in game one over IB Lubljana. Olexiy Godin (20') and Mario Sergio (PK-50') tallied for the hosts.

At Oslo, Norway:

Lino (31') and Zlatan Muslimovic (37') each scored once as PAOK bested Valerenga IF 2-1 on the road in match one.

At Tromso, Norway:

Tromso IL, with scoring provided by Morten Moldskred (67') and Sigurd Rushfeldt (69'), overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit to edge visiting Slaven Koprivnica 2-1 in game one. The Croatian club did get an important away goal at 38 minutes as Nikola Safaric successfully converted a penalty kick.

At Brondby, Denmark:

In a battle of penalty kicks, Alexander Farnerud converted his at 73 minutes to enable Brondby to salvage a 1-1 home deadlock in game one with Legia Warsaw, whose successful penalty kick came at 40 minutes from Macij Jwanski.

At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Ivan Stoianov scored the only goal of the match at 73 minutes as CSKA Sofia blanked visiting Derry City FC 1-0 in the clubs' series opener.

At Fredrikstad, Norway:

Manuel Arboleda's double (22', 25') was part of an offensive showcase that carried Lech Posnan to a 6-1 road brassknuckling of Fredrikstad in game one.

At Gothenburg, Sweden:

Etey Shechter (73'), Samuel Yeboah (78'), and Bebars Natcho (90'+4) each scored a goal in the second half as Hapoel Tel Aviv overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit to down IFK Gothenburg 3-1 on the road in game one.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Mario Djurovski's equalizer (45'+2) enabled FK Vojvodina to salvage a 1-1 game one home stalemate with Austria Vienna. The Violets scored first on Tomas Jun's goal at 38 minutes.

At Vienna, Austria:

Stefan Maierhofer (25') and Nikica Jelavic (57') each contributed a tally as Rapid Vienna took the opening game of their two-match set with visiting APOP 2-1. Jose Filipe Correira Semedo did score a late away goal for the Cypriot club at 79 minutes.

At Vadus, Liechtenstein:

Jan Blazek scored the only goal of the match (43') as FC Slovan Liberec defeated FC Vaduz 1-0 on the road in match one.

At Zilina, Slovakia:

David Kobylik's successful penalty kick at 73 minutes enabled MSK Zilina to salvage a 1-1 game-one home deadlock with Hajduk Split, as the Croatian club got a goal from Rafael Paraiba at 52 minutes.

At Bucharest, Romania:

Banel Nicolita (45'+1) and Bogdan Stancu (61') helped guide Steaua Bucharest to a 3-0 home win over Motherwell FC in the series opener.

At Vaslui, Romania:

Mike Temwanjera (20', 55') provided all the scoring as FC Vaslui blanked visiting Omonia 2-0 in the opening match of their two-game set.

At Warsaw, Poland:

Kees Kwakman scored the lone goal of the match (39') as NAC Breda took game one on the road at the expense of Polonia Warsaw, 1-0.

At Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina:

Jan Novak (11') and David Skutka (60') each tallied once as MFK Kosice took game one on the road over FK Slavija Sarajevo 2-0.

At Bruges, Belgium:

Jonathan Blondel doubled (35', 90') and Joseph Akpala (12') contributed a goal as Club Brugge edged visiting FC Lahti 3-2 in the series opener. The Finnish club got key away goals from Janne Moilanen (6') and Eero Korte (50').

At Randers, Denmark:

Hamburg routed Randers FC 4-0 on the road in game one. HSV got goals courtesy of Jose Paolo Guerrero (11'), Jerome Boateng (24'), Mladen Petric (53'), and Piotr Trochowski (PK-80').

At Aberdeen, Scotland:

Michael Hubnik (17'), Lukas Bajer (64'), Jakub Petr (69'), Michal Ordos (83'), and Tomas Horava (90') each scored once as SK Sigma Olomouc spread the scoring around as they smothered Aberdeen FC 5-1 in the series opener on the road, busting a game that had been deadlocked 1-1 at the intermission.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Daniel Guiza's hat trick (30', 40', 61') helped Fenerbahce dismantle visiting Honved 5-1 in game one.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Robert Vittek (34') and Eden Hazard (39') each tallied a first-half goal as Lille downed FK Sevojno 2-0 in game one on the road.

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

Dirk Marcellis ultra-late goal (90'+3) lifted PSV Eindhoven to a game-one 1-0 home win over Cherno More.

At Helsingborg, Sweden:

Helsingborgs IF took a 2-1 home decision in match one over FK Sarajevo. Christoffer Andersson (PK-6') and Olafur Ingi Skulason (58') each scored a goal for the hosts, but the club from the Bosnian capital did get an away goal to stay in the series, that goal coming at 22 minutes from Damir Hadzic.

At Rome:

Francesco Totti doubled (55', PK-73') as AS Roma took game one 3-1 at home over KAA Gent.

At Dublin, Ireland:

Dedan O'Brien scored the game's only goal at 71 minutes as St. Patrick's Athletic took game one at home, 1-0, over Krylya Sovetov.

At Rijeka, Croatia:

Alexei Eremenko, Jr. (43') and Volodymyr Lysenko (85') contributed the goalpower as FC Metalist Kharkiv topped Rijeka 2-1 on the road in game one.

At Reykjavik, Iceland:

Gudmundur Benedikstsson (6') and Gretar Sigurdsson (9') provided the early goals that staked KR Reykjavik to an early 2-0 lead, only to see Scott Chipperfield (58') and Federico Almerares (83') come up with goals in the second half to gain a 2-2 road draw in game one for FC Basel 1893.

At Bilbao, Spain:

Seydou Doumbia scored the only goal of the match (23') as BSC Young Boys took game one on the road 1-0 over Athletic Bilbao.

At Braga, Portugal:

Elfsborg, thanks to goals courtesy of Helgi Valur Danielsson (16') and Emir Bajrami (73'), topped Sporting Braga on the road, 2-1, in the series opener.