Europa League Qualifying Begins

23 two-match sets in the opening round of qualifying for the UEFA Europa League (the artist formerly known as the UEFA Cup) commenced on Thursday.

At Rustavi, Georgia:

Giorgi Rekhiashvili scored both goals (10', 88') as Olimpi defeated visiting B36 Torshavn 2-0 in game one of their two-match set.

At Daugavpils, Latvia:

Dianberg defeated visiting JK Nomme Kalju in game one 2-1, thanks to goals from Valerijs Afanashvili (18') and Vasili Guchashvili (49')

At Yerevan, Armenia:

Jure Ivankovic (40') and Tiago Todrigues (65') provided the goalpower as Siroki Brijeg blanked hosts Banants 2-0 in game one.

At Baku, Azerbaijan:

Assi Baldut scored the only goal of game one (83') as Bnei Yehuda took the opening match on the road 1-0 against Simurq.

At Ta' Qali, Malta:

Dyson Falson (25'), Njongo Priso (49') and Geert Den Ouden (72') each scored once as Valletta took the series opener 3-0 at home against Keflavik.

At Niksic, Montenegro:

Anton Bubnov scored what may prove to be a precious away goal at 78 minutes as MTZ-RIPO gained a game-one 1-1 road draw with Sutjeska.

At Larnaca, Cyprus:

Nikolas Frousos scored twice (62', 90'+1) as Anorthosis Famagusta FC pistolwhipped Kaerjung 5-0 at home in game one.

At Podgorica, Montenegro:

With goals from Igor Koziol (54') and Tomasz Jodlowiec (65'), Polonia Warsaw gained a decisive advantage in their two-match set with Buducnost Podgorica, as the Polish club took game one on the road, 2-0.

At Minsk, Belarus:

Sergei Kislyak (PK-72') and Oleg Strakhomovich (87') scored in the second half as Dinamo Minsk came from behind to top Renova 2-1 in game one at home. The Macedonian club still got an away goal at 41 minutes from Besart Ibraimi.

At Reykjavik, Iceland:

Goals from Samuel Tillen (PK-33') and Heidar Geir Juliusson (48') lifted Fram to a 2-1 come-from-behind home win in the series opener over The New Saints, who still got an away goal from Steve Evans at 24 minutes.

At Luxembourg City, Luxembourg:

Evaldas Grigaitis doubled (10', 79') and Nikolaj Masitsev added another (25') as Vetra dominated Grevenmacher in game one 3-0 on the road.

At Szombathely, Hungary:

Krisztian Kenesei scored the only goal of the match (79') as Haladas blanked visiting Irtysh 1-0 in game one.

At Helsingborg, Sweden:

Henrik Larsson doubled (50', 86') and Erik Sundin added one for good measure (90'+2) as Helsingborgs IF defeated MIKA 3-1 at home in the series opener.

At Lahti, Finland:

Rafael Pires Vieira doubled (2', 86') and Janne Moilanen (43') and Heikki Haara (52') each notched a goal as Lahti overpowered visiting Dinamo Tirana 4-1 in game one.

At Lurgan, Northern Ireland:

Nickoloz Gelashvili (11', 34') and Shota Grigalashvili (22', 38') each doubled as Zestafoni blasted Lisburn Distillery 4-1 on the road in the opening match of the clubs' two-game series.

At Airdrie, Scotland:

Stuart Jones scored the lone goal of the match (28') as Llanelli knocked off Motherwell in game one on the road 1-0.

At Torshavn, Faroe Islands:

Dario Zahora scored twice (21', 59') and Mikael Lustig added another one (PK-89') as Rosenborg dominated NSI 3-0 on the road in the series opener.

At Randers, Denmark:

Soren Berg (36'), Tidiane Sane (47'), Marc Nygaard (79'), and Kasper Lorentzen (80') each scored once as Randers horsewhipped visiting Linfield 4-0 in game one.

At Koprivnica, Croatia:

Csaba Csizmadia's early tally (3') held up, for game one anyway, as Slaven Koprivnica topped visiting Birkirkara 1-0.

At Sligo, Ireland:

Dritan Smajlaj scored once (69') and that, combined with Alan Keane's own goal (75') enabled Vllaznia to knock off Sligo Rovers in game one on the road 2-1.

At Trnava, Slovakia:

Vladimir Kozuch scored twice (20', 26') as Spartak Trnava doubled visiting Inter Baki 2-1 in game one. The visiting club from Azerbaijan did get an away goal from Angel Gustavo Gutierrez Freitas at 80 minutes.


At Tallinn, Estonia:

Rudar Velenje, with goals from Fabijan Cipot (PK-9'), Nik Omladic (61'), and Damjan Trifkovic (89'), bludgeoned Trans 3-0 on the road in game one.

At Chisinau, Moldova:

Kuanysh Karakulov (72') and Gakhrymanberdi Chonkaev (74') scored second-half goals some two minutes apart as Okzhetpes came from behind to overtake Zimbru 2-1 in game one on the road.