Europa League Qualifying Gets Started

The opening round of qualifying for next season's Europa League got started on Thursday as 23 two-game home-and-away series got under way.

At Kostany, Kazakhstan:

Mate Dragicevic scored twice (53', 82') as HSK Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina) came from behind to defeat hosts FC Tobol 2-1 on the road in their series opener.

At Tbilisi, Georgia:

Thanks to goals from Georgi Kakhelishvili (22') and Levan Khmaladze (63'), Dinamo Tbilisi took game one 2-1 over visiting FC Flori Tallinn.  The club from Estonia still got what might still be a precious away goal from Alo Dupikov at 9 minutes.

At Yerevan, Armenia:

The opening match between Ulisses FC and visiting Bnei Yehuda (Israel) ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

At Durres, Albania:

Dzmitry Turlin's very late equalizer (90'+2) provided a potentially key away goal as FC Dnepr Mogilev (Bulgaria) gained a 1-1 game-one road draw with KF Laci (Bledar Marashi scoring for the hosts at 45'+1).

At Skopje, Macedonia:

Fabio do Nascimento Silva scored twice within a one-minute span (55', 56') as FK Rabotnicki destroyed visiting Lusitanos (Andorra) in match one.

At Tallinn, Estonia:

Maxim Votinov scored the game winner at 47 minutes as Finnish club MYPA defeated FC Narva Trans in match one on the road, 2-0.

At Karagandy, Kazakhstan:

Ruch Chorzow took game one 2-1 on the road as they came from behind.  Lukasz Janoszka (45'+1) and Wojciech Grzyb (PK-48') each provided a tally for the visiting Polish club.

At Tirana, Albania:

Match one between KF Tirana and Zalaegerszeg TE from Hungaray ended in a 0-0 deadlock.

At Zhodino, Belarus:

FC Torpedo Zhodino torpedoed visiting Fylrik from Iceland 3-0 in their series opener.  The hosts were powered by goals from Ihor Kryvobok (52'), Simon Ogar (59'), and Syarhey Kantsavy (66').

At Niksic, Montenegro:

Zarita Pelicic's successful penalty kick (77') enabled FK Zeta to salvage a 1-1 home draw in game one with FC Dacia Chisinau of Moldova.  Ghenadie Orbu scored for the guests at 39 minutes.

At Chisinau, Moldova:

FK Khazar Lankaran of Azerbaijan held hosts FC Olimpia Balti to a 0-0 opening-game stalemate.

At Zestafoni, Georgia:

Nikoloz Gelashvili (PK-20', 23') and Jaba Dvali (22', 62') each scored twice as FC Zestafoni demolished visiting SC Faetano (San Marino) 5-0 in the opening match of their two-game series.

At Turku, Finland:

Riku Riski scored twice in the first half (24', 35') as TPS defeated visiting Port Talbot Town FC (Wales) 3-1 in game one.

At Nitra, Slovakia:

FC Nitra settled for a 2-2 home draw in game one with Hungary's Gyori ETO FC.  Martin Toth (13') and Roman Sloboda (80') each scored a goal for the hosts, while the guests got key away goals courtesy of Tarmo Kink (38', 58').

At Baku, Azerbaijan:

Rashad Sadygov (26'), Afran Ismayilov (45'), Emin Imamaliev (84'), and Giorgi Adamia (90'+2) each tallied once as FK Qarabag delivered a frontier-styled 4-0 fist beating to visiting Metalurg Skopje of Macedonia in game one between the clubs.

At Dugopolje, Croatia:

Malta's Sliema Wanderers held hosts HNK Sibenik to a 0-0 deadlock in the series opener.

At Andorra la Vella, Andorra:

Mogren took command of their two-match set with UE Santa Coloma 3-0 on the road in game one.  Petar Grbic (14'), Danilo Culafic (83'), and Marko Cetkovic (90'+3) each tallied once for the Montenegrin club.

At Larnaca, Cyprus:

Nikos Katsavakis (23'), Ioannis Okkis (31'), and Cafu (64') each tallied once as Anorthosis Famagusta FC took game one 3-0 at home over Armenia's FC Banants.

At Randers, Denmark:

Yura Movsisyan's double (17', 90') was part of an offensive barrage that carried Randers FC to a 6-1 horse whipping of visiting F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) in match one.

At Portadown, Northern Ireland:

Juris Laizans delivered a stoppage-time equalizer (90'+3), as well as a potentially vital away goal as Skonto FC from Latvia gained a 1-1 road deadlock in game one with Portadown FC.  The hosts were represented on the scoredboard at 38 minutes by Richard Lecky.

At Luxembourg City:

Khalid Benichou's own goal at 80 minutes enabled Dundalk FC from the Republic of Ireland to gain a 3-3 road draw with CS Grevenmacher in the series opener.  This after the hosts overcame a two-goal halftime deficit as Tim Heinz (63'), Gabriel Pereira (73'), and Jorge Almeida (76') all scored in the second half to put Grevenmacher ahead 3-2 before the own goal tied it for the Irish club.  Fahrudin Kudozovic (26') and  Wayne Hatswell (51') also scored for Dundalk.

At Torshavn, Faroe Islands:

Alexander Gerndt scored both goals (34', 60') as Gefle IF (Sweden) took match one from NSI Runavik 2-0 on the road.

At Llanelli, Wales:

FK Taurus Taurage gained a 2-2 road draw in match one with Llanelli AFC.  Marius Kizys scored both goals in the first half (9', 20') for the Lithuanian club, while the homestandings Reds got their scores from David Thomas (17') and Stuart Jones (47').

At Domzale, Slovenia:

Wagner (45'+1) and Renato (68') each tallied once as NK Siroki Brijeg (Bosnia-Herzegovina) defeated NK Olimpija Ljubljana 2-0 on the road in the series opener.

At Kalmar, Sweden:

Ricardo Santos scored the only goal of the match at 79 minutes as Kalmar FF took game one at home, 1-0 over EB/Streymur from the Faroe Islands.

At Reykjavik, Iceland:

Guamundur Reynir Gunnarsson (12'), Kjartan Finnbogason (32'), and Bjorgolfur Hideaki Takefusa (62') each scored once as KR Reykjavik dominated Nothern Ireland's Glentoran FC 3-0 at home in game one of their two-game series.