Thursday, August 25, 2011

Europa League Playoff Round: Cottagers, Potters, Brumbies, Shamrock Rovers, Spurs, Lazio, PSG Reach Group Stage; Old Firm Eliminated

The playoff round for berths in the Europa League's group stage concluded with the return matches of the respective two-game series on Thursday.

NOTE:  The second contest between Trabzonspor and Athletic Bilboa, scheduled for Istanbul was cancelled as Trabzonspor replaced match-fixing-scandal-plagued Fenerbahce in the Champions League's group stage.  The Spanish club qualified for the group stage of the Europa League by default.

At Bucharest, Romania:

Oleg Barannik scored twice coming off the bench (72',78') as FC Vorskla Poltava defeated Dinamo Bucharest 3-2 on the road in game two of their two-match series, won by the Ukrainian club 5-3 on aggregate.

At Moscow:

Janusz Gol scored the game and series-winning goal in second-half stoppage time (90'+2) as Legia Warsaw, who were staring 30 minutes of overtime in the face, instead won game two over Spartak Moscow 3-2 on the road and the series 5-4 on aggregate to advance to the group stage.

At Rennes, France:

Victor Montano (10'), Yann M'Vila (PK-19'), Vincent Pajot (85'), and Jires Kembo-Ekoko (90') each delivered a goal as Rennes stimpied visiting Red Star Belgrade 4-0 in game two and won their two-game series 6-1 on aggregate.

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

Five different goal scorers----Ola Toivonen (53'), Jeremain Lens (67'), Georginio Wijnaljum (74'), Zakaria Labyad (79'), and Kevin Strootman (90')----each tallied once during a second-half blitzkrieg that saw PSV Eindhoven demolish visiting SV Ried 5-0 in game two and took the series 5-0 on aggregate.

At Vladikavkaz, Russia:

Despite dropping a 2-0 game-two decision on the road, Besiktas still defeated FC Alania Vladikavkaz 3-2 on aggregate to advance to the Europa League's group stage.

At Lanarca, Cyprus:

After a scoreless opening match in Norway, Gregor van Dijk converted two penalty kicks (21', 53') as AEK Larnaca held off visiting Rosenborg 2-1 in game two and took the series by that same score on aggregate.

At Trnava, Slovakia:

Victor Obinna converted a penalty kick in the 81st minute as Lokomotiv Moscow gained a 1-1 road draw with Spartak Trnava, good enough for the Russian club to take their two-match series 3-1 on aggregate.

At Kiev, Ukraine:

Artem Milevskiy scored in the 74th minute as Dynamo Kiev blanked visiting Litex Lovech 1-0 in game two and won their two-game series 3-1 on aggregate.

At Cluj-Napoca, Romania:

Despite dropping a 1-0 decision on the road in game two, Austria Vienna still advanced to the group stage after taking out CS Gas Metan Medias 3-2 on aggregate.

At Tbilisi, Georgia:

After Alexandre Koshkadze's first-minute goal held up in regulation time, enabling Dinamo Tbilisi to take game two 1-0 at home to force the series, deadlocked at 1-1 on aggregate, into overtime, where Leonardo converted on a penalty kick at 111 minutes to win the two-match series for AEK Athens 2-1 on aggregate. 

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Elroy Cohen (37'), Omer Damari (53'), Toto Tamuz (81'), and Mahran Lala (90'+1) each delivered a goal as Hapoel Tel Aviv overcame their game-one defeat in Lithuania with a 4-0 game-two home fistbeating of Ekranas to win their series 4-1 on aggregate.

At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Crisitian Tanase scored at 73 minutes as Steaua Bucharest gained a 1-1 road draw with CSKA Sofia in game two, enabling the Romanian club to win the series 3-1 on aggregate.

At Berne, Switzerland:

With Helder Barbosa (24') and Lima (78') providing the scoring, Sporting Braga gained a 2-2 road draw with BSC Young Boys in game two, and with the aggregate score at 2-2, won the series on away goals.

At Bucharest, Romania:

Daniel Pancu scored in the 12th minute as Rapid Bucharest secured a 1-1 home draw in game two with WKS Slask Wroclaw, good enough to win the series on aggregate, 4-2.

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Despite dropping game two 1-0 on the road, FC Vaslui still eliminated Spart Prague 2-1 on aggregate.

At Athens, Greece:

Despite dropping a 2-1 game-two decision on the road to Panathinaikos, Maccabi Tel Aviv still won their two-game series 4-2 on aggregate, with Haris Medunjanin scoring for the Israeli club at 61 minutes.

At Helsingborg, Sweden:

Leye Mbaye (14'), Franck Berrier (34'), and Kanu (68') each delivered a goal for Standard Liege as the Belgian club took care of Helsingborg 3-1 on the road in game two and 4-1 on aggregate for the series.

At Gelsenkirchen, Germany:

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's quadruple (PK-15', 25, PK-49', 63') which saw him score twice in each half (with a succesful penalty kick at either side of intermission) helped Schalke overcome their two-goal defeat in Finland with an offensive barrage that saw the Royal Blues take out HJK Helsinki 6-1 in game two at home and win the series 6-3 on aggregate.

At Guimaraes, Portugal:

Adrian Lopez scored twice (18', 60') as Atletico Madrid blasted Vitoria SC 4-0 on the road in game two and finished their two-match beatdown of the Portuguese club 6-0 on aggregate.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Following a 1-1 opening contest in Ireland, Vladimir Volkov scored in the 35th minute as Partizan Belgrade registered the first goal of game two at home, but Pat Sullivan scored at 58 minutes for Shamrock Rovers to deadlock the game at 1-1 and the series at 2-2 on aggregate to force overtime, where Stephen O'Donnell converted a penalty kick in the 113th minute to lift the Irish club to a 3-2 aggregate win and a berth in the group stage.

At Brussels, Belgium:

Milan Jovanovic scored the series-winning goal (57') as RSC Anderlecht gained a 2-2 home draw with Bursaspor in game two, enough for the Belgian club to win their two-match series 4-3 on aggregate.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Dalibor Volas scored at 55 minutes as Maribor gained a 1-1 road draw with Rangers, which propelled the Slovenian club into the group stage after eliminating the reigning Scottish champions 3-2 on aggregate.

At Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine:

Despite dropping a 1-0 decision on the road in game two, Fulham still won their series with FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3-1 on aggregate.

At Sion, Switzerland:

Pascal Feinouno scored twice (PK-3', 63') as FC Sion took out Celtic 3-1 at home in game two and won their two-game series 3-1 on aggregate.

At Bruges, Belgium:

Joseph Akpala scored both goals in the first half (7', 27') as Club Brugge blanked visiting FC Zestafoni 2-0 in game two and eliminated the Georgian club 5-3 on aggregate.

At Montbeliard, France:

With Jonathan Cristaldo scoring twice (11', 40'), FC Metalist Kharkiv blasted hosts FC Sochaux 4-0 in game two and won their two-match series by that same score on aggregate.

At Rome:

Peter Stepanovsky scored the game-equalizing---and series-winning----goal in the 82nd minute as Slovan Bratislava gained a 1-1 road draw with AS Roma in game two and won their series 2-1 on aggregate.

At Skopje, Macedonia:

Tommaso Rocchi scored twice (23', 77') as Lazio blanked FK Rabotnicki 2-0 on the road in game two and completed their two-game demolition of the Macedonian club 9-0 on aggregate.

At Birmingham, England:

Nathan Redmond (15'), David Murphy (24'), and Chris Wood (86') each tallied once as Birmingham City dominated visiting CD Nacional 3-0 in game two and took out the Portugese club by that same score on aggregate.

At Stoke-on-Trent, England:

Kenwyne Jones scored a pair of goals (31', 72') as Stoke City dominated visiting FC Thun 4-1 in game two and took the series 5-1 on aggregate.

At Alkmaar, Netherlands:

Jozy Altidore scored twice (25', 59') as AZ Alkmaar overcame their 2-1 defeat in Norway in game two with a 6-0 annihilation of visiting Aalesund in game two and won their series 7-2 on aggregate. 

At Paris:

Nene scored at 65 minutes as Paris Saint-Germain blanked visiting FC Differdange 2-0 in game two and won their series 6-0 on aggregate.

At Lviv, Ukraine:

With Sotiris Balafas providing the scoring in the 55th minute, PAOK FC gained a 1-1 game-two road draw with FC Karpaty Lviv and won their series 3-1 on aggregate.

At London:

A 0-0 home deadlock in game two with Heart of Midlothian was much more than good enough for Tottenham Hotspur as they won their two-game series 5-0 on aggregate.

At Wals-Siezenheim, Austria:

Martin Hinteregger's goal at 51 minutes proved decisive as FC Red Bull Salzburg won game two with Omonia 1-0 at home, and with the aggregate score at 2-2, won their series on away goals.

At Seville, Spain:

With a goal from Mohammed Abdellaoue (22'), Hannover 96 gained a 1-1 road draw in game two with Sevilla and won their two-game series 3-2 on aggregate. 
At Lisbon, Portugal:

Andre Santos (77') and Evaldo (82') provided the scoring as Sporting CP won game two 2-1 over FC Nordsjaelland and took out the Danish club by that same score on aggregate.

The winners will be joined by the ten losing clubs from the Champions League's playoff round in Friday's Europa League group-stage draw to take place in Monaco.

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