Europa League

The opening contests of the remaining respective two-game series (33) in the opening round of Europa League qualifying were played on Thursday.

At Astana, Kazakhstan:

Tomas Jirsak scored the only goal of the match in the 44th minute as Botev Plovdiv took game one of their series with FC Astana 1-0 on the road.

At Tbilisi, Georgia:

FC Vaduz held hosts Chikhura Sachkhere to a game-one 0-0 stalemate.

At Yerevan, Armenia:

Askhat Tagybergen scored what proved to be the game winner in the 78th minute as FC Aktobe took the opening match of their two-game series with Gandzasar FC 2-1 on the road.

At Orhei, Moldova:

Gheorghe Andronic scored the only goal of the match in the 35th minute as FC Milsami Orhei defeated visiting F91 Dudelange 1-0 in their series opener.

At Andorra la Vella, Andorra:

Ivan Crnov (63'), Nebojsa Popovic (66'), and Velibor Duric (77') each scored a goal in the second half as HSK Zrinjski Mostar took match one on the road, 3-1 at the expense of UE Santa Coloma, coming back from a 1-0 halftime deficit.

At Niksic, Montenegro:

Filip Holender scored twice (41', 61') as Budapest Honved FC will return to Hungary in very good shape to advance after grabbing their series opener with FK Celik Niksic 4-1 on the road.

At Skopje, Macedonia:

Genc Iseni's equalizer in the 90th minute enabled FK Teteks to salvage a 1-1 game-one home draw with Pyunik FC.  Ghukas Poghosyan scored in the 81st minute for the visiting Armenian club.

At Ta' Qali, Malta:

Goals from Petar Skuletic (40'), Rodolfo Soares (OG-43'), Aboubakar Oumarou (50'), and Nebojsa Kosovic (82') lifted FK Vojvodina to an easy series-opening 4-1 road win over Hibernians.

At Baku, Azerbaijan:

Petteri Jokihaara's equalizer in the 72nd minute lifted IFK Mariehamm to a 1-1 game-one road draw with Inter Baku.  Asif Mammadov scored in the seventh minute for the hosts.  

At Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg:

Khalid Benichou (21') and Wang Chu (52') provided the scoring punch as Jeunesse Esch blanked visiting TPS 2-0 in game one of their two-match series.

At Siauliai, Lithuania:

Hernan Figueredo (63'), Syarhey Palitsevich (72'), and Gleb Rassadkin (84') provided the goal power as Dinamo Minsk broke open a contest that had been scoreless through the first hour of play and wound up spanking FK Kruoja Pakruojis 3-0 on the road in the opening match of their two-game series. 

At Tallinn, Estonia:

Gerhard Progni's equalizer in the 79th minute lifted FK Kukesi to a game-one 1-1 road draw with FC Flora Tallinn.  Sander Post scored in the 11th minute for the Cactus.

At Marijampole, Lithuania:

FK Suduva Marijampole settled for a series-opening 2-2 home draw with FK Turnovo.  Petar Basic (23') and Nerijus Valskis (85') provided the scoring for the hosts while the visiting Macedonian club got their goals courtesy of Zoran Baldovaliev (30') and Dejan Blazevski (PK-45'+1).

At Tromso, Norway:

Goals in the final quarter-hour from Andraz Zurej (75') and Sebastjan Gobec (PK-84') allowed NK Celje to come from behind to defeat Tromso IL 2-1 on the road in the opening contest of their two-match series.

At Tiraspol, Moldova:

Ruslan Mingazow scored the only goal of the match in the 51st minute as Latvia's Skonto FC took advantage in their two-game series following their series-opening 1-0 road win over FC Tiraspol.

At Kutaisi, Georgia:

Tomas Majtan scored twice (58', 84') as MSK Zilina took command of their two-game series with FC Torpedo Kutaisi following their 3-0 game-one road domination.

At Korce, Albania:

Philippe Lebresne scored the only goal of the match in the 83rd minute as FC Differdange 03 took game one of their two-match series with KF Laci 1-0 on the road.

At Toftir, Faroe Islands:

Finnur Justinussen's equalizer in the 75th minute enabled Vikingur to salvage a series-opening 1-1 home draw with Inter Turku.  Ville Nikkari scored for the visiting Finnish club in the 20th minute.

At Sofia, Bulgaria:

The series-opening contest between Levski Sofia and visiting Irtysh Pavlodar from Kazakhstan concluded in a 0-0 stalemate.

At Rhyl, Wales:

Ilja Sadcins scored the winning goal in the 62nd minute as FK Liepajas Metalurgs took game one of their two-game series with Prestatyn Town 2-1 on the road.

At Durres, Albania:

Daniel Xhafa (29'), Albi Dosti (68'), and Bledar Mancaku (73') provided the scoring as Teuta Durres defeated visiting FC Dacia Chisinau 3-1 in their series opener.

At Vilnius, Lithuania:

Conan Byrne (55') and Ger O'Brien (87') each scored a goal in the second half as St. Patrick's Athletic battled back from a pair of one-goal deficits to gain a series opening 2-2 road draw with VMFD Zalgiris Vilnius 2-2.  Pavel Komolov (23') and Kamil Bilinski (70') each scored a goal for the hosts.

At Wrexham, Wales:

Chris Burdys scored in the 80th minute as Airbus UK Broughton salvaged a series-opening 1-1 draw with FK Ventspils.  Simonas Paulius scored for the visiting Latvian club in the 48th minute.

At Szekesfehervar, Hungary:

Paulo Vinicius (35') and Adam Gyurcso (42') provided the scoring as Videoton FC took the opening game of their series with Mladost Podgorica 2-1.  Bozo Markovic enabled the Montenegrin club to stay alive in the series with his successful third-minute penalty kick.

At Podgorica, Montenegro:

Dejan Damjanovic scored the only goal of the match in the 16th minute as FK Rudar Pljevlja defeated visiting FC Mika 1-0 in the opening contest of their two-match series.

At Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Alen Melunovic scored the only goal of the match in the 19th minute as FK Sarajevo blanked visiting AC Libertas 1-0 in game one.

At Dublin, Ireland:

Sweden's Malmo FF held home-standing (and ten-man) Drogheda United to a series-opening 0-0 stalemate.

At Belfast, Northern Ireland:

Jonas Svensson scored the winning goal in the 78th minute as Rosenborg BK came from behind to defeat Crusaders 2-1 in game one of their two-match series.

At Domzale, Slovenia:

Constantin Budescu scored the only goal of the match in the 84th minute as FC Astra Giurgiu defeated NK Domzale 1-0 on the road in their series opener.

At Serravalle, San Marino:

Denni Rocha dos Santos scored twice (PK-30', 50') as Valletta FC grabbed a hammerlock on their two-match series with La Fiorita after their 3-0 series-opening road triumph.

At Reykjavik, Iceland:

Glentoran, with seven of their players being assessed yellow cards, battled home-standing KR Reykjavik to a 0-0 series-opening deadlock.

At Kopavogur, Iceland:

Ellert Hreinsson scored twice during a two-minute span in the first half (23', 25') as Breidablik demolished visiting FC Santa Coloma 4-0 in game one of their two-match series.

At Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland:

Johan Davidsen's equalizer in the 66th minute lifted HB Torshavn to a series-opening 1-1 road draw with IBV Vestmannaeyjar.  Gunnar Gudmundsson scored for the hosts in the 16th minute.