Thursday, August 27, 2015

Europa League Playoff Round: Ajax, Dortmund, Athletic, Molde Advance To Knockout Stage; Saints Knocked Out By Midtylland

22 games were played on Thursday as the Europa League's playoff round concluded.

At Almaty, Kazakhstan:

Despite dropping a 2-1 road decision in game two to FC Kairat, Bordeaux, with the aggregate score at 2-2, still advanced to the group stage on away goals.

At Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic:

A 0-0 road stalemate in game two with FK Baunit Jablonec proved to be enough for Ajax Amsterdam as the Dutch club won their series 1-0 on aggregate.

At Baku, Azerbaijan:

Richard Almeira de Oliveira (PK-4'), Reynaldo dos Santos Silva (43'), and Afran Ismayilov (61') each scored a goal as Qarabag dominated visiting BSC Young Boys 3-0 in game two and ousted the Swiss club 4-0 on aggregate.

At Kazan, Russia:

Carlos Eduardo Marques scored the only goal of the match in the 35th minute as Rubin Kazan defeated visiting FK Rabotnicki 1-0 in game two and won their series 2-1 on aggregate.

At Szekesfehervar, Hungary:

Tomasz Kedziora scored the only goal of game two in the 57th minute as Lech Poznan won the contest 1-0 on the road and eliminated Videoton FC 4-0 on aggregate.

At Helsinki, Finland:

A 0-0 game-two road stalemate was more than good enough for FC Krasnodar as the Russian club completed their two-game aggregate beatdown on HJK Helsinki 5-1 on aggregate.

At Saint-Etienne, France:

Benjamin Corgnet scored the match's lone goal in the 15th minute as Saint-Etienne defeated visiting Milsami Orhei 1-0 in game two and eliminated the Moldovan club 2-1 on aggregate.

At Thun, Switzerland:

Borek Dockal (10'), Josef Husbauer (21'), and Costa Nhamoinesu (71') delivered the goals as Sparta Prague gained a 3-3 game-two road draw with FC Thun and took the series 6-4 on aggregate.

At Trondheim, Norway:

Despite dropping a 1-0 game-two home decision to Steaua Bucharest, Rosenborg BK won their series with the Romanian club 3-1 on aggregate.

At Brondby, Denmark:

Ricardo Costa scored in the 21st minute as PAOK FC gained a game-two 1-1 road draw with Brondby, more than good enough for the Greek club to finish off their Danish hosts 6-1 on aggregate.

At Split, Croatia:

Josef Sural scored the only goal of the match in the 23rd minute as FC Slovan Liberec defeated Hajduk Split 1-0 in the second game of their two-match contest, which the Czech club won 2-0 on aggregate.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Fernandao scored twice (7', 78') as Fenerbahce dominated visiting Atromitos 3-0 in game two and ousted the Greek club 4-0 on aggregate.

At Athens:

Dodo (a.k.a. Luiz Paolo Hilario) scored twice (6', 60') as Gabala gained a 2-2 game-two road draw with Panathinaikos as the club from Azerbaijan, with that same score on aggregate, advanced on away goals.

At Alkmaar, Netherlands:

Jop Van der Linden (80') and Robert Muhren (85') produced the late goals as AZ Alkmaar overcame their series-opening road defeat with a 2-0 game-two home win over Astra Giurgiu and ousted the Romanian club 4-3 on aggregate.

At Novi Sad, Serbia:

Igor Duric (OG-19') and Michal Duris (60') each scored once as FC Viktoria Plzen blanked FK Vojvodina 2-0 on the road in game two and took out the Serbian club 5-0 on aggregate.

At Liege, Belgium:

Elzaz Hussein scored the series-winning goal in the 42nd minute as Molde FK, despite dropping a 3-1 game-two decision on the road to Standard Liege, still managed to advance on away goals with the aggregate score at 3-3.

At Wals-Siezenheim, Austria:

Despite dropping a 2-0 game-two regulation decision on the road to FC Red Bull Salzburg which tied their two-game series at 2-2 on aggregate, Dinamo Minsk, after 30 minutes of goal-free overtime, with Fatos Beciraj, Roman Begunov, and Syarhey Palitsevich all converting their spot kicks, won the penalty-kick shootout 3-2.

At Dortmund, Germany:

Marco Reus delivered a hat trick (27', 32', 57') while Shinji Kagawa added a double (40', 90') as Borussia Dortmund manhandled visiting Odds BK 7-2 in game two and eliminated the Norwegian club 11-5 on aggregate.

At Bilbao, Spain:

Gorka Elustondo scored the series-winning goal in the 24th minute as Athletic Bilbao defeated visiting MSK Zilina 1-0 in game two and, with the aggregate scored at 3-3, won their series with the Slovakian club on away goals.

At Herning, Denmark:

Morten Rasmussen scored the only goal of the match in the 28th minute to carry FC Mitjylland to a 1-0 game-two home win over Southampton and a 2-1 series win on aggregate.

At Warsaw, Poland:

Tomasz Brzyski (16'), Guilherme Costa Marques (62'), and Ondrej Duda (PK-90'+5) produced the goals that carried Legia Warsaw to a 3-2 game-two home victory over Zorya Luhansk and a 4-2 aggregate victory for the series to advance to the group stage.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

A 0-0 game-two home stalemate with Rheindorf Altach was good enough for Belenenses as the Portuguese club bested the Austrian club 1-0 on aggregate.

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