Thursday, July 11, 2019

Europa League Qualifying: Series-Opening Wins For Kilmarnock, Crusaders, Honved, Aberdeen

43 games---------count 'em, boys and girls------43----were played on Thursday as the opening round of Europa League qualifying commenced.

At Malmo, Sweden:

Markus Rosenberg produced a hat trick (31', 33', 48') while Erdal Rakip contributed a double (44', 74') as Malmo FF annihilated visiting Ballymena United 7-0 in their series-opening match.

At Rhyl, Wales:

Late goals from Eamponn Brophy (PK-82') and Stuart Findlay (90'+2) carried Kilmarnock to a series-opening 2-1 road win over Conah's Quay Nomads.

At Kuopio, Finland:

Luis Murillo (61') and Lucas Rangel (74') each scored once as KuPS blanked visiting Vitebsk from Belarus 2-0 in the opening contest of their two-game series.

At Kopavogur, Iceland:

Breidablik and visiting FC Vaduz battled to a series-opening 0-0 stalemate.

At Bergen, Norway:

Goals from Amer Ordagic (OG-34') and Roberto Lopes (90'+4) carried Shamrock Rovers to a series-opening 2-2 road draw with SK Brann.

Taijo Teniste (12') and Veton Berisha (PK-36') each scored once for the hosts.

At Shymkent, Kazakhstan:

Temirlan Erlanov scored the game's lone goal in the 67th minute to carry Ordabasy to a series-opening 1-0 home victory over Georgia's Torpedo Kutaisi.

At Gibraltar:

Europa and guests Legia Warsaw battled to a series-opening 0-0 deadlock.

At Tallinn, Estonia:

Mark Anders Lepik (75') and Konstantin Vassiljev (89') each scored once as FC Flora Tallinn blanked visiting Radnicki Nis of Serbia 2-0 in game one.

At Haifa, Israel:

Yuval Ashkenazi (64') and Mohammad Awwad (68') each scored once as Maccabi Haifa opened their series by blanking visiting Mura of Slovenia 2-0.

At Debrecen, Hungary:

Kevin Varga scored twice (77', 83') as Debreceni VSC dominated visiting Kukesi 3-0 in their opening contest.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

Slobodan Tedic scored twice (43', 90'+2) as Cukaricki dominated visiting Benants 3-0 in game one.

At Giurgiu, Romania:

Florin Tanase scored twice (12', 56') in Steaua Bucharest's series-opening 2-0 victory over visiting Milsami Orhei.

At Belfast, Northern Ireland:

Chris Hegarty (33') and Philip Lowry (79') each scored once as Crusaders blanked visiting B36 Torshavn 2-0 in game one of their two-contest series.

At Brondbyvester, Denmark:

Kamil Wilczek scored twice (5', 67') as Brondby IF dominated visiting Inter Turku 4-1 in their series opener.

At Molde, Norway:

Leke James produced a hat trick (7', 31', 41') in Molde FK's series-opening 7-1 frontier-styled fist-beating of visiting KR Reykjavik.

At Cork, Ireland:

Belmin Muratovic (11') and Mayron De Almeida (PK-21') each scored once as Progres Niederkorn blanked Cork City 2-0 on the road in their series-opening match.

At Ruzomberok, Slovakia:

Davide Mariani (36') and Paulinho (51') each scored once as visiting Levksi Sofia blanked Ruzomberok 2-0 in game one.

At Skopje, Macedonia:

Irfan Hadzic (12'), Stanisa Mandic (28'), and Miljan Govedarica (55') each scored once as Zrinjski dominated Akademija Pandev 3-0 on the road in game one.

At Chisinau, Moldova:

Neftci Baku, with goals courtesy of Emin Makhmudov (PK-16'), Steven Joseph-Monrose (36'), and Rahman Hajiyev (76'), dominated Speranta Nisporeni 3-0 on the road in the opening contest of their two-game series.

At Podgorica, Montenegro:

Loic Nego delivered a natural hat trick in the first half-hour (3', 12', 23') as Fehervar demolished Zeta 5-1 on the road in game one.

At Soligorsk, Belarus:

Valeri Gromyko scored the game's lone goal at 69 minutes as Shakhtyor Soligorsk defeated visiting Hibernians 1-0 in game one.

At Ljubljana, Slovenia:

Tin Vukmanic's stoppage-time game winner (90'+3) carried RFS to a 3-2 game-one road victory over Olimpija Ljubljana.

At Budapest, Hungary:

Bence Bano-Szabo (32'), David N'Gog (55'), and Daniel Gazdag (PK-69') each scored once as Bucharest Honved FC defeated visiting Zalgiris 3-1 in their series opener.

At Yerevan, Armenia:

Danilo Sekulic scored the game winner in the 66th minute as Alashkert held off visiting Makedonija GP 3-1 in their series opener.

At Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Radnik Bijeljina, with goals courtesy of Nedim Mekic (34') and Velibor Djuric (48'), blanked visiting Spartak Trnava 2-0 in their series-opening contest.

At Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg:

Giorgi Koripadze's successfully-converted penalty kick in the 86th minute carried Georgia's Chikhura Sachkhere to a 2-1 series-opening road win over Fola Esch.

At Tbilisi, Georgia:

Giorgi Kukhianidze scored twice (21', 71') as Dinamo Tbilisi destroyed visiting Engordany 7-0 in the opening match of their two-game series.

At Siroki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Aderinsola Eseola scored twice (29', 58') as Kairat knocked off NK Siroki Brijeg 2-1 on the road in their series opener. 

At Dunajska Streda, Slovakia:

Marko Divkovic's goal in the 44th minute enabled DAC Dunajska Streda to salvage a series-opening 1-1 home draw in their series opener with Cracovia.

DAC's Dominik Kruzliak's own goal in the 40th minute may prove to be a precious road goal for the Polish club.

At Marijampole, Lithuania:

Iaonnis Pittas (14') and Emilio Zelaya (PK-90') each scored once as Apollon Limassol opened their series by blanking Kauno Zalgiris 2-0 on the road.

At Ventspils, Latvia:

Mykhailo Serhiichuk (6'), Daniils Ulimbasevs (78'), and Aiyegun Tosin (88') each scored once as Ventspils dominated visiting Teuta 3-0 in the opening contest of their series.

At Gardabaer, Iceland:

Porsteinn Mar Ragnarsson scored twice (15', 74') as Stjarnan held off visiting FCI Levadia 2-1 in their series opener.

At Belfast, Northern Ireland:

Christian Grindheim's goal in the 42nd minute carried Haugesund to a series-opening 1-0 road victory over Cliftonville.

At Vilnius, Lithuania:

Jakub Andreasen's equalizer in the 56th minute carried KI to a series-opening 1-1 road draw with Riteriai.

Valdemar Borovskij scored for the hosts in the 46th minute.

At Dublin, Ireland:

Simon Thern (55') and Lee Desmond (OG-85') each scored once as IFK Norrkoping blanked St. Patrick's Athletic 2-0 on the road in their series-opening contest.

At Aberdeen, Scotland:

Niall McGinn (36') and Sam Cosgrove (48') each scored once as Aberdeen held off visiting RoPS 2-1 in game one.

At Ta' Qali, Malta:

Matej Podlogar scored the winning goal in the 76th minute as Domzale knocked off Balzan 3-2 on the road in their series opener.

At Lac, Albania:

Gal Levi's equalizer in the 78th minute lifted Hapoel Be'er Sheva to a series-opening 1-1 draw with KF Laci.

Kyrian Nwabueze scored in the third minute for the Albanian club.

At Rakvere, Estonia:

Igon Ivanovic (12') and Milos Mijic (88') each scored once as Buducnost Podgorica blanked Narva Trans 2-0 on the road in their series opener.

At Baku, Azerbaijan:

Mihai Roman scored the winning goal in the 67th minute as Universitatea Craiova of Romania upended Sabail 3-2 on the road in their series-opening contest.

At Gyumri, Armenia:

Erik Vardanyan (PK-4'), Maksim Zhestokov (80'), and Edgar Manucharyan (85') each scored once as Pyunik came back from two goals down to gain a series-opening 3-3 draw with visiting Shkupi.

Muharem Bajrami scored twice (26', 60') and Darko Ilieski once (43') for the Macedonian club.

At Larnaca, Cyprus:

Hector Hevel's goal in the fourth minute provided all the game-one scoring as AEK Larnaca defeated visiting Petroclub Hincesti 1-0.

At Liepaja, Latvia:

Nikita Kaplenko's 88th-minute equalizer carried Dinamo Minsk to a series-opening 1-1 road deadlock with FK Liepaja.

Janis Ikaunieks converted a penalty kick in the 12th minute for the hosts' goal.


No comments: