Fola hold Dinamo Zagreb, BATE and Celtic win
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
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Luxembourg's Fola Esch secured a 1-1 second qualifying round first-leg draw at Dinamo Zagreb but there were home wins for BATE Borisov and Celtic.
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• Luxembourg's Fola Esch secure first-leg draw at Dinamo Zagreb
• BATE edge home victory but fellow 2014/15 group contenders Malmö held
• Celtic secure 2-0 victory at home to Stjarnan
• Montenegro's Rudar draw 0-0 at Qarabağ in Azerbaijan
• Teams discover potential opponents when third qualifying round draw is made on Friday
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 1-1 Fola Esch (LUX)
• Luxembourg's Fola, beaten 6-0 on aggregate by Dinamo at this stage two years ago, have every chance of going through next Wednesday after an impresive draw – achieved despite playing the last 26 minutes with ten men.
• The visitors led on 25 minutes when Julien Hornuss headed into the box and Samir Hadji turned the ball past Eduardo, sparking huge celebrations for only Fola's third goal in nine European games.
• Dinamo equalised in the 36th minute when Angelo Henriquez finished off a fine combination move, but the Croatian champions could not force another goal despite Fola captain Roni Souto's straight red card.
BATE Borisov (BLR) 2-1 Dundalk (IRL)
• BATE's bid to again reach the group stage from the second qualifying round began with a hard-fought win in a very equal encounter featuring three first-half goals.
• Vitali Rodionov set up Aleksandr Karnitski for the opener but David McMillan, having caused confusion in the middle of the BATE defence, equalised. Evgeni Yablonski's shot from distance restored the Belarusian champions' lead for Wednesday's return in the Republic of Ireland.
Malmö (SWE) 0-0 Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU)
• Visitors Žalgiris defended solidly to come away from Sweden with a draw against another side that reached the group stage after starting in this round last season.
• Malmö's best chance was a fine first-half individual effort from Magnus Eikrem, but they otherwise struggled before the interval. Although the Blues improved after the break, the Allsvenskan titleholders travel to Lithuania on Tuesday with the tie still goalless.
Celtic (SCO) 2-0 Stjarnan (ISL)
• Despite a pre-game blow when Gary Mackay-Steven was injured in the warm-up and replaced in the starting XI by James Forrest, Celtic started well and new signing Nadir Çiftçi had an early chance saved by the feet of Gunnar Nielsen, who also denied Stuart Armstrong on the half-hour.
• The 1967 European champions took the lead just before half-time when Dedryck Boyata headed in a corner from Stefan Johansen, who got the second in the 56th minute after a great through ball from Armstrong. Nielsen prevented further damage by saving a late penalty from Leigh Griffiths.
Qarabağ (AZE) 0-0 Rudar Pljevlja (MNE)
• Qarabağ were frustrated by a determined defensive display from Rudar, Javid Taghiyev going closest when he missed from close range in the 59th minute.
• Reynaldo, a danger in the first half, was largely subdued later on by the visitors, who welcome Qarabağ next Wednesday.
Reporters: Elvir Islamović, Emmanuelle Hingant, Denis Orlov, Ulf Nilsson & Abbas Zahidi
Tuesday's results
(second legs next Tuesday except *Wednesday)
Ventspils (LVA) 1-3 HJK Helsinki (FIN)
APOEL (CYP) 0-0 Vardar (MKD)
Midtjylland (DEN) 1-0 Lincoln (GIB)
Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL) 0-1 Milsami (MDA)
Skënderbeu (ALB) 4-1 Crusaders (NIR)
Molde (NOR) 5-0 Pyunik (ARM)
Hibernians (MLT) 2-1 Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Partizan (SRB) 1-0 Dila Gori (GEO)
The New Saints (WAL) 0-1 Videoton (HUN)*
Maribor (SVN) 1-0 Astana (KAZ)*
Trenčín (SVK) 0-2 Steaua (ROU)*
Sarajevo (BIH) 0-2 Lech Poznań (POL)*