Astana oust Maribor, BATE, Steaua, Celtic go on
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Article summary
Maribor's hope of a group return were ended by Astana but Dinamo Zagreb and Steaua Bucureşti survived scares to go through with BATE and Celtic as the second qualifying round ended.
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Article body
• Maribor follow fellow 2014/15 group stage team Ludogorets out after loss at Astana
• Dinamo Zagreb avoid upset at Fola Esch and Steaua also survive major scare
• BATE Borisov, Celtic and Lech Poznań through along with Qarabağ.
• TNS take Videoton to extra time in Hungary but Welsh side eliminated
• Matches complete third qualifying round lineup; ties over next fortnight
Astana 3-1 Maribor (agg: 3-2)
• Kazakhstan's Astana will face HJK Helsinki after overturning a first-leg deficit against 2014/15 group-stage qualifiers Maribor.
• In the 12th minute Baurzhan Dzholchiev pounced to level the aggregate score only for Maribor to get an away goal through Aleksander Rajčević after a corner was fumbled. That was in the 39th minute but Astana replied before half-time when a long-range Roger Cañas shot was deflected in.
• Home fans' favourite Foxi Kéthévoama was introduced at the break and despite pressure from the visitors, Astana led the tie for the first time in the 58th minute as Patrick Tvumasi let fly from distance with goalkeeper Jasmin Handanović distracted by Tanat Nusserbayev. Cañas was dismissed after bookings in the 66th and 67th minutes but Astana held on.
Steaua Bucureşti 2-3 Trenčín (agg: 4-3)
• Steaua are through to play Partizan but were grateful for the 2-0 lead they began with from the first leg in Slovakia. Indeed, within 21 minutes the tie was level as Wesley and Matúš Bero scored for the visitors.
• Muniru Sulley put Steaua back ahead in the tie on 57 minutes and on the hour mark Grégory Tadé seemed to have clinched it with a penalty, especially after Milan Rundić's red card. But six minutes from the end Wesley scored again to so nearly turn the table for Trenčín.
Fola Esch 0-3 Dinamo Zagreb (agg: 1-4)
• Dinamo found form in Luxembourg to make up for last week's draw and earn a tie against Molde.
• Erwan Martin came close to giving Fola a 25th-minute lead but Marko Pjaca soon struck with a free-kick and got another before half-time after a solo run. Substitute Marko Rog made sure with 15 minutes left after being set up by Pjaca's fine pass.
Dundalk 0-0 BATE Borisov (agg: 1-2)
• BATE Borisov's bid to reach the group stage from the second qualifying round for the fifth time is still alive after a goalless draw in the Republic of Ireland.
• The visitors put on a solid display and came closest when Gary Rogers was forced to turn an Igor Stasevich shot on to the bar.
Videoton 1-1 The New Saints (aet, agg: 2-1)
• Videoton needed extra time against their Welsh visitors to go through to play BATE. Bernard Casoni made five changes to the team that won away last week and Videoton had most of the play, Mirko Ivanovski missing twice before half-time.
• But in stifling heat, TNS responded on the counter and on 61 minutes competition top scorer Michael Wilde had a header cleared off the line by Roland Szolnoki. And with 12 minutes left in normal time, substitute Matthew Williams stabbed home a Simon Spender cross.
• Videoton spent virtually the whole extra half-hour camped in the TNS half and in the 107th minute Ádám Gyurcsó latched on to a through ball from Filipe Oliveira and sealed the tie against a team who lost Sam Finley to a late red card.
Stjarnan 1-4 Celtic (agg: 1-6)
• Stjarnan gave themselves hope when Ólafur Karl Finsen turned in Jeppe Hansen's seventh-minute pass but just past the half-hour Nir Biton headed in a Stefan Johansen corner for an away goal that gave the Scottish champions a comfortable cushion.
• Charlie Mulgrew got another early in the second half and in the last two minutes substitute Leigh Griffiths was set up for the third by Gary Mackay-Steven before Johansen struck from the edge of the area.
Rudar Pljevlja 0-1 Qarabağ (agg: 0-1)
• Celtic's opponents will be Qarabağ after the Azerbaijani champions prevailed in Montenegro.
• Brazilian forward Reynaldo was the key and having been kept well shackled in the first leg he came close early on before getting the winner on 57 minutes after Ansi Agolli's cross from the left.
Lech Poznań 1-0 FK Sarajevo (agg: 3-0)
• Lech earned a meeting with Basel and never looked in danger.
• Scottish defender Barry Douglas got the only goal with a left-footed free-kick in the sixth minute.
Reporters: Yegor Sozinov, Giovanni de Paola, Andy Clark, Ari Erlingsson, Danilo Mitrović & Kacper Zieliński
Tuesday's results
Milsami Orhei 2-1 Ludogorets Razgrad (agg: 3-1)
Crusaders 3-2 Skënderbeu (agg: 4-6)
Dila Gori 0-2 Partizan (agg: 0-3)
Žalgiris Vilnius 0-1 Malmö FF (agg: 0-1)
Lincoln 0-2 Midtjylland (agg: 0-3)
Vardar 1-1 APOEL (agg: 1-1, APOEL win on away goals)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 5-1 Hibernians (agg: 6-3)
Pyunik 1-0 Molde (agg: 1-5)
HJK Helsinki 1-0 Ventspils (agg: 4-1)
Confirmed third qualifying round draw
(ties 28/29 July & 4/5 August)
Champions route
KKS Lech Poznań (POL) v FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
FC Milsami Orhei (MDA) v KF Skënderbeu (ALB)
HJK Helsinki (FIN) v FC Astana (KAZ)
Celtic FC (SCO) v Qarabağ FK (AZE)
FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU) v FK Partizan (SRB)
FC Midtjylland (DEN) v APOEL FC (CYP)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) v FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v Molde FK (NOR)
Videoton FC (HUN) v FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
FC Salzburg (AUT) v Malmö FF (SWE)
League route
Panathinaikos FC (GRE) v Club Brugge KV (BEL)
BSC Young Boys (SUI) v AS Monaco FC (FRA)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) v AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
SK Rapid Wien (AUT) v AFC Ajax (NED)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
• Bye to play-offs: Manchester United FC (ENG), Valencia CF (ESP), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), SS Lazio (ITA)