Stubborn Legia scrape past Molde

A goalless draw was enough for Legia Warszawa to eliminate Molde FK as the Polish champions progressed on away goals following last week's 1-1 result in Norway.

With Vladimir Dvalishvili's goal from the first leg boosting the home team's hopes, the impetus was always on Ole Gunnar Solskjær's Molde to go on the attack, but they could find no way through a resolute Legia defence. Jan Urban's men now find themselves just two games away from making a first UEFA Champions League group stage appearance since the club's run to the 1995/96 quarter finals.

The hosts were the more threatening side in the first period, though the closest they came was more through luck than judgement when Molde goalkeeper Orjan Haskjold thumped a clearance against the head of the retreating Dvalishvili and the ball rebounded just over the visiting goal, much to the relief of the custodian. Haskjold then saved well from Jakub Wawrzyniak's searching effort from range just before the break.

With 45 minutes to save their campaign, Molde responded after the break. Daniel Chima headed Joona Toivo's cross just over Dušan Kuciak's crossbar and the goalkeeper responded sharply soon afterwards to save at the feet of Martin Linnes after a good run by the Molde player.

Legia responded as Tomasz Jodłowiec whistled an effort just wide from 20 metres but Molde continued to push and Kuciak once again needed to show his best to turn away Toivo's free-kick. The hopes of the Norwegian champions took a blow on 79 minutes as midfielder Emmanuel Ekpo was dismissed for a foul on Miroslav Radović, but they still conjured up a final effort through Linnes in the 90th minute. However, the youngster was denied once again by Kuciak whose safe hands ensured the hosts' passage.