BATE come good in Debrecen second leg

FC BATE Borisov followed up last week's home draw against Debreceni VSC with victory in the second leg to secure their place in the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

The Belarusian club are now a tie away from appearing in the group stage for the third time, having rubbed shoulders with Europe's elite last season and in 2008/09. A first-half goal from Dmitri Mozolevski and Aleksandr Volodko's side-foot effort just before the hour, moments after the hosts' Balázs Nikolov had been shown a second yellow card, confirmed Viktor Goncharenko's team's place in Friday's draw.

With the first leg in Belarus having ended 1-1 Debrecen knew a goalless affair would suffice. BATE were quick on the break, however, the passing of Dmitri Baga and the tireless running of the returning Aleksandr Hleb causing Elemér Kondás' team all sorts of problems.

Artem Radkov was first to come close for BATE, firing over from close range after eight minutes. Mozolevski's opener, a first-time finish after being played in by Vitali Rodionov's pass down the side of the Debrecen defence, spurred the Hungarian titleholders into action, Norbert Mészáros stabbing just wide following an Ádám Bódi free-kick before the break.

With Ibrahim Sidibe on at half-time, Debrecen began throwing players forward, leaving themselves open to the counterattack. Volodko's deflected effort from the edge of the penalty area killed the match as a contest, the hosts already a man down and in need of three goals.

They tried admirably and nearly got one back through substitute László Rezes's fine long-range strike which was tipped on to the bar by Andrei Gorbunov, but it was a comfortable night's work for Goncharenko's side in the end. For Debrecen, meanwhile, a UEFA Europa League play-off beckons.