Birkirkara and Kalju shine on night of shocks
Thursday, July 21, 2016
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Heart of Midlothian, Partizan and Maccabi Haifa were among the casualties on a memorable evening for several underdogs but Genk survived a big scare.
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Maltese side Birkirkara stunned Heart of Midlothian in Edinburgh as the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round concluded on a night of high drama.
- Third qualifying round fixtures confirmed
- First legs: round-up
- 2016/17 Europa League: All you need to know
Second-half goals by Christian Bubalovic and Edward Herrera stunned the home side, who had earlier missed a penalty and hit the woodwork twice. Conor Sammon's header raised hope, but Birkirkara held on for a famous win.
Hearts' great rivals Hibernian almost pulled off a shock of their own as they forced extra time away to Brøndby but the Danish side held their nerves in the penalty shoot-out, converting all of theirs in a 5-3 triumph. Hertha Berlin await in the third round.
It also went to spot kicks in Estonia as Nõmme Kalju, who had hit a last-minute goal to take the tie into extra time, eliminated Maccabi Haifa. It proved a night to forget for one team with recent UEFA Champions League experience, Debrecen tumbling out.
Genk almost went the same way as their 2-0 first-leg lead was wiped out at Budućnost Podgorica, Radomir Djalović scoring inside the first 60 seconds. The Belgian side were reduced to ten men on 74 minutes but held on and won it on penalties. Partizan were not so lucky as Poland's Zagłębie beat them on spot kicks to become the last side through.
There was another major coup in FYR Macedonia, where Besart Ibraimi scored the only goal against Neftçi as Shkëndija followed up their maiden UEFA club tie success against Cracovia with another success. Slovenia's Domžale, meanwhile, advanced to the third qualifying round for the first time. Their reward? A tie with West Ham United.
Ventspils 0-1 Aberdeen (agg: 0-4)
Jelgava 3-0 Slovan Bratislava (agg: 3-0)
Torpedo Zhodino 1-0 Debrecen (agg: 3-1)
Nõmme Kalju 1-1 Maccabi Haifa (agg: 2-2, Kalju win 5-3 on pens)
HJK Helsinki 1-0 Beroe (agg: 2-1)
Lokomotiva Zagreb 3-0 RoPS (agg: 4-1)
Omonia 3-2 Beitar Jerusalem (agg: 3-3, Beitar win on away goals)
Levski 1-1 Maribor (agg: 1-1, Maribor win on away goals)
Göteborg 0-0 Piast Gliwice (agg: 3-0)
Grasshoppers 2-1 KR Reykjavík (agg: 5-4)
Vaduz 2-2 Midtjylland (agg: 2-5)
Odd 3-1 Giannina (aet, agg: 3-4)
AEK Larnaca 2-0 Cliftonville (agg: 5-2)
Europa 0-1 AIK Solna (agg: 0-2)
Slavia Praha 2-0 Levadia Tallinn (agg: 3-3, Slavia win on away goals)
Strømsgodset 2-2 SønderjyskE (aet, agg: 3-4)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 2-1 Kairat Almaty (agg: 3-2)
Qäbälä 2-0 MTK Budapest (agg: 4-1)
Kukës 1-4 Austria Wien (agg: 1-5)
Connah's Quay 1-2 Vojvodina (agg: 1-3)
Brøndby 0-1 Hibernian (agg: 1-1, Brøndby win 5-3 on pens)
Shkëndija 1-0 Neftçi (agg: 1-0)
Osmanlıspor 5-0 Zimbru (agg: 7-2)
Spartak Trnava 2-0 Shirak (agg: 3-1)
Domžale 2-1 Shakhtyor Soligorsk (agg: 3-2)
Hajduk Split 2-1 CSMS laşi (agg: 4-3)
Čukarički 1-1 Videoton (agg: 1-3)
Cork 1-0 Häcken (agg: 2-1)
Budućnost Podgorica 2-0 Genk (agg: 2-2, Genk win 4-2 on pens)
St Patrick's 0-1 Dinamo Minsk (agg: 1-2)
Hearts 1-2 Birkirkara (agg: 1-2)
Zagłębie 0-0 Partizan (agg: 0-0, Zagłębie win 4-3 on pens)
WED: Käpäz 0-2 Admira (agg: 0-3)
*The participation of Osmanlıspor (TUR) is subject to a pending CAS proceeding of another Turkish club
**Slovan Bratislava proceeded to second qualifying round after Partizani were transferred to UEFA Champions League