Surprise wins for Domžale and Spartak Trnava
Thursday, July 28, 2016
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Domžale, who beat West Ham 2-1, and Spartak Trnava were surprise first-leg victors while Shkëndija won again and Krasnodar triumphed at Birkirkara.
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Domžale were the shock winners in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg, while Shkëndija's remarkable story shows no signs of stopping.
Two Matic Črnic goals gave Slovenian side Domžale a 2-1 home win against West Ham, leaving the Hammers with a deficit to overturn in next week's second leg – the first game at their new stadium. Spartak Trnava, meanwhile, won 1-0 at Austria Wien thanks to Robert Tambe's goal in the first minute of the second half.
Shkëndija's most successful European campaign so far continued with a 2-0 home win against Czech side Mladá Boleslav 2-0 with close-range goals from Stênio Júnior and captain Feran Hasan in Skopje. A third consecutive home victory without conceding means the Red and Blacks are close to becoming only the second Macedonian club to reach the UEFA Europa League play-off, following Rabotnicki's lead from 2011/12 and 2015/16.
One fairytale that looks to be over is Birkirkara, beaten 3-0 in Malta by Krasnodar, while Gent were the night's big winners with a 5-0 home defeat of Romania's Viitorul. French sides LOSC and St-Étienne were both held at home, by Qäbälä and AEK Athens respectively, while Vedad Ibišević's 28th-minute goal proved enough for Hertha Berlin to beat Brøndby in Berlin.
Meanwhile, the game between Heracles and Arouca, who were both making their European debuts, ended all square.
AEK Larnaca 1-1 Spartak Moskva
Olexandriya 0-3 Hajduk Split
Heracles 1-1 Arouca
LOSC Lille 1-1 Qäbälä
Jelgava 1-1 Beitar Jerusalem
Torpedo Zhodino 0-0 Rapid Wien
Zagłębie 1-2 SønderjyskE
Slavia Praha 0-0 Rio Ave
Austria Wien 0-1 Spartak Trnava
Lokomotiva Zagreb 0-0 Vorskla
Göteborg 1-2 HJK Helsinki
Birkirkara 0-3 Krasnodar
İstanbul Başakşehir 0-0 Rijeka
Grasshoppers 2-1 Apollon
Luzern 1-1 Sassuolo
Osmanlıspor 1-0 Kalju
Genk 1-0 Cork City
Pandurii 1-3 Macaabi Tel-Aviv
Panathinaikos 1-0 AIK Solna
Vojvodina 1-1 Dinamo Minsk
Shkëndija 2-0 Mladá Boleslav
Hertha Berlin 1-0 Brøndby
Gent 5-0 Viitorul
Videoton 0-1 Midtjylland
Domžale 2-1 West Ham
AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Giannina
Aberdeen 1-1 Maribor
St-Étienne 0-0 AEK Athens
Admira 1-2 Slovan Liberec