Malmö on the move

Sweden's Malmö FF were comfortable 4-0 winners against Northern Irish side Portadown FC in the UEFA Cup qualifying round on Thursday night.

Uncomplicated win
Andreas Yngvesson's two goals, plus further strikes from Hans Mattisson and Niklas Skoog sealed the first-leg victory and another Swedish team to enjoy success were AIK Solna, who defeated Fylkir courtesy of an 89th-minute winner from Ghanaian striker Kwame Quansah.

Satisfactory evening
The Swedes' Scandinavian neighbours, SFK Lyn of Norway, claimed a 3-1 win over NSÍ Runavík in the Faroe Islands. Ole Bjørn Sundgot, Johan Gudmundsson and Helgi Sigurdsson put the visitors 3-0 up before Bjarki Danielesen scored a late consolation.

Dundee win
Goals from Steve Lovell and Nacho Novo, meanwhile, earned Dundee FC a 2-0 triumph at KS Vllaznia in Albania. The Scottish team were making their first UEFA Cup appearance for almost three decades.

Odds upset
FC Banants upset the odds by holding Hapoel Tel-Aviv to a 1-1 draw in Rotterdam. Arshak Amiryan struck 18 minutes from time to cancel out Yossef Rosen's first-half effort - and give Banants a priceless away goal ahead of the second leg in Armenia in a fortnight.

Hopes alive
Irish club Shelbourne FC also have hopes of progressing after restricting NK Olimpija Ljubljana to a 1-0 win in Slovenia. Nedim Jusufbegovic scored the only goal of the game with 17 minutes remaining, nodding in the winner at the far post.

Safe passage
Elsewhere, Denmark's Esbjerg fB virtually guaranteed their passage to the first round as they despatched UE Santa Coloma 5-0. The Andorrans were no match for the Danish team and goals from Tommy Lovenkrands (2), Jess Thorup (2) and Henrik Hansen underlined Esbjerg's superiority.

Sorensen hat-trick
It was equally comfortable for FC Nordsjælland, who brushed aside FC Shirak 4-0 with striker Dennis Sorensen claiming a hat-trick. Two goals in three first-half minutes were enough for Molde FK to collect a 2-0 victory over KÍ Klaksvík, another side from the Faroe Islands.

Hard work
Odense BK have their work cut out in the second leg as they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to FC TMVK Tallinn of Estonia. Brøndby IF however, had a far easier time of it against Belarussian club FC Dinamo Minsk, winning 3-0.

Rykun's late strike
A last-gasp goal from Olexandr Rykun against FC Vaduz ensured FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk take a 1-0 lead back to the Ukraine while NK Željeznicar defeated Anorthosis Famagusta FC 1-0.