Conference League knockout phase play-off first leg highlights: Noah, Fiorentina impress

Fiorentina and Noah secured impressive first-leg leads in the UEFA Conference League knockout phase play-offs, while Celje, Rijeka and Samsunspor all struck late winners.

We round up the first-leg action.

Noah 1-0 AZ Alkmaar

The Armenian side will take a valuable advantage to the Netherlands after a contest with plenty of late drama.

The hosts dominated throughout, with Gustavo Sangaré and Nardin Mulahusejnović combining for the hosts’ best first-half effort, with the latter’s header forcing a save out of Jeroen Zoet just before the break.

The breakthrough came in the 53rd minute when captain Hovhannes Hambardzumyan blasted home from a clever cutback.

AZ threatened a leveller in the closing stages but Troy Parrott was denied by the woodwork and Aleksey Ploshchadnyi thwarted Kees Smit in the final action of the match.

Jagiellonia 0-3 Fiorentina 

Fiorentina overcame a spirited start from Jagiellonia to take control of their knockout play-off tie in Białystok.

Starved of possession for much of the first half, the Viola gradually found their rhythm and showed a clinical edge in front of goal.

A powerful header from captain Luca Ranieri was followed by a stunning free-kick from Rolando Mandragora and a penalty from Roberto Piccoli, giving the Serie A club a commanding advantage ahead of the second leg.

Zrinjski 1-1 Crystal Palace

Zrinjski fought back from going a goal down to ensure next week’s return fixture is finely poised.

Ismaïla Sarr opened the scoring with a neat finish just before the break, but Zrinjski were level on 55 minutes after Karlo Abramović thumped home on the counter.

Mario Ćuže and Antonio Ivančić both had good opportunities for Igor Štimac's men before Palace's Adam Wharton rattled the bar with just under 20 minutes remaining.

Shkëndija 0-1 Samsunspor

Marius Mouandilmadji sprung off the bench to give Samsunspor a slender advantage.

The Turkish side had the lion's share of the chances and could have won by a larger margin, with Cherif Ndiaye missing a penalty in the first half before Carlo Holse saw his close-range effort go over the bar.

Kouadou Jaures Assoumou tested Baboucarr Gaye and Besart Ibraimi went closest for the home side but the visitors have a deserved lead to defend.

Drita 2-3 Celje

Celje substitute Matej Poplatnik's diving header deep in added time helped the visitors hold off a spirited Drita fightback.

The hosts looked comfortable at the half-time interval thanks to close-range finishes from Armandas Kučys and Milot Avdyli, with Drita replacements Blerim Krasniqi and Liridon Balaj appearing to have claimed a share of spoils for the Kosovan outfit with a pair of goals in just over 15 second-half minutes.

However, Poplatnik expertly nodded in Rudi Požeg Vancaš' delivery with virtually the last action of the contest in a dramatic finale.

KuPS Kuopio 0-2 Lech Poznań

The Polish visitors took a giant step towards the last 16 after a dominant performance in Finland.

Antoni Kozubal had already swept in the opener when the hosts' Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba was shown a straight red card on 12 minutes. From then on it was, for the most part, damage limitation for KuPS.

Goalkeeper Johannes Kreidl pulled off a few eye-catching saves but there was no stopping Taofeek Ismaheel's unerring finish before half-time following a smart exchange with Mikael Ishak.

Sigma Olomouc 1-1 Lausanne-Sport

It is still all to play for in Switzerland in seven days despite a spirited second-half showing from Sigma Olomouc.

Nathan Butler-Oyedeji finished off a counterattack to give the visitors the lead midway through the first period.

The Swiss Super League club’s advantage looked to be a precarious one as Péter Baráth struck the post moments later, and the home side were level just before the hour when Danijel Šturm slotted in.

Antonín Růsek, Jáchym Šíp and Jan Kliment were unable to take their opportunities to complete the turnaround for the hosts in the closing stages.

Omonoia 0-1 Rijeka

Daniel Adu-Adjei scored an outrageous late winner as the visitors capped a fine defensive performance in style.

Omonoia created the better chances throughout in Nicosia, but found goalkeeper Martin Zlomislić in fine fettle, and even when the visiting skipper was beaten, Teo Barišić pulled off an incredible block to deny Willy Semedo.

A good away performance became a great one four minutes from time when Adu-Adjei flicked in Tiago Dantas' late cross, though Tornike Morchiladze's late dismissal took away some gloss.