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Trabzonspor make it safe

A late Trabzonspor winner and an eight-minute hat-trick were the highlights of the UEFA Cup Southern-Mediterranean second qualiying round second legs.

Trabzonspor breathed a sigh of relief after a late goal saw them past APOEL FC and into the first round of the UEFA Cup. Elsewhere, in tonight's second legs in the Southern-Mediterranean section, a late away goal saw PFC CSKA Sofia through at the expense of FK Hajduk Kula while Belgian striker Luigi Pieroni scored an eight-minute hat-trick in AJ Auxerre's 5-1 victory against OFK Beograd.

Trabzonspor 1–0 APOEL FC (agg: 2-1)
Trabzonspor avoided a repeat of last season's embarrassment as they scored a late goal to defeat Cypriot side APOEL at home. The Turkish side bowed out of the UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round last season after a 3-2 aggregate defeat against another Cypriot side, Anorthosis Famagusta FC. Having drawn 1-1 in the first leg in Nicosia, it took them 86 minutes to find a winning goal with substitute forward Ömer Riza supplying the finishing touch.

NK Domžale 0-3 Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (agg: 2-4)
Domžale surrendered a 2-1 first-leg advantage after defensive tactics failed them against Hapoel. Without Sebastijan Cimerotič and injured top scorer Zlatan Ljubijankič, the Slovenian side struggled to find forward momentum and conceded after 70 minutes when Ivan Jolić scored from close range. Their away-goals advantage evaporated in the closing minutes as Gil Vermouth and Ibe Ogbona scored in added time.

FK Hajduk Kula 1-1 PFC CSKA Sofia (agg: 1-1, CSKA win on away goals)
Defender Aleksandar Tunchev’s goal in extra time gave CSKA Sofia a dramatic win on the away-goals rule. With no goals after 90 minutes, as was the case in the first leg, the match went to the additional 30 minutes and the home side took the lead in the 99th minute thanks to a fine finish from midfielder Dragan Stančić. However, the visitors kept pushing forward in search of the all-important away goal and it came courtesy of the Bulgarian defender.

Ethnikos Achnas FC 5-0 KSV Roeselare (agg: 6-2) 
Having qualified via the UEFA Intertoto Cup, Achnas will equal APOEL FC's Cypriot record of ten European matches in one season when they complete their first-round tie, after overturning a 2-1 first-leg deficit against Roeselare. Christos Poyiatzis put the Cypriot side 2-0 up within 18 minutes and there was no way back for their Belgian opponents when Zoran Stjepanović converted a penalty one minute after the restart. Stjepanović added a second on 55 minutes before Milan Belić rounded off the scoring one minute from time.

AJ Auxerre 5-1 OFK Beograd (agg: 5-2)
Belgian striker Luigi Pieroni came on as a second half substitute and scored a hat-trick in the last ten minutes to send Auxerre through. OFK won the first leg 1-0 but the tie was all-square within half an hour when Jean-Pascal Mignot drilled in a low free-kick from 20 metres. OFK went back in front on aggregate after a superb move between Djordje Rakić and Stojan Pilipović but Auxerre's new Polish signing Ireneusz Jelén netted a second goal just before half-time. Auxerre pushed on in the second half and Pieroni's late treble finished off the visitors, while Nenad Todorović was dismissed for OFK.

Beitar Jerusalem FC 1-1 FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti (agg: 1-2)
Beitar’s hopes of making an impact after a five-year absence from European competition foundered as they were held to a 1-1 draw in Sofia. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, the Israeli side got back on terms within four minutes of the kick-off as forward Barak Yitzhaki found the target, but an own goal by central defender Shimon Gershon in the 23rd minute was all the Romanian hopefuls required to hold on and win.

NK Maribor 1 - 1 FK Partizan (agg: 2-3)
NK Maribor were forced to bid farewell to European competition for another season despite a second-half revival which gave them brief hope of at least taking the match to extra time. Bojan Zajić's 20-metre strike on the half-hour mark put the visitors in the driving seat and the Serbian side looked in control of proceedings until midway through the second period when Maribor lost defensive midfielder Fabijan Cipot to injury. Cipot's departure somehow invigorated his side, who equalised within three minutes with Goražd Zajc scoring on 63 minutes. However, Partizan held out to go through.

AFC Rapid Bucuresti 2–0 FK Sarajevo (agg: 2-1)
Last season's UEFA Cup quarter-finalists progressed to the first round after breaking down a stubborn Sarajevo side. Mugurel Buga scored a club-record 13th European goal after 40 minutes, converting Valentin Negru's long ball to cancel out the Bosnia-Herzegovnian side's first-leg advantage. Ryan Griffiths' cross set up Viorel Moldovan to score the winner in the closing minutes.

PFC Lokomotiv Sofia 4-0 Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC (agg: 6-0)
Loko Sofia completed a 6-0 aggregate victory with a 4-0 win in Bulgaria. A well-worked free-kick led to Kristian Dobrev opening the scoring after 21 minutes and Bnei Yehuda were reduced to ten men with Dagani’s dismissal five minutes later. Saša Antunović set up strike partner Tsvetan Genkov to make it 2-0 just before the interval, and Kaloyan Karadjinov headed two more goals in the second half from Malin Oratchev crosses.

PFC Litex Lovech 2–1 AC Omonia (agg: 2-1)
Litex survived an early scare after the visitors from Cyprus took the lead on 32 minutes when Bosnia-Herzegovnian international Džemal Berberović scored an own goal as he tried to clear a cross. Litex responded in the 42nd minute after a nice move by Sandrinho and Milivoje Novaković set up a cool finish by midfielder Petar Zlatinov. Berberović then made amends for his mistake in the 45th minute when he crossed perfectly for Stanislav Manolev to head in the winner. The visitors finished the game with ten men when Sinisa Dobrasinović picked up his second booking in the 77th minute.

Kayserispor 3–1 KF Tirana (agg: 5-1)
European debutants Kayserispor secured comfortable progress as they inflicted further misery on their Albanian opponents in Turkey. Already 2-0 down from the home leg, Tirana's hopes of a second-leg revival ended as midfielder Mehmet Topuz put Kayserispor ahead within five minutes of the kick-off. Two more goals either side of half-time from Hanifi and Gökhan Ünal added to the home side's advantage before Hamdi Salihi scored a consolation goal.

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