Europa League Review: Cloud-nine Brondby ignite opening round

Brondby were the standout winners in the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round first leg as they thumped Juvenes/Dogana of San Marino 9-0.

Johan Elmander got the Swedish club up and running with a sixth-minute opener and his first-half brace would be matched by a double from substitute Elbasan Rashani in the second period.

Patrick Da Silva, Teemu Pukki, Frederik Holst, Johan Larsson and Rezan Corlu were also on target in a romp that only Slovan Bratislava came close to matching, with a 6-0 win at Europa FC of Gibraltar.

Karol Meszaros netted the first UEFA hat-trick of the season inside 31 minutes before Slobodan Simovic, Samuel Stefanik and Tamas Priskin added further damage for the Slovakian giants.

Premier League team West Ham eased to a 3-0 triumph over Lusitans of Andorra thanks to a brace from Diafra Sakho and a second-half header by captain James Tomkins.

Two days after winning the UEFA European Under-21 Championship with Sweden, Patrik Carlgren hobbled out of his return to club action against VPS Vaasa with AIK due to a knee problem.

Carlgren’s team-mates were grateful for a Nabil Bahoui double that salvaged a 2-2 draw after Admir Catovic and Jordan Seabrook put the Finnish outfit two goals ahead.

Norwegian teams Odds BK and Stromsgodset IF were 3-0 and 3-1 victors at FC Sheriff and at home to FK Partizani respectively, while Lithuanian club FK Trakai celebrated their European debut with a 3-0 win over HB Torshavn of the Faroe Islands. 

Welsh Cup winners Newtown AFC secured a last-gasp 2-1 win over Valletta thanks to Jason Oswell’s 91st minute strike. The Maltese side had captain Ian Azzopardi sent off, while their counterparts Birkirkara shared a goalless draw with Ulisses FC.

It was an underwhelming night on the road for Scottish Premiership duo St Johnstone and Aberdeen, who lost 1-0 and drew 1-1 at European debutants Alashkert FC and Shkendija respectively.

Crvena Zvezda, European champions in 1991, look set to fall at the first stage after goals from Gerard Gohou and Yermek Kuantayev gave Kazakh team Kairat Almaty a 2-0 win in Serbia.

Playing in Europe despite their relegation from the Eredivisie, Go Ahead Eagles secured a 1-1 draw at home to Ferencvaros.

There was an impressive 4-1 win for MSK Zilina at Belfast side Glentoran, whose city rivals Linfield beat NSI Runavik 2-0.

Lokomotiva Zagreb won 3-1 at Airbus UK and FK Spartaks Jurmala did the same at Buducnost Podgorica, with an identical scoreline separating hosts Differdange 03 against Bala Town of Wales, who finished the match in Luxembourg with 10 men due to Mike Hayes’ red card.

Debrecen appear virtually assured of progress after overcoming Sutjeska Niksic 3-0 – a scoreline bettered by FC Vaduz in their 5-0 triumph over San Marino’s La Fiorita.

Nomme Kalju, Jagiellonia, Slask Wroclaw, FK Cukaricki, Randers FC, FH Hafnarfjordur and Koper were 1-0 winners away, while Dinamo Batumi, UCD and Flora did likewise on their own patch.

Beroe Stara Zagora, Apollon Limassol, Rosenborg and Shakhtyor Soligorsk all scored twice in away wins.

FC Shirak, FK Kukesi, Dinamo Tbilisi and Skonto Riga were on target twice in home wins, although the latter two shipped an away goal to FK Qabala and St Patrick’s Athletic respectively.

The ties between Ordabasy and Beitar Jerusalem; KF Laci and Inter Baku; FC Lahti and IF Elfsborg; FK Jelgava and Litex Lovech; Olimpic Sarajevo and Spartak Trnava; Sillamae Kalev and Hajduk Split; Neftchi Baku and Mladost Podgorica; FC Botosani and FC Tskhinvali; and MTK Budapest and FK Vojvodina ended all square.