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Champions League qualifying recap
TIRASPOL, Jul 18 (SW) - For the second straight season, Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol moved on to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League after defeating Armenia's Pyunik.
<b>Sheriff - Pyunik</b> 2-0
<i>Sheriff advance 2-0 on aggregate</i>
After holding Pyunik to a goalless draw in Yerevan a week ago, Sheriff took the initiative after 20 minutes when Romanian striker Razvan Cocis found the back of the net to give his team the lead.
Pyunik withstood for the rest of the game as they never put themselves out of reach from the tie, but defender Oleg Gumenuk added a goal in the 90th minute to finally give Sheriff a clear victory and a spot in the next round against Spartak Moscow.
<b>Ekranas - KS Elbasani</b> 3-0
<i>Ekranas advance 3-1 on aggregate</i>
After a shock defeat away in Albania to Elbasan last week, Lithuanian side Ekranas showed they were the better side in a comfortable victory at home.
They leveled the tie after just nine minutes when Povilas Luksys grabbed the opener, and they snatched the winning goal just four minutes after the half-time interval through Giedrius Tomkevicius.
Luksys grabbed a second goal for the home side in the 65th minute for insurance, and they now move on a test against Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb.
<b>FK Baku - Sioni</b> 1-0
<i>Sioni advance 2-1 on aggregate</i>
Georgian champions Sioni were thankful for their first-leg victory at home as they moved on to the second qualifying round despite being beaten 1-0 at Azeri champions FK Baku.
The home side were given hope of advacing in the competition when subsitute Farid Guliyev struck home after 65 minutes, and they nearly leveled the tie at the death, only to see the ball cleared off of the goal line by a Sioni defender.
Sioni travel to Sofia to take on Bulgarian champions Levski in the next round.
<b>Rabotnicki - F91 Dudelange</b> 0-0
<i>Rabotnicki advance 1-0 on aggregate</i>
A solitary goal from the first leg in Luxembourg by Krste Velkoski secured progression for Macedonian champions Rabotnicki as they were held goalless in Skopje by F91 Dudelange.
Rabotnicki now face a tie against Hungarian side Debrecen in the next round, with the first leg in Hungary next week.
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