Stoke City start Europa League with a win

Posted on July 31, 2011 by SoccerPunter

Stoke City marked their first European tie in 37 years with a 1-0 home victory over Croatia’s Hajduk Split in the Europa League qualifying third round first leg on Thursday.

Jon Walters headed the only goal of the game after three minutes at the Britannia Stadium from a Matthew Etherington cross, but Tony Pulis’ side were unable to add to their advantage with a tough second leg to come.

Fulham, the 2010 runners-up, drew 0-0 at another Croatian side RNK Split with manager Martin Jol saying he was satisfied with the result.

“They had probably as much possession as we had, maybe a bit more. But nil-nil away from home against a good side; I’m not happy but I’m satisfied,” said Jol.

“They had probably three or four good chances, that is the only thing we have to work on. We didn’t do enough with the ball in their half but we will do better at home. I expect that we will have more initiative – we have to play better to score.”

Atletico Madrid, the 2010 winners, saw off Stromsgodset of Norway 2-1 at their Vicente-Calderon ground with former Arsenal star Jose-Antonio Reyes scoring both goals just hours after the Spaniards had sold Sergio Aguero to Manchester City for 38 million pounds.

Third round, first-leg Europa league results:

Slask Wroclaw (POL) 0 Lokomotiv Sofia (BUL) 0
AEK Larnaca (CYP) 3 Mlada Boleslav (CZE) 0
FK Ventspils (LAT) 1 Red Star Belgrade (SRB) 2
Alania (RUS) 1 Kecskemeti TE (HUN) 1
Karpaty Lviv (UKR) 2 Saint Patrick’s (IRL) 0
Olimpia Ljubljana (SLO) 1 Austria Vienna (AUT) 1
Aalesunds FK (NOR) 4 Elfsborg (SWE) 0
Metalurgi Rustavi (GEO) 2 Rennes (FRA) 5

Salzburg (AUT) 1 Senica (SVK) 0
Anorthosis Famagusta (CYP) 0 Rabotnicki (MKD) 2
Sparta Prague (CZE) 5 FK Sarajevo (BIH) 0
Vorskla Poltava (UKR) 0 Sligo (IRL) 0
Valerenga (NOR) 0 PAOK Salonika (GRE) 2
Young Boys Berne (SUI) 3 KVC Westerlo (BEL) 1
Bursaspor (TUR) 2 Gomel (BLR) 1
Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR) 4 FC Vaduz (LIE) 0
Omonia (CYP) 3 Den Haag (NED) 0

RNK Split (CRO) 0 Fulham (ENG) 0
Levski Sofia (BUL) 2 Spartak Trnava (SVK) 1
AZ Alkmaar (NED) 2 Jablonek (CZE) 0
Gaziantepspor (TUR) 0 Legia Warsaw (POL) 1
Dinamo Bucharest (ROM) 2 Varazdin (CRO) 2
Differdange (LUX) 0 Olympiakos Volos (GRE) 3
Paksi SE (HUN) 1 Hearts (SCO) 1
FK Zeljeznicar (BIH) 0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) 2

Club Brugge (BEL) 4 Qarabag FK (AZE) 1
Mainz (GER) 1 Gaz Metan Medias (ROM) 1
Palermo (ITA) 2 FC Thoune (SUI) 2
Stoke City (ENG) 1 Hajduk Split (CRO) 0
CD Nacional (POR) 3 BK Hacken (SWE) 0
Atletico Madrid (ESP) 2 Stromsgodset (NOR) 1
FC Midtjylland (DEN) 0 Vitoria Guimaraes (POR) 0
Ried (AUT) 2 Brondby (DEN) 0
KR Reykjavik (ISL) 1 Dynamo Tbilisi (GEO) 4