CL qualifying round-up

Linfield exit after Rosenborg defeat

Last updated: 21st July 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

CL qualifying round-up

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Northern Irish champions Linfield have been knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Rosenborg.

The Norwegian side came out on top 2-0 in the second qualifying round, as former Sunderland striker Rade Prica grabbed the first for the hosts in the 32nd minute and Markus Henriksen made sure in the 87th minute after a goalless first leg at Windsor Park left the tie nicely poised for the return match at the Lerkendal stadium in Trondheim.

Rosenborg were quickly out of the blocks with former Tottenham striker Steffen Iversen drawing a save from Linfield goalkeeper Alan Blayney in the first minute.

Philip Lowry had the first effort on target for the Belfast club which Daniel Orlund was equal to in the 19th minute and the hosts grabbed the lead with 13 minutes of the first half remaining through Sweden international Prica.

Blayney had to be alert to prevent Morten Moldskred adding a quickfire second for Rosenborg, but Linfield were down and out when Henriksen got his team's second goal with three minutes to go. Rosenborg now face Swedish side AIK in the third qualifying round.

Elsewhere, Czech champions Sparta Prague moved to within four games of the group phase by completing a 5-0 aggregate victory over Latvia's Liepajas Metalurgs.

Sparta, crowned champions in the Czech Republic's Gambrinus Liga for the 11th time last season, won 2-0 in the Czech capital in the second leg of their second qualifying round tie thanks to a pair of first-half free-kicks.

Czech international Marek Matejovsky set the hosts on their way with a 12th-minute free-kick and Martin Zeman doubled the advantage shortly before the interval, two minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Sparta will meet either Inter Baku of Azerbaijan or Polish team Lech Poznan for a berth in the play-off round.

Passage

Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade secured their passage with a 1-0 win at Armenian side FC Pyunik that sealed a 4-1 aggregate victory.

Partizan, beaten European Cup finalists in 1966, prevailed through a powerful finish from Brazilian striker Cleo in first-half injury time in Yerevan and will face Finnish outfit HJK Helsinki.

Debrecen, the reigning Hungarian champions, edged a narrow tie with Estonia's Levadia Tallinn to set up a clash with Swiss champions FC Basel.

Having secured a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Tallinn, Debrecen fell behind to a third-minute goal from Levadia skipper Konstantin Nahk.

Adamo Coulibaly drew the home side level in the 24th minute before Yannick Mbengono put them ahead but Levadia equalised through Vitali Leitan in the 53rd minute, only for Peter Szakaly to net the deciding goal two minutes later.

Swedish champions AIK and their Israeli counterparts Hapoel Tel Aviv also made it into the third qualifying round.