The second qualifying round in the Europa League commenced on Wednesday evening and saw Welsh side The New Saints (TNS) exit the competition in the Faroe Islands following a 5-4 penalty shoot-out defeat by B36 Torshavn after the sides shared four goals in normal time.
On Thursday evening Shamrock Rovers welcomed Italian giants AC Milan to Tallaght Stadium where they went down to a two nil defeat. The visitors were always in control and emerged as comfortable winners. Dundalk travelled to face Inter Escaldes in Andorra and progressed to the next stage with a one nil victory courtesy of a David McMillan goal after 14 minutes. The ‘Lilywhites’ will be on the road again next Thursday when they travel to face Sheriff of Moldova. Northern Irish club Coleraine exited the competition following a three nil penalty shoot-out defeat after they had earned a two all extra-time draw with Scottish club Motherwell. The ‘Steelmen’ will travel to Israel to face Hapoel Beer-Sheva in the third round next week. Down the road in Windsor Park, Linfield suffered an unexpected one nil defeat by Floriana of Malta. Aberdeen and Jonny Hayes travelled to Norway where they secured a two nil success over Viking FK and they will be on the road again next week when they travel to face Sporting CP in Portugal. Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar were no match for visitors Glasgow Rangers who progressed with a five nil victory which earned them a third round tie against Willem II in Holland next week. Two further Welsh clubs, Bala Town and Connah’s Quay Nomads exited the competition following defeats by Standard Liege (2-0)in Belgium and Dinamo Tbilisi (0-1)in Wales. Matt Doherty and his Tottenham Hotspur colleagues are through to the next stage following a two one victory over PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Bulgaria but not before they suffered a huge scare as they trailed with just fifteen minutes remaining but a penalty kick and two home club dismissals provided them with the opportunity to progress. The London club will travel to face Shkendija of North Macedonia in the third round next week. Glasgow Celtic are also set to be in third round action next week when they will travel to face Riga(Latvia).