Israeli duo through in Europa League

Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv both eased themselves into the second qualifying round of next season’s Europa League competition with convincing wins on Thursday evening.

Maccabi Tel Aviv came away from Albania with a 3-0 win, to complete an overall 5-0 aggregate win over Tirana.

Travelling to the Selman Stermazi stadium with a 2-0 lead from the first leg, the host’s hopes of overturning the tie weren’t helped when they saw Junior Sentamu sent off just before break.

They all but wrapped up the match five minutes into the second half through Aaron Schoenfeld’s strike, before Barak Itzhaki capitalised on a defensive errot to double their lead, before Avraham Rikan put the icing on the Tel Aviv cake six minutes later. They next face Icelandic side KR Reykjavík, once again playing the first leg at home.

Elsewhere, Beitar Jerusalem also recorded a 3-0 away win, to secure a 7-3 aggregate win over Hungarian side Vasas. Taking a 4-3 lead into the match at the Ferenc Szusza Stadion in Budapest, Etey Shechter missed an early penalty, but Hen Ezra fired them into a tenth minute lead. He claimed his second of the match on the hour mark, before Gaetan Varenne tapped home, after being set up by fellow substitute Yossi Benayoun. They next face Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv, with the first leg, also away from home.

Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv enter the competition at the second qualifying stage, and take on Slovakian side Trenčín, the first leg being away from home. The two-legged ties will be played on 13 and 20 July.