Hamburg, Aug 2 (DPA) Away wins dominated first leg matches of the second qualifying round of Champions League football as four of the seven games ended in victories for the visitors.
Rosenborg Trondheim, Dinamo Zagreb, Red Bull Salzburg and Bate Borisov all took a giant step towards the lucrative group stage of the Champions League with away wins Wednesday.
In Slovenia, Dinamo Zagreb took a two-goal lead against hosts NK Domzale before Drazen Zezelj pulled one back for the home side four minutes from the end.
Tomislav Sokota and captain Luka Modric with a second half penalty scored for the visitors.
Belarusian club Bate Borisov suffered an early shock in Iceland against FH Hafnarfjordur. Sigurvin Olafsson opened the scoring for the home side in the fourth minute, but Dmitri Likhtarovich levelled matters on the half hour.
In the second half, the visitors made their experience count as they took a 3-1 win back to Belarus through goals by Vitali Rodionov and Gennadi Bliznyuk.
Rosenborg, who last season missed out on the Champions League for the first time in 12 years, had an ideal start at Kazakhstan’s FK Astana when Burkina Faso striker Yssouf Kone headed in after just six minutes.
The home side drew level through captain Aleksandr Kuchma, who scored with a direct free kick in the 27th minute.
Just on the hour Kone was fouled in the area and Steffen Iversen made no mistake from the spot. A few minutes later Kone gave his side a convincing victory with a well-struck shot from an acute angle.
In Latvia, FK Ventspils were no match for Giovanni Trapattoni’s Red Bull Salzburg.
A disappointing crowd of just 4,000 in the 10,000-seater stadium in Riga saw Austrian international midfielder Rene Aufhauser score twice within a few minutes midway through the first half to give Salzburg a 2-0 half-time lead.
Dutch referee Ruud Bossen gifted the visitors a third goal in the 83rd minute after Sasha Cilinshek brought down Swiss international Johan Vonlanthen outside the area. Bossen pointed to the penalty spot and Aufhauser made no mistake for his hat-trick.
In Belgrade Ognjen Koroman, who is on loan to Red Star Belgrade from Russian club FC Terek Grozny, was the hero for the Serbian club as he scored a 35th minute long-range winner against Levadia Tallinn.
Slovakian champions MSK Zilina and Slavia Prague played out a goalless draw in Slovakia that leaves the Czech club favourites to advance.
Prague, for whom Vladimir Smicer made a comeback after returning to the club from Bordeaux, finished the game with 10 men after Ante Aracic was sent off for a second bookable offence late in the game.
In Istanbul, Besiktas, who fielded four new signings in goalkeeper Rustu Recber, wingers Rodrigo Tello and Mehmet Yozgatli plus French midfielder Edouard Cisse, needed a late goal from Turkish international defender Ibrahim Toraman to overcome stiff opposition from Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol – a result that leaves the tie wide open.
Besiktas coach Ertugrul Saglam gave 16-year-old Batuhan Karadeniz a first taste of Champions League action when he brought him on for Matias Delgado in the second half.
The return leg matches will be played next week, with the winners of the ties advancing to the final qualifying round.