Makedonija and Dacia sneak through .

Gilvan Vieira (©uefa.com)

FK Makedonija Skopje came back from a 1-0 first-leg deficit to oust Ethnikos Achnas FC, FC Dacia Chisinau overcame FK Baku in a dramatic penalty shoot-out and KS Vllaznia shocked highly-fancied NK Zagreb as ten UEFA Intertoto Cup first round matches were decided on Saturday.

FK Makedonija Skopje 2-0 Ethnikos Achnas FC (agg: 2-1)
Makedonija will play PFC Cherno More Varna in the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round after recovering from a first-leg deficit against Achnas thanks to two goals by Macedonian Under-21 international Aleksandar Stojanovski. The forward struck either side of half-time to overhaul the Cypriot outfit's 1-0 first-leg lead and set up a tie against Bulgarian opposition in the next round. Makedonija levelled aggregate terms after 13 minutes when Stojanovski drove in an angled shot from 15 metres and, although the visitors twice came close to silencing the home crowd before the break through Christos Poyiatzis and Zoran Stjepanović, Stojanovski scored the deciding goal midway through the second half, finishing off substitute Ismail Ismaili's cross from close range.

FC Dacia Chisinau 1-1 FK Baku (agg: 2-2, Dacia win 4-2 on penalties)
A repeat of the same score-line as last weekend in Azerbaijan took this enthralling contest to extra time and then penalties, and the side from Moldova held their nerve in front of their delirious home fans to set up a testing second round meeting with Swiss Super League side FC. St Gallen. Dacia had earlier taken the lead on the quarter-hour mark when Valeriu Onila pounced to make it 2-1 on aggregate but Amiran Mujiri levelled on 71 minutes with a well-taken shot for the Azerbaijani visitors, who almost stole a winner a minute from time only to be denied by a spectacular Mihail Moraru save. After extra time produced no goals Baku missed three spot-kicks to allow Maxim Andronic, who scored an own goal last week, to claim hero status with the winning penalty.

KS Vllaznia 1-0 NK Zagreb (agg: 2-2, Vllaznia win on away goals)
Midfielder Arlind Norra will be grabbing all the headlines in Albania on Sunday after scoring the goal that knocked their much-fancied Croatian opponents out of the Intertoto Cup on Saturday night. Norra struck on 26 minutes to level the tie on aggregate and, along with his team-mates, then set about frustrating Miroslav Blažević's side, who, despite boasting a string of international players, could not find a way past their obdurate hosts. Zagreb had placed great stock in a UEFA Cup run this season but instead it is Vllaznia, who lost 2-1 in Zagreb last week, who can now look forward to an exciting second round meeting with Turkish giants Trabzonspor as a result of the away goals rule.

FC Zestaponi 2-0 FC Tobol Kostanay (agg: 2-3)
Despite a valiant two-goal win in Georgia, Zestaponi fell just short of the three goals required to take this tie into extra time as their opponents from Kazakhstan won through on the strength of their first-leg success. The home side were always going to be up against it but a headed third-minute goal from a corner by centre-back Ediki Sadjaia gave them early hope of a comeback. Eight minutes before half-time and partisan optimism transformed into real belief as the hosts struck again when striker Gaga Chkhetiani connected with Gilvan Vieira's centre. After the interval Tobol defended in numbers and could have scored themselves on the break through Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev but Zestaponi came closest to scoring again and forcing extra time when Shalva Gongadze and then Chkhetiani fired wide. Tobol held on, though, to face FC Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic in the next round.

OFK Grbalj 1-1 AFC Gloria 1922 Bistrita (agg: 2-3)
Gloria have won the right to meet Israeli outfit Maccabi Haifa FC in the next round after grinding out a 1-1 draw against Grbalj in Montenegro. The Romanian side took the lead five minutes before half-time when Cristian Coroian scored from close range after a delightful pass on the counterattack from Cosmin Tilinca. However, the hosts drew level within three minutes when Miloš Djalac headed Luka Pajović's pinpoint left-wing cross past Anton Tatarusanu in a frenetic spell before the break which also saw Gloria forward Dorel Zaharia hit the post from the edge of area. The match remained delicately poised and in the second half European debutants Grbalj were much the better side. Indeed the Montenegrin side would have levelled the tie on aggregate but for Tatarusanu, who made two brilliant reaction saves late on, firstly from defender Goran Grujić's header and then Dragan Bošković's follow-up.

FK Maribor 2-1 Birkirkara FC (agg: 5-1)
The first-half dismissal of Thomas Paris did little to help the cause of a Birkirkara side already 3-0 down from the first leg and once the Slovenian hosts took the lead early in the second half the result was never really in doubt. Maribor were without Croatian midfielder Martin Pregelj, who had signed for NK Inteblock Ljubljana earlier in the day, but Dejan Mezga made light of his absence by scoring the opening goal eight minutes into the second period when he was first to the rebound from a Marko Popović shot repelled by Bernard Paris. To their credit the Maltese visitors pulled a goal back within three minutes when Roderick Briffa's lay-off was thundered in from distance by Michael Galea. But 12 minutes from time Matej Vracko completed the scoring following good work by Popović, to set up a second round match with FK Hajduk Kula of Serbia.

FK Slavija Sarajevo 3-2 UE Sant Julià (agg: 6-4)
For the second time in a week Slavija completed a 3-2 win against their Andorran opponents in a match which also followed exactly the same scoring pattern as last Saturday's encounter. The Bosnia-Herzegovnian outfit once again raced into a two-goal lead, this time thanks to goals by Bojan Jamina on 21 minutes and Sretko Vuksanović midway through the second half, before Sebastian Varela's header (70) and a penalty by Argentinian striker Alejandro Romero (85) brought the visitors back into contention. However, Vuksanović's second goal of the match deep into added time dashed any last hopes of Sant Julià taking the match into extra time and ensured that Slavija will now play FC Otelul Galati of Romania in the second round.

Cork City FC 0-1 Valur Reykjavík (agg: 2-1)
Cork City fell behind to a first-half goal at Turner's Cross but the side from the Republic of Ireland managed to hold out defiantly against their Icelandic opponents, whom they defeated 2-0 last weekend, to set up a second round contest against Hammarby of Sweden. Helgi Sigurdsson struck for the visitors on 20 minutes after pouncing on a loose ball in the penalty area to reduce the aggregate deficit to one goal. However, all attempts to score the crucial second proved beyond the Urvalsdeild outfit, whose bad night was compounded when Sigurbjörn Hreidarsson was sent off for a late challenge on Liam Kearney with two minutes of the match remaining.

KÍ Klaksvík 1-2 Hammarby (agg: 1-3)
A penalty by Paulinho early in the second half effectively ended Klaksvík's hopes of a recovery on home soil as their Swedish opponents in the end ran out comfortable winners over the two legs. Hammarby added to their solitary goal from last weekend's fixture when midfielder Haris Laitinen struck after 34 minutes and although the hosts were back in the match soon afterwards thanks to defender Kaj Ennigard's effort (37) the Brazilian's spot-kick ten minutes after half-time put paid to any further hopes of a Faroese comeback. The Allsvenskan outfit will meet Cork City FC of the Republic of Ireland in the second round.

ŠK Slovan Bratislava 3-0 FC Differdange 03 (agg: 5-0)
The side from Slovakia added three more goals to the two they scored in Luxembourg last week to complete an uncomplicated 5-0 aggregate win against Differdange. Lubomir Meszaros's goal shortly before the half-hour mark set the ball rolling before Miroslav Poliacek (56) and Jakub Sylvestr (78) rounded off the scoring. Slovan will expect to face a sterner test than that put up by the Division Nationale outfit in the second round, though, with SK Rapid Wien of Austria standing between them and the chance of UEFA Cup football next season.