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EUROPA LEAGUE: Villa make Rapid Europa exit

Aston Villa’s Ashley Young, front, is fouled by Rapid Vienna’s Markus Heikkinen to win a penalty kick during their Europa League playoff second leg match on Thursday in Birmingham, England. PHOTO: AP

Aston Villa crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday, losing their play-off tie against unheralded Rapid Vienna just three days after handing mighty Liverpool a humbling Premier League defeat.

In their second leg tie, played at a half-empty Villa Park, Martin O’Neill’s team were undone by striker Nikica Jelavic grabbing a crucial away goal 14 minutes from time.

A James Milner penalty and a second-half strike from John Carew had handed Villa a 2-1 aggregate lead.

But Jelavic, who had also scored in the first leg, had the final say, making the English side rue a first-half penalty miss by Ashley Young.

O’Neill said: “We should have got through. We should have had the game out of sight before they scored and it was unfortunate.”

“They exerted some pressure at 2-0, which you would be expecting, but I thought we had a number of chances to go from 2-0 to 3-0 and that would have sealed the tie,” he said. “I am desperately disappointed that we are not through.”

Trabzonspor’s Balci Serkan, left, fights for the ball with Toulouse’s Cheikh M’bengue, right, during their Europa League playoff second leg match on Thursday in Toulouse, France. The French side lost 0-1 on the night but won 3-2 on aggregate. PHOTO: AP

Villa’s English Premier League rivals Everton and Fulham survived testing trips to reach the group stages.

Everton drew 1-1 with Sigma Olomouc in the Czech Republic for a 5-1 aggregate win, but they had to play for more than 80 minutes with 10 men after defender Tony Hibbert was sent off for a professional foul.

The Merseysiders, 4-0 ahead from the first leg, went in front through South African international Steven Pienaar just before half-time with Pavel Sultes’ 80th-minute goal a mere consolation for the Czechs.

Lech Poznan fans react during their Europa League qualifying round match against Club Bruges in Belgium on Thursday. Bruges beat the Polish side 4-3 on penalties after the tie ended 1-1 on aggregate. PHOTO: REUTERS

“It was a job well done,” said Everton boss David Moyes. “I’m pleased we got through, it was important for us. I thought we got better as the game went on. They put us under pressure but we defended well enough and got a goal ourselves.”

Roy Hodgson’s Fulham made the exhausting trip to eastern Russia where they went down 1-0 to Amkar Perm for whom Martin Kushev scored in the last minute, but the Londoners still secured a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, last year’s UEFA Cup champions, were knocked out by Portuguese club Nacional.

The Russians had trailed 4-3 from the first leg but looked to be on course for the next stage when Fatih Tekke gave them a 34th-minute lead to level the tie on aggregate, and a key advantage in terms of away goals.

However, with just a minute left, Ruben Micael scored to put the Portuguese side through.

Former England manager Steve McClaren saw his Twente side draw 0-0 at Qarabag in Baku for a 3-1 aggregate win, while fellow Dutch contenders Ajax won 2-1 at Slovan Bratislava for a 7-1 aggregate victory.

Two of the tournament favorites cruised through.

Francesco Totti scored a hat-trick as AS Roma crushed MFK Kosice of Slovakia 7-1 for a 10-4 aggregate, while Spain’s Villarreal defeated NAC Breda of the Netherlands 6-1 for a 9-2 win over two legs.
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