Everton on Thursday took a 2-0 lead in a UEFA Europa League qualifying playoff first-leg clash against HNK Hajduk Split in Liverpool, England, in a game stopped temporarily due to crowd trouble.
Hajduk fans surged toward the Goodison Park pitch and threw objects, with play stopped shortly after Michael Keane’s 30th-minute header had put the hosts in front.
After police brought the situation under control, players returned to the pitch and Everton doubled their lead in the 45th minute thanks to Idrissa Gueye’s strike off a Wayne Rooney cross.
“I was really happy with the first half and unhappy about the second. We lost a big opportunity to score more goals,” Everton coach Ronald Koeman said.
Keane was delighted to score his first goal for Everton since his move from Burnley in the summer.
“I’m delighted; first and foremost, to get a clean sheet,” the England defender said. “That’s what we aim for, especially in European games at home. It’s massive and makes it a lot easier when they don’t score.”
“It was the same case as in the last tie, when we took a 1-0 win over there. We managed to go one better today. I thought we played well in the first half, we weren’t really ourselves in the second half, but at least we got the clean sheet,” he added.
In Milan, Italy, defender Leonardo Bonucci captained AC Milan to a 6-0 win on his competitive debut for the Italian side against Macedonia’s modest Shkendija two months after playing for Juventus in the UEFA Champions League final.
The Chinese-owned club were too strong for the Macedonian side, with a double from new signing Andre Silva in the first half and Riccardo Montolivo after 25 minutes and 85 minutes.
Fabio Borini and Luca Antonelli added two more midway through the second half to set the Italian side on the road to the group stages with the second leg away on Thursday next week.
Vincenzo Montella’s side have never won the second-tier European competition, which they last contested in the 2008-2009 season.
Elsewhere, last year’s finalists Ajax Amsterdam lost 1-0 at home against Rosenborg, with substitute Samuel Adegbenro scoring the winner for the Norwegian side after 77 minutes in the Netherlands.
Olympique de Marseille drew 1-1 at Domzale in Slovenia. Morgan Sanson equalized for the French side after 63 minutes after Amedej Vetrih put the hosts ahead after 12 minutes.
Turkish giants Fenerbahce, with Nabil Dirar and Mathieu Valbuena playing, fell to a shock 2-0 loss to Vardar in Macedonia.
Athletic Bilbao came from behind to beat Panathinaikos 3-2 in Greece thanks to a late Aritz Aduriz double on 68 minutes and 73 minutes, while Red Star Belgrade fell 3-2 at Krasnodar in Russia.
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