• Europa League

Liverpool cruise in Europa League qualifying tie

David Ngog scored a brace as Liverpool won 2-0 against FK Rabotnicki © Getty Images

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David Ngog struck twice as Roy Hodgson began his reign as Liverpool manager with a comfortable 2-0 victory from a potentially tricky Europa League test.

Ngog found the net in each half as an under-strength Liverpool side overcame FK Rabotnicki with little alarm in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie in Macedonia.

With 17 days still to go before their Premier League opener, Liverpool were without 10 of their World Cup players but their blend of youth and experience coped well in a game of little drama. Hodgson's decision to leave behind the likes of Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole was fully vindicated.

Shamrock Rovers' hopes of causing a huge upset are all but over after a double from Amauri gave Juventus a 2-0 victory in the first leg at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.

Shamrock fell behind in just the third minute as the Brazilian striker slotted home after good build up by the Italian giants. But the hosts put in a gutsy effort to stay in the game and occasionally threaten an equaliser, before Amauri's 75th minute header rounded off an ultimately comfortable success for the visitors.

Jamie Murphy broke Motherwell's European goalscoring record as manager Craig Brown got the away goal he craved in Norway against Aalesund, but an injury-time penalty left the game tied at 1-1.

Murphy netted his sixth Europa League goal to overtake previous record holder Stevie Kirk and give Motherwell the edge. However, Alexander Mathisen's last-gasp penalty denied Motherwell what would have been their greatest European result and kept the tie finely balanced ahead of next Thursday's return leg at Fir Park.

Hibernian endured a disappointing return to European football as a resounding 3-0 defeat in Slovenia against Maribor left them facing a mountainous task to reach the next round.

A double from Josip Ilicic and a curling effort from Marcos Tavares put Hibs three goals behind before the hour mark and the score only threatened to get worse despite a tactical switch from John Hughes.

Bangor crumbled to a humiliating 8-2 defeat aganist Maritimo. The Welsh club were already trailing to goals from Tcho, who scored after 33 minutes, and Danilo, who doubled the lead five minutes later, when captain Jamie Brewerton was sent off just before half-time. He was ordered off after a heavy challenge on Abdelmalek Cherrad.

The islanders took full advantage of their extra man and added second-half goals from Baba Diawara, who netted after 51 and 78 minutes, Danilo (75), Tcho (79) and substitutes Kanu (80) and Fidelis (90).

Nicky Ward (73) and Eddie Jebb (90) scored the consolations for Bangor, who scored the final goal and will face the same opponents next Thursday at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.

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