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Champions League round-up

Image: Suarez: Opened scoring for Ajax

Ajax, Auxerre, FC Copenhagen and MSK Zilina qualified for the UEFA Champions League group phase.

Ajax, Auxerre, FC Copenhagen and MSK Zilina go through

Ajax, Auxerre, FC Copenhagen and MSK Zilina joined Tottenham Hotspur in qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group phase. Former Tottenham boss Martin Jol saw his Ajax side hold on for a 2-1 home win over Dynamo Kiev which secured a 3-2 aggregate success. Uruguayan hot shot Luis Suarez put Ajax ahead two minutes before half-time and summer signing Mounir El Hamdaoui made it 2-0 15 minutes from time. Ex-Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko set up a nervy finish by scoring from the penalty spot on 84 minutes, but Kiev were unable to deny Ajax a place in the group stage. Auxerre overturned a first-leg deficit to progress after a 2-0 home win over Zenit St Petersburg, who finished the second leg in France with nine men. It took Auxerre just nine minutes to wipe out Zenit's advantage as Cedric Hengbart opened the scoring. Ireneusz Jelen struck the decisive goal seven minutes after half-time before Zenit had Viacheslav Malafeev and Tomas Hubocan sent off inside the closing 25 minutes. Solvi Ottesen scored the only goal of the game as FC Copenhagen edged out Rosenborg to reach the group phase on away goals. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Danish outfit Copenhagen progressed at their Norwegian opponents' expense courtesy of Ottesen's 33rd minute effort, although Rosenborg's Roar Strand hit the bar in the last minute. Momodou Ceesay's 18th minute goal secured a 1-0 home win, and 3-0 aggregate triumph, for MSK Zilina over Sparta Prague, with the Slovakian champions reaching the group stage for the first time. Tottenham, meanwhile, capped a remarkable comeback as Peter Crouch scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 thrashing of Young Boys. The Swiss side had led 3-0 at one stage in the first leg before two away goals kept Spurs in with a shout of a first appearance in the group stage. And the job was completed at White Hart Lane as Crouch's treble, allied to a disputed Jermain Defoe strike, sent Spurs through.

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