Intertoto Cup round-up
Newcastle were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Norwegian side Lillestrom.
Newcastle were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Norwegian side Lillestrom in the first leg of their Intertoto Cup third round meeting at St James' Park.The Magpies looked sluggish early on and slipped behind on 21 minutes, but Albert Luque came to their rescue to level the scores with a fine goal on 50 minutes.
The game is likely to have blown away a few cobwebs in the Newcastle camp, but they will need to up the ante in Norway if they are to keep their European dreams alive.
Newcastle found life tough on their first outing of the summer against a battle-hardened Lillestrom outfit and the Norwegian side threatened early on through Michael Mifsud who tested Shay Given's handling with a low shot.
Robert Koren went close with a long-range drive on 20 minutes, but Newcastle failed to heed the warning as he broke the deadlock 60 seconds later with a strike which clipped Steven Taylor and looped over Given.
John Arne Riise's brother Bjorn Helge had a chance to double Lillestrom's advantage before the break but headed wide.
The interval provided Newcastle with some respite and they came out firing on all cylinders at the start of the second half and Spanish striker Luque, who had looked lively in the first half, levelled the scores with a superb curling effort from the edge of the box.
Newcastle carried the greater threat in the second period, with Emre and Luque going close, but they failed to find the winner.
A first half penalty from Chris Sorensen handed Danish side Odense a 1-0 win over SPL outfit Hibernian.
Spanish side Villarreal's European aspirations suffered a jolt as they were beaten at home by NK Maribor.
The Slovenian side were not overawed by making the trip to El Madrigal and took the lead through Milan Rakic.
It got worse for Villarreal shortly before the hour as Josica was given his marching orders. They did, though, haul themselves level 18 minutes from time through Diego Forlan, but Dragan Jelic popped to hand Maribor a famous win and first leg advantage with a goal three minutes from time.
A second half goal from Mickael Blomberg handed Kalmar a 1-0 win over Dutch outfit Twente who finished the game with ten men following the dismissal of Ramon Zomer.
It was a mixed night for the French sides in the competition, as Auxerre beat Farul Constanta, but Marseille were held at home by Dnipro.
Auxerre look set to progress after a 4-1 win. Lionel Mathis set the ball rolling with the opener on eight minutes and the lead was doubled shortly after by Luigi Pieroni.
Mihai Gurita gave the visitors hope when reducing the arrears, but second half goals from Thomas Kahenberg and Alain Traore put Auxerre firmly in the driving seat.
Marseille's passage to the next round looks far less secure, as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Ukrainian outfit Dnipro.
Grasshoppers recovered from conceding an early goal to Gent to run out 2-1 winners. Michal Zewlakow gave Gent a third-minute lead, but Sreto Ristic and Vero Salatic netted in the second half to hand the Swiss side an advantage.
Lars Schlichting and Levan Kebadze scored second half goals as Ethnikos Achnas claimed a 2-0 win at Maccabi Petah Tikva, while Ried ran out 3-1 winners over Tiraspol and the game between Larisa and Kayserispor ended goalless.