AEL cruise into Europa League second round

AEL sealed their passage to the second round of Europa League qualifying in emphatic fashion, defeating St. Joseph’s from Gibraltar 6-0 on Thursday night to add to their 4-0 victory in the first leg (10-0 aggregate).

Just like in the first leg, AEL got off to a flyer as Andreas Avraam opened the scoring with just under two minutes on the clock. New signing Marios Elia then hit a brace before half-time to send the Limassol side well on their way to another big win.

The second period started in the same vein, with Dani Benitez adding a fourth goal on 52 minutes. The sweltering Cypriot heat combined with the heavy scoreline naturally meant that the tempo of the match had dropped down to almost walking pace. Yet there was still time and energy for a late flurry from two young Cypriots: Andreas Kyriacou netted on 89 minutes before Yiannis Mavrou wrapped things up in added time.

AEL will now face Progrès Niederkorn in the next round, after the side from Luxembourg recorded a huge upset by defeating Scottish giants Rangers 2-0, overcoming the 1-0 deficit suffered at Ibrox (2-1 aggregate).

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