30.07.2015 21:57 h

Marathon men Aberdeen grab Almaty lifeline

Aberdeen grabbed a crucial away goal at Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty despite a 2-1 defeat in their Europa League third qualifying round first leg clash on Thursday.

Aberdeen, who won the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup under Alex Ferguson, were 2-0 down after just 20 minutes but Kenny McClean's goal 21 minutes from time has given the Scottish side hope heading back for the return leg in a week.

The journey for the Scottish side covered over 4,500 miles (7,240km) and crossed five time zones, and is believed to be the longest made by a team competing in any European competition.

Elsewhere, Swedish outfit Elfsborg spotted their visitors Odds from Norway an early penalty before bouncing back for a 2-1 first leg win while Rubin Kazan of Russia never trailed as they won 3-2 on their travels to Sturm Graz.

The Austrian hosts finished the match with 10 men.

Their compatriots from SCR Altach edged Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes 2-1.

There were also one-goal advantages for Czech side Liberec and Greek outfit PAOK over Hapoel Kiryat Shmona of Israel and Spartak Trnava respectively.

Dutch hopefuls AZ Alkmaar took a big step towards the next round with a 2-0 homw win over Istanbul Basaksehir, Dinamo Minsk of Belarus edged FC Zurich 1-0 in Switzerland and FC Thun were held to a 0-0 home draw by tiny FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein.

In action later on Thursday are English Premier League clubs West Ham, who host Romanian side Astra Giurgiu, and Southampton who entertain Vitesse Arnhem from the Netherlands.