BRATISLAVA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Slovan Bratislava football club advanced to the final round of the Europa League qualifiers after defeating FC Dundalk of Ireland 3-1 in their second leg match-up on Tuesday.
After winning the first-leg game 1-0 last week, Slovakia's reigning champion Slovan Bratislava started strong on Dundalk's turf and secured a comfortable 2-0 lead in the first half full of scoring chances.
The home team tried to get back into the game in the second half and almost succeeded. Michael Duffy surprised Bratislava's goalkeeper Dominik Greif with a quick shot in the 70th minute and Patrick Hoban had a perfect opportunity to tie things up minutes later on a penalty shot, but Greif made a brilliant save. This turned out to be the deciding moment as Dundalk's subsequent scoring efforts failed and it was the visitors who stretched the lead back to two in extra-time when Erik Daniel's shot from the right made it past Gary Rogers.
Slovan Bratislava will challenge FC PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece for a spot in the coveted group stage of the Europa League.
