Dublin - German Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin and Russian team CSKA Moscow on Tuesday became the first two clubs to advance to the group phase of this season's UEFA Cup.
Although Hertha were held to a goalless draw by Saint Patrick's Athletic in Dublin in their first round return-leg, they went through 2-0 on aggregate, while CSKA added a 1-0 victory against Croatian club NK Slaven to the 2-1 victory they secured in the first leg.
In Dublin the more-fancied German side struggled against the Irish club and twice had to rely on the post to not go behind against enterprising St Pat's.
The home side were also denied a penalty after Fabian Lustenberger handled the ball in the area, but referee Michail Koukoulakis waved play on.
Hertha captain Arne Friedrich, whose side has been struggling in the Bundesliga and were knocked out of the German Cup last week, said that he was happy with the result.
"It is a small success that we are in the next round. Hopefully that will take away some of our negative thoughts," he said.
In Moscow CSKA did little more than was asked of them after having already won the first leg match in Croatia.
Aleksei Berezutski scored the only goal of the match in the 37th minute to send the 2005 UEFA Cup winners through. (dpa)
US News
- Sun Pharma Gets FDA Nod To Sell Nasal Spray Astelin In US Market
- Bharti Airtel Gets Hold Of 49% Stake In Qualcomm India broadband
- Facebook IPO issue must be reviewed, says U.S. financial regulators
- Brooklyn to investigate witness intimidation in abuse cases
- Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's & Aurobindo Get USFDA Authorization To Market Generic Cardiac Drug
Rome, May 28 : The captain of the Italian football club Lazio has been arrested amid investigations in connection to match-fixing scandal. 
London, May 28 : Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany has expressed his hope of making an impact at the Saturday's England v/s Belgium friendly, after not being slotted in for the Euro 2012 squad. 
London, May 28 : Former England cricketer Adam Hollioake has revealed that his friends and family were surprised when he chose the gentleman's game over rugby and boxing as his profession. 
Islamabad, May 28 : Pakistan cricketer Wajahatullah Wasti has said the Twenty20 format has caused a lot of damage to the techniques of opening batsmen. 
Sydney, May 18 : Australian professional motorcycle racer, two-time MotoGP world champion, Casey Stoner, announced that he will retire from Grand Prix racing at the 
Pune, April 30 - Veer Patel of Baroda steered his Honda CRF 250 with much panache to clinch the title in the showpiece Foreign Open class ahead of defending champion Aravind KP in the 2012 National Supercross championship here.