Chelsea laboured to an unconvincing 2-0 win over Servette in the first leg of their Conference League play-off at Stamford Bridge, second-half goals from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke sufficient to give Enzo Maresca's side the lead in the tie.
It was the Italian head coach’s second game in charge but already signs of discontent were heard from home supporters, who booed the team off at the end of a first half in which they failed to muster a serious attacking threat against the side currently fifth in the Swiss league table.
It took Nkunku’s 50th-minute penalty, won thanks to the game’s first genuinely incisive pass played by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, to finally break down Servette, who had coped defensively with relative ease until that point and might have taken the lead through winger Dereck Kutesa.
Madueke came off the bench to score Chelsea’s second and hand them a healthy lead ahead of the return leg in Geneva next Thursday.
Irish Premiership champions Larne were beaten 2-1 by Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar in Faro.
Matty Lusty put Larne ahead with a long-range effort after 16 minutes, but Kike Gomez soon had the hosts level with Spanish midfielder Joe completing the turnaround shortly before half-time when he slotted the ball home following a free-kick.
Luckless Daniel Oyegoke's own goal deep in second-half stoppage-time gave Viktoria Plzen a narrow 1-0 advantage over Hearts in their Europa League play-off tie in the Doosan Arena.
The home side probably had more of the clear-cut chances in the first leg in Czechia but it looked like Steven Naismith’s side would take a goalless draw back to Tynecastle for the return game next week.
However, in the final minute of six added at the end of the far-from-thrilling encounter, a cross to the back post by home substitute Cadu was turned into his own net from close range by Oyegoke – who came on for Gerald Taylor after 75 minutes – to hand the home side victory.
On the evidence of 90 minutes plus, however, the Gorgie side will fancy their chances of overturning that scoreline in Edinburgh.
Kilmarnock suffered the cruellest of European defeats in the Danish capital as they went down 2-0 to FC Copenhagen.
Killie frustrated their hosts for much of the first leg of their UEFA Conference League play-off but fell to a harsh VAR-assisted penalty and then a set-piece goal just as five minutes of stoppage-time elapsed.
Kilmarnock goalkeeper Kieran O'Hara, again deputising for the injured Robby McCrorie, had been largely untroubled before Kevin Diks’ penalty was just out of his reach in the 77th minute.
Italian referee Fabio Maresca had stopped play out of the blue before going to the monitor and penalising David Watson for catching Mohamed Elyounoussi on the calf as the pair challenged for a bouncing ball at a corner.
The former Celtic winger had already played the ball with the corner coming to nothing and the incident was far from clear or obvious, as well as being inconsequential, immediately at any rate.
Worse was to come for Killie when Rasmus Falk volleyed home from a half-cleared corner to leave the visitors with an uphill task of reaching the group stage and accessing what manager Derek McInnes had described as "unimaginable" financial benefits of about £4million.
