Haka starts out on long UEFA Cup trek

LONDON (Reuters) -- The UEFA Cup spluttered into action on Tuesday with the first legs of the first three of 41 qualifying round matches.

Finland's Haka edged to a 2-1 home win in the first leg of their tie against Hajduk Split.

The Croatian visitors took the lead after two minutes with a Peter Krpan header.

Haka equalised through Valeri Popovich 11 minutes later and the Russian striker caused problems again two minutes before halftime as Sami Ristila got the second.

Neuchatel Xamax look well placed to advance after winning 2-0 against Valletta in Malta.

First-half goals by Joel Griffiths and Kader Mangane had the Swiss side in charge and their task became easier when Valletta's Gilbert Agius was sent off in the 63rd minute.

The night's other match was a 1-1 draw in Bosnia between Sarajevo and Sartid Smederevo of Serbia and Montenegro.

Nenad Mirosavljevic had Sartid ahead after six minutes but an own goal by his team mate Zeljko Kovacevic seven minutes from time levelled the tie.

There is another qualifying match on Wednesda4y, when the Champions League takes precedence, with a further 37 on Thursday, the established day for UEFA Cup matches.

Tuesday also featured the first legs of the three finals of the Intertoto Cup -- with a UEFA Cup slot up for grabs for the three winners.

The two German teams involved had differing fortunes as Schalke 04 won 2-0 at Austria's SV Pasching but VfL Wolfsburg lost 1-0 at Italy's Perugia.

The other match saw Villarreal of Spain win 2-1 at Dutch club Heerenveen.

 

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