AMSTERDAM — Eugene Starikov went 74 solid minutes as Tom Tomsk advanced to the round of 16 of the Russian Cup with a 1-0 victory at third-tier FK Metallurg-Oskol.
Mere seconds after Kyrylo Kovalchuk put the visitors ahead to stay on 25 minutes, Starikov rattled the woodwork with an attempt.
Over in Denmark, Clarence Goodson and Brøndby blew an early lead and then rallied at the death for a 2-2 home draw against Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK. Goodson worked a decent full shift for the opening day hosts, while AaB got a relatively quiet 71 minutes from Rolfe.
In the Norwegian Tippeligaen, young playmaker Mikkel Diskerud and Stabæk snapped a five-fame drought by playing rude 3-1 hosts to defending champs Rosenborg.
Next door in the Swedish Allsvenskan, Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK suffered six minutes into stoppage time to fall 2-1 against visiting Elfsborg. The center back stand-in helped set up his side's early opener with a searching long ball that was misplayed by a defender, eventually allowing Joe Sise an easy tapper.
