Sligo Rovers produced the shock of the night in the second qualification round of the Europa League, defeating Rosenborg 2-1 to give the Irish side a slender advantage before next week’s second leg at the Showgrounds.

Alan Keane gave the League of Ireland club a 54th-minute lead before the former Grimsby striker Danny North doubled their advantage with 20 minutes to play. Rosenborg pulled one back in the 81st minute through the USA striker Mikkel Diskerud but Sligo held out for a famous victory.

Cristian Gamboa, the Costa Rica defender who was up against Holland’s Arjen Robben less than a fortnight ago in their World Cup quarter-final, was an unused substitute for the Norwegian team.

Aberdeen and FC Groningen fought out a goalless draw at Pittodrie as both sides cancelled each other out in the first leg of their tie. Niall McGinn and Peter Pawlett had the SPL team’s best chances of the match but were unable to find a way past the visiting goalkeeper Sergio Padt.

Steven MacLean gave St Johnstone a crucial away goal to take back to Perth as they held Luzern to a 1-1 draw. The Scottish Cup winners found themselves under the cosh in the first half in Switzerland but stunned the hosts two minutes after the break when MacLean prodded home from eight yards. Marco Schneuwly drew the Swiss Super League outfit level with 21 minutes remaining

Josh Law scored twice in the first 19 minutes of his Motherwell career, but Stuart McCall’s men were pegged back by two penalties against Iceland’s Stjarnan at Fir Park. Law, in his first appearance since a summer move from Conference side Alfreton Town, showed early promise in his bid to emulate brother Nicky’s impressive two-year spell at Fir Park as he finished twice after getting ahead of the visiting defence.

Motherwell were well on top until the 35th minute when Olafur Karl Finsen scored a penalty after Keith Lasley was adjudged to have handled. They suffered a huge blow in injury-time when Finsen netted again after Lasley was ruled to have pushed over Rolf Toft as Motherwell scrambled to defend a counterattack.

Linfield defeated Sweden’s AIK 1-0 at home thanks to a late goal from Andrew Waterworth but fellow Irish League team Crusaders were comprehensively defeated 4-0 at IF Brommapojkarna.

While Sligo celebrated their success, two other League of Ireland teams suffered defeat, with Derry City going down 1-0 to Shakhtyor Soligorsk at the Brandywell, while Hadjuk Split left Dundalk with a 2-0 win. The second legs take place on 24 July.