Fulham crush Crusaders

Dundee United were the highest profile casualties on a night when all but two clubs from Britain and Ireland went out of the tournament.

Goals from Andy Johnson, Damien Duff, Bobby Zamora and Steve Sidwell ensured Fulham got past Northern Irish side Crusaders in style, setting up a clash with Croatian side RNK Split.

Leading 3-1 from the first leg, the home side could afford to stroke the ball around without too much pressure - something they did with consummate ease. The semi-professional visitors were chasing the game from the first minute which allowed Fulham to create a number of half-decent chances.

The first chance fell to Johnson. The former England striker found himself in acres of space on the edge of the penalty area following some intricate play from the hosts, and took one touch to get the ball out from under his feet before firing towards goal. The ball had plenty behind it but was too central, allowing keeper Sean O'Neill to gather.

The Cottagers continued to pressure the Northern Irish side and were rewarded in the 19th minute. Brede Hangeland picked out debutant John Arne Riise on the left touchline. The former Liverpool and Roma man cut inside before squaring for the onrushing Steve Sidwell. The midfielder stepped over the ball, which tricked a number of Crusaders defenders, allowing for Johnson to take a touch past David Magowan before firing home.

The visitors did have one decent chance in the opening half and it came when Aidan Watson raced down the left before crossing for Jordan Owens. The striker beat Phillippe Senderos to the ball but was unable to keep his effort down.

The home side had one more opportunity before the half time whistle. Sidwell advanced into the opponents' half and exchanged a neat one-two with Zamora. The former Aston Villa man received the pass on the edge of the area and took a touch on his right knee before firing his left-footed volley wide.

The second half was a completely different affair. Fulham continued their dominance after the break and were rewarded within ten minutes. Senderos advanced towards the halfway line before finding Duff with a superb through ball. The Irishman charged into the box and, despite seemingly taking the ball too far, he fired across goal with his right foot into the bottom corner.

Unfortunately for the visitors, the floodgates then opened as Fulham added two more goals. The first came when Johnson raced down the left wing before cutting back to cross for Duff. As with the first goal a step-over fooled the defenders, providing Zamora a chance to shoot back across goal into the top corner.

The fourth and final goal of the night came through a corner. Sidwell, who had a number of chances throughout the game, finally got on the score sheet. Duff's in-swinging set piece was met by the head of the diving midfielder in the six yard box.

Dundee United twice let slip an aggregate lead against Slask Wroclaw as Sebastian Dudek's long-range strike sent Peter Houston's side out of the Europa League on away goals after it ended 3-3.

Goals from Keith Watson and David Goodwillie had overturned Slask's 1-0 first-leg advantage inside five minutes, only for United to quickly concede from a corner as Rok Elsner headed home.

Jon Daly's penalty put Dundee United back in the ascendancy just before the break and the Poles looked to have run out of ideas.

But, with the imminent danger not obvious, Dudek struck from 30 yards in the 74th minute and United were unable to mount a serious late charge as around 2,000 Polish fans celebrated.

United were ultimately made to pay for bad misses by David Goodwillie and Johnny Russell in Poland last week, which came before Johan Voskamp's late winner.

Irish side St Patrick's made it through against Kazakh side Karagandy thanks to a 2-0 victory at Dublin's Richmond Park that helped them overcome a 2-1 first-leg deficit.

Bohemians went out however, with a 1-1 draw at Dalymount Park not enough to save them from a 3-1 aggregate defeat by Olimpija Ljubljana.

Llanelli's hopes were dashed when their 2-1 first leg lead against Dinamo Tblisi was cancelled out quickly, the home side scoring twice in the first 11 minutes in a 5-0 win that gave them a 6-2 aggregate victory at Boris Paichadze National Stadium.

Fellow Welsh side TNS also let in five goals as they went down 5-2 against Danish side Midtjylland at the Herning Stadio to complete an 8-3 aggregate defeat.

Northern Ireland's Glentoran also went out as they lost 3-0 to Ukraine side Vorskla to go out 5-0 on aggregate.