Maccabi Haifa made sure of their second appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage after goals from Vladimer Dvalishvili, Eyal Golasa and Mohammad Ghadir secured a 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg and, with it, a resounding 5-1 aggregate triumph.
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No danger
The Israeli titleholders may have led 2-1 from the first leg but the home supporters could have been forgiven for taking nothing for granted given their favorites' history of snatching defeat from the jaws in victory in past UEFA Champions League qualifying competitions.
This time, however, they never looked in danger of surrendering their advantage.
Breakthrough
Elisha Levi's men had three times as many shots on target over the 90 minutes and they threatened several times in the opening half-hour — notably when the influential Yaniv Katan dragged a shot wide after Salzburg goalkeeper Edward Gustafsson had hit a goal-kick straight at him.
In the 31st minute, they made the breakthrough after Katan drove forward and slipped a pass through to Devalashvili. The Georgian striker had his first effort blocked by defender Franz Schiemer but duly picked up the loose ball and fired it low across Gustafsson and into the corner of the goal.
Green tide
