LIVERPOOL, England, Aug 6, (Agencies): Roy Hodgson’s first home match as Liverpool manager ended in triumph as the five-time European champions overcame Rabotnicki 2-0 to coast into the Europa League play-offs. First half goals by David Ngog and captain Steven Gerrard capped the easiest of wins as Liverpool overcame their Macedonian opponents 4-0 on aggregate. The tie took place against the backdrop of a takeover bid for the club, with rumours sweeping Anfield that a deal is close to being struck. On a day when the Chinese government’s foreign investment arm denied funding a bid for Liverpool, there was no confusion on the pitch about who was going through to the play-off stage of Europe’s second-tier club competition.

Having established a 2-0 first leg lead in Skopje seven days earlier, Hodgson’s Anfield arrival was never in danger of turning sour. Hodgson made sure of that by naming his strongest side available to him.
Jamie Carragher and Glen Johnson also started along with Gerrard and new signing Joe Cole, who impressed the longer the tie progressed. The England midfielder set the tone for a fine individual performance by produced a stunning piece of skill to present Ngog with a glorious opportunity to put the tie out of sight in the 14th minute.

However, the young Frenchman wasted Gerrard’s good work as his attempt to dribble the ball round the keeper and walk the ball into the net ended in failure. Gerrard did not look like a man who had endured a bitterly frustrating World Cup as he set about Rabotnicki with the same hunger and drive as if facing Manchester United or Chelsea.

It was Gerrard’s powerful 21st-minute effort won the corner from which the hosts took the lead.
The over-worked Rabotnicki defence could only half clear the set-piece and Cole’s delightful pin-point cross into the danger area allowed Ngog, whose header went in off the bar, to atone for his earlier miss.
Cole impressed the longer the match went on. He rattled the woodwork with a cross-cum-shot in the opening seconds of the second half before forcing keeper Martin Bogatinov into a 50th minute save. VfB Stuttgart had to come from two goals down against Norwegian outsiders Molde to scrape into the final qualifying round. Trailing 3-2 from their home leg, Molde scored either side of halftime to stun Christian Gross’ team, who last season reached the last 16 of the Champions League. Emil Johansson fired Molde ahead four minutes before the break and Knut Rindaroy added a second shortly after the restart.

But Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak headed one back from a free kick and Timo Gebhart headed a stoppage time equaliser to give the Bundesliga side a 2-2 draw and 5-4 aggregate win. Alessandro del Piero’s 74th minute goal gave Juventus a 1-0 win at home to Shamrock Rovers as they won 3-0 on aggregate. Australian Harry Kewell scored twice, including one penalty, to help Galatasaray demolish OFK Belgrade 5-1 away and win 7-3 on aggregate, after they had been held at home in the first leg.
Olympiakos were knocked out, losing 1-0 at Maccabi Tel Aviv where Roberto Colautti scored a 42nd minute goal to send his side through on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw. Fellow Israelis Maccabi Haifa, who took part in the Champions League group stage last season, were on the wrong end of an upset against Dynamo Minsk.

The Belarus team came from behind to win 3-1 and go through 3-2 on aggregate. Azerbaijan’s Qarabag — knocked out at the playoff stage last year by Twente Enschede — also went into the next stage as a 3-2 win over 12-times Polish champions Wisla Krakow gave them a 4-2 aggregate win. Sibir Novosibirsk, the most easterly club to have taken part in European competition, went through despite a 2-1 defeat at Apollon. Jose Semedo and Antonio Nunez scored for the Cypriots but Igor Shevchenko’s 63rd minute goal was enough to take the Russians through on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw. Former European champions Red Star Belgrade were also knocked out after a 1-1 draw at Slovan Bratislava, the Slovak side winning 3-2 on aggregate.