Brighton draw at Tromso in UEFA Conference League play-offs

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Brighton were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw away to Norwegian side Tromso in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League play-off on Thursday played 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.

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Tromso goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard produced two sharp first-half saves to deny Georginio Rutter and Ibrahim Osman as Brighton controlled much of the contest but failed to find a breakthrough.

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The hosts threatened on the counter-attack as Heine Larsen was foiled by Bart Verbruggen, before Isak Vadebu wasted a golden opportunity in the closing minutes for Tromso.

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Brighton are appearing in Europe for only the second time after reaching the Europa League last 16 in 2024. They will host Tromso next Thursday in the return leg.

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Seagulls manager Fabian Hurzeler handed defender Luka Vuskovic his debut following his club-record move from Tottenham, but Brighton were without Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh.

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Both players are sidelined through injury but have been linked with moves to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively.

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Brighton open their Premier League campaign at home to Aston Villa on Sunday.

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Rangers scraped a 1-0 victory over Czech side Jablonec in Glasgow.

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Ryan Naderi scored the only goal early in the second half as Rangers finished with 10 men after Cammy Devlin was sent off.

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Derek McInnes’ side were the only one of three Scottish teams in the competition to win on Thursday. Hearts drew 2-2 at home to Rapid Vienna, while Motherwell lost 3-1 to last season’s Europa League runners-up Freiburg.

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AFP

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