BySimon Griver, Simon Griver
Maccabi Haifa drew 0-0 in the first leg of the Uefa Champions League third qualifying round away to Kazakh champions Aktobe.
After thumping Glentoran 10-0 on aggregate in the last round, the Greens found the going tougher on Tuesday night.
Yaniv Katan and Vladimer Dvalishvili were thwarted by good saves from Kazakh keeper Andrei Sidelnikov as the Greens had the best of the first half but Aktobe edged the second half to suggest that the Israeli champions are far from assured passage to the knock-out round when the sides meet again next Wednesday at Kiryat Eliezer.
Elran Atar earned Bnei Yehuda a 1-0 win over Pacos de Ferreira of Portugal in the third qualifying round first leg of the Europa League.