Ibrahim Said was the hero as Motherwell clocked up a fine 2-0 win over HJK Helsinki that sees them progress to the Europa Conference League play-off.
Storming runs 60 seconds into the second half and on the hour mark gave Motherwell some much-needed breathing space against their Finnish opponents and a 3-1 aggregate win on a stuffy evening at Fir Park.
A tie against German side Freiburg, last season’s finalists, stands between Alfred Johansson’s side and the group stages.
Motherwell dominated the first half, but without making it count. HJK had flurries, but the hosts defended well when necessary.
The second half was barely 60 seconds old before Said buried the ball in the net, and he repeated that feat on 60 minutes.
Toivo Mero was first to threaten for the visitors inside three minutes with a run down the right that ended with him hitting the side-netting.
Motherwell’s Johnny Koutroumbis also found the side-netting with a header at the other end in the 11th minute.
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Regan Charles-Cook was sent through on goal three minutes later but keeper Matej Markovic was alert to it and raced off his line to clear.
Emmanuel Longelo should have done better than rifle a shot past the left post when the was picked out superbly by Tawanda Maswanhise from the right in the 18th minute.
Said was next to try his luck with a curling shot that flew narrowly over from just outside the box, and Maswanhise curled a low shot round the right post from the left corner of the box moments later.
Longelo’s trickery created space for Charles-Cook in 35 minutes, but again the shot was fired wide of the left post.
Longelo saw a shot blocked by the foot of Markovic and Said drove past the left post just before the interval, as Motherwell continued to dominate.
But Said gave Motherwell the lead a minute into the second half when he went on a run down the left and buried a shot into the bottom right corner.
Said had another go from distance that sailed over the bar four minutes later.
Said doubled his and Motherwell’s tally on 60 minutes when he went on a storming run through the middle and buried a low shot into the left corner.
Maswanhise went on a speedy run down the right but his cut-back was too far ahead of the sliding Alex Lowry.
Mero had a late shot deflected over as HJK tried to get back into the game, and Pyry Mentu fired over in the closing stages.
But Motherwell ran out deserved winners, progressing to the play-off round.
